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 issues. The City application deadline for presently operating facilities was February 15. The Wayne County Circuit Court's Chief Judge, Robert Colombo, Jr. issued a judgment regarding the voter initiatives and dispensary zoning requirements. Ultimately, the City provided a moratorium on applications and authorizations for brand-new medical marijuana dispensaries within the City of Detroit.

Detroit MMFLA Deadline Comes and Goes: If you were a medical marijuana provisioning center owner and you were on the City's authorized 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 additionally 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, as well as despite whether you have actually been running with City approval, your license with the City will certainly not be renewed. Neither will your existing municipal license to run be renewed. Basically, if you really did not get your application in by February 15, 2018, you're out of luck after the expiration of your existing license, at least, within the limits of the City of Detroit, for at a minimum of six months, until the moratorium is passed. Even then, there's no warranty that you will be able to apply, or be approved, once the moratorium is over. Even more reason to ask about the laws as well as regulations with a medical marijuana licensing attorney that comprehends the complexities of this ever-changing as well as complicated location of regulation.

Moratorium on New Dispensaries:

Detroit has placed a 6 month moratorium on applications for Medical Marijuana provisioning center licenses as of February 15. The City has mentioned that it will not issue any kind of brand-new dispensary licenses during that six month period. Even more substantially, for provisioning centers that were running under a municipal license or under a contractual arrangement 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 submit your application to the City of Detroit for an attestation by close of business on February 15, 2018, you will certainly not be approved to operate, and 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 due date will have to wait until at least after the moratorium is over before they can attempt to re-apply. There has been a lot of discussion that the City may not release any more licenses after that moratorium is passed, which it would be within its rights to do. Consequently, if you didn't get your application in before the target date, you ought to speak with a medical cannabis licensing attorney to discuss your options moving on.

Circuit Court Strikes Down Zoning Initiative:

The final news pertains to the voter initiatives that were passed in November which transformed the zoning requirements for provisioning centers. Citizens authorized a reduction in the zoning restrictions pertaining to 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 decrease the zoning requirements to make sure 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 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 could not be changed by voter initiative. Because of this, the initiatives were struck down as well as the original zoning limits are again in place. While numerous citizen teams are vowing an appeal, it will be time before the Court of Appeals and also, eventually, the Michigan Supreme Court can evaluate in on the problem. The zoning regulation, if it continues to be the same, will likely likewise influence brand-new types of Medical Marijuana Facilities accepted for licensing under the MMFLA.

Exactly how Does This Effect My Application?: If you are a provisioning center operating lawfully in Detroit now, and also you sent your application to the State and also the City by February 15, 2018, then, these adjustments will have little to no effect on you. Anybody running a facility in Detroit that did not apply by the target date, or that is operating unlawfully and is not on the Detroit accepted centers' listing, the decision can be devastating. You might not be able to run your facility after the end of the year, or sooner, relying on the nature of your center. If you are not on the approved list, you will not have the ability to obtain city authorization to run, which is a condition precedent to obtaining your State license. Consequently, you will not be able to obtain an operating license from the State, and your unregulated facility is likely to end up being a target of State regulators. If you were running lawfully, yet did not get your application in to the City or the State by February 15, 2018, you will certainly not be municipally accepted to continue running past your present licensing date. There is likewise no warranty that you will be able to send an application after the present 6 month moratorium, nor exists any reason to think that the City will accept any more applications for provisioning centers. If your desire is to continue supplying people with medication, you require to consult with an experienced clinical marijuana licensing lawyer to aid you create an intend on just how you can try to proceed in the industry.

If you intend to talk about getting a license under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act,

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

contact Fowler & Williams, PLC today for an appointment.

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