Detroit Medical Cannabis Update

Detroit Medical Marijuana Update

The past week has been a hectic one in the City of Detroit when it comes to Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act problems. The City application deadline for currently running facilities was February 15. The Wayne County Circuit Court's Chief Judge, Robert Colombo, Jr. released a judgment relating to the voter initiatives and dispensary zoning requirements. Finally, the City provided a moratorium on applications as well as authorizations for new medical marijuana dispensaries within the City of Detroit.

Detroit MMFLA Deadline Comes and Goes: If you were a medical marijuana dispensary owner as well as you got on the City's approved operating list, you were required to submit your application to the State of Michigan Bureau of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs by February 15, 2018. That application also needed to be filed with the City of Detroit for municipal attestation of operating approval by that date too. If you did not get your application in by February 15, 2018, whether or not you got on the approved list, and despite whether you have been running with City approval, your license with the City will certainly not be renewed. Neither will your present municipal license to run be renewed. In other words, if you didn't get your application in by February 15, 2018, you're out of luck after the expiry of your existing license, at least, within the limits of the City of Detroit, for at a minimum of 6 months, until the moratorium is passed. Even then, there's no assurance that you will be able to apply, or be approved, once the moratorium is over. All the more reason to inquire about the guidelines and also regulations with a medical cannabis licensing attorney that recognizes the complexities of this ever-changing and complicated area of regulation.

Moratorium on New Provisioning Centers:

Detroit has placed a six month moratorium on applications for Medical Cannabis dispensary licenses since February 15. The City has actually stated that it will certainly not provide any kind of new provisioning center licenses throughout that 6 month duration. Much more significantly, for dispensaries that were operating under a municipal license or under a contractual agreement with the City that they would certainly not close your center down, if you did not submit your State Application for a provisioning center license, and also submit your application to the City of Detroit for an attestation by close of business on February 15, 2018, you will certainly not be accepted to operate, and also your currently issued and valid license to operate in the City, will certainly not be renewed. Companies that did not get their applications in by the deadline will certainly need to wait until at least after the moratorium is over before they can try to re-apply. There has been a lot of discussion that the City might not release any more licenses after that moratorium is passed, which it would be within its rights to do. As a result, if you didn't get your application in before the due date, you need to talk with a medical marijuana licensing lawyer to review your options moving on.

Circuit Court Strikes Down Zoning Initiative:

The final news regards the voter initiatives that were passed in November which altered the zoning requirements for provisioning centers. Voters accepted a reduction in the zoning constraints pertaining to medical cannabis dispensaries. The ordinance required that a dispensary needed to be at the very least 1000 feet away from a church or school. The initiatives proposed to decrease the zoning requirements to make sure that dispensaries only had to be less than 500 feet away from a church or school. The City of Detroit challenged the legality of the voter initiatives and submitted a suit in the Wayne County Circuit Court. On Friday, Wayne County Circuit Court Chief Judge Robert Colombo, Jr. determined that under the Home Rule statute, which governs how cities like Detroit are run and governed in the State of Michigan, zoning restrictions and requirements can not be altered by voter initiative. Therefore, the initiatives were struck down as well as the original zoning limitations are once again in place. While numerous citizen teams are vowing an appeal, it will be time before the Court of Appeals as well as, inevitably, the Michigan Supreme Court can weigh in on the issue. The zoning ordinance, if it remains unchanged, will likely also influence new kinds of Medical Marijuana Facilities accepted for licensing under the MMFLA.

Just how Does This Effect My Application?: If you are a dispensary operating lawfully in Detroit right now, and you submitted your application to the State and the City by February 15, 2018, then, these changes will certainly have little to no impact on you. Anybody running a facility in Detroit that did not apply by the due date, or who is running unlawfully and also is not on the Detroit approved centers' listing, the choice can be ravaging. You might not be able to run your center after completion of the year, or sooner, depending on the nature of your facility. If you are not on the authorized list, you will not have the ability to get city approval to operate, which is a condition precedent to obtaining your State license. Consequently, you will certainly not have the ability to acquire an operating license from the State, as well as your unregulated center is likely to become a target of State regulators. If you were running legitimately, but did not get your application in to the City or the State by February 15, 2018, you will not be municipally approved to continue operating past your present licensing date. There is likewise no assurance that you will have the ability to submit an application after the present 6 month moratorium, nor exists any type of reason to think that the City will certainly authorize any more applications for provisioning centers. If your desire is to continue giving people with medication, you need to speak to a knowledgeable medical marijuana licensing lawyer to aid you think of a plan on just how you can try to continue in the industry.

If you wish to review obtaining a license under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act,

be it a dispensaries, processing facility, grow operation, testing laboratory or secured transporter,

call Fowler & Williams, PLC today for a consultation.

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