Detroit Medical Cannabis Update

Detroit Medical Cannabis Update

The past week has been an active one in the City of Detroit when it concerns Medical marijuana Facilities Licensing Act problems. The City application due date for currently operating centers was February 15. The Wayne County Circuit Court’s Chief Judge, Robert Colombo, Jr. provided a ruling regarding the voter initiatives and also dispensary zoning requirements. Ultimately, the City issued a halt on applications as well as authorizations for new medical marijuana provisioning centers 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 accepted operating list, you were required to send your application to the State of Michigan Bureau of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs by February 15, 2018. That application likewise 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 were on the accepted list, and despite whether you have actually been operating with City approval, your license with the City will not be renewed. Neither will your present municipal license to run be renewed. Basically, 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 guarantee that you will have the ability to apply, or be approved, once the moratorium is over. Even more reason to ask about the regulations and rules with a medical cannabis licensing attorney who understands the intricacies of this ever-changing as well as complex location of regulation.

Moratorium on New Dispensaries:

Detroit has placed a 6 month moratorium on applications for Medical Cannabis dispensary licenses since February 15. The City has specified that it will certainly not release any type of new provisioning center licenses throughout that six month duration. A lot more considerably, for dispensaries that were running under a municipal license or under a contractual contract with the City that they would not shut your center down, if you did not send 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 authorized to operate, and your presently issued and valid license to operate in the City, will certainly not be renewed. Businesses that did not get their applications in by the due date 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 may not issue any more licenses after that moratorium is passed, which it would certainly be within its rights to do. As a result, if you didn’t get your application in prior to the due date, you need to chat with a medical marijuana licensing lawyer to review your choices progressing.

Circuit Court Strikes Down Zoning Initiative:

The final news relates to the voter initiatives that were passed in November which transformed the zoning requirements for dispensaries. Citizens accepted a reduction in the zoning restrictions regarding medical cannabis dispensaries. The ordinance required that a provisioning center had to be at least 1000 feet away from a church or school. The initiatives proposed to lower the zoning requirements so that provisioning centers just needed to be less than 500 feet away from a church or school. The City of Detroit challenged the legality of the voter initiatives and filed a suit in the Wayne County Circuit Court. On Friday, Wayne County Circuit Court Chief Judge Robert Colombo, Jr. established 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 changed by voter initiative. Consequently, the initiatives were overruled and the initial zoning restrictions are again in place. While a number of citizen groups are vowing an appeal, it will be time before the Court of Appeals as well as, inevitably, the Michigan Supreme Court can evaluate in on the issue. The zoning statute, if it stays unmodified, will likely additionally influence new kinds of Medical Marijuana Facilities authorized for licensing under the MMFLA.

How Does This Effect My Application?: If you are a provisioning center operating lawfully in Detroit now, and you sent your application to the State and also the City by February 15, 2018, after that, these modifications will certainly have little to no effect on you. Anybody running a facility in Detroit that did not apply by the deadline, or that is operating unlawfully and is not on the Detroit accepted centers’ list, the decision can be ravaging. You may not have the ability to operate your center after completion of the year, or sooner, depending upon the nature of your center. If you are not on the authorized list, you will certainly not be able to get city approval to operate, which is a condition precedent to acquiring your State license. Because of this, you will not be able to get an operating license from the State, as well as your unregulated center is most likely to end up being a target of State regulators. If you were running legally, however did not get your application in to the City or the State by February 15, 2018, you will certainly not be municipally approved to proceed operating past your current licensing date. There is likewise no assurance that you will be able to submit an application after the present six month moratorium, neither exists any type of reason to believe that the City will certainly authorize any more applications for dispensaries. If your wish is to continue supplying patients with medication, you require to talk to a well-informed medical cannabis licensing attorney to aid you create an intend on exactly how you can try to proceed in the market.

If you wish to discuss getting a license under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act,

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

get in touch with Fowler & Williams, PLC today for an appointment.