Detroit Medical Marijuana Update

Detroit Medical Marijuana Update

The previous week has actually been a busy one in the City of Detroit when it concerns Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act problems. The City application due date for currently running facilities was February 15. The Wayne County Circuit Court's Chief Judge, Robert Colombo, Jr. provided a ruling regarding the voter initiatives as well as dispensary zoning requirements. Ultimately, the City issued a moratorium on applications as well as approvals for new medical marijuana provisioning centers within the City of Detroit.

Detroit MMFLA Deadline Comes and Goes: If you were a medical marijuana dispensary proprietor and also 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 also had to be submitted 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 authorized list, and despite whether you have actually been running with City authorization, your license with the City will not be renewed. Neither will your existing municipal license to operate be renewed. In short, 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 be able to apply, or be approved, once the moratorium is over. All the more reason to inquire about the policies as well as policies with a medical cannabis licensing attorney who comprehends the complexities of this ever-changing and also intricate area of law.

Moratorium on New Provisioning Centers:

Detroit has placed a six month moratorium on applications for Medical Cannabis dispensary licenses as of February 15. The City has actually stated that it will certainly not issue any type of brand-new provisioning center licenses during that 6 month period. Even more considerably, for provisioning centers 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 dispensary license, as well as send your application to the City of Detroit for an attestation by close of business on February 15, 2018, you will not be authorized to operate, and your currently issued and valid license to operate in the City, will certainly not be restored. Companies that did not get their applications in by the target date will have 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 release any more licenses after that moratorium is passed, which it would certainly be within its rights to do. Therefore, if you didn't get your application in before the deadline, you ought to chat with a medical marijuana licensing lawyer to discuss your alternatives moving forward.

Circuit Court Strikes Down Zoning Initiative:

The final news concerns the voter initiatives that were passed in November which altered the zoning requirements for dispensaries. Citizens authorized a decrease in the zoning limitations relating to medical cannabis provisioning centers. The ordinance required that a provisioning center needed to be at the very least 1000 feet away from a church or school. The initiatives proposed to lower the zoning requirements so that provisioning centers just 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 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 might not be changed by voter initiative. As a result, the initiatives were overruled as well as the original zoning limits are again in place. While numerous citizen teams are vowing an appeal, it will be a long time before the Court of Appeals and, inevitably, the Michigan Supreme Court can weigh in on the problem. The zoning ordinance, if it stays the same, will likely likewise impact brand-new sorts of Medical Marijuana Facilities authorized for licensing under the MMFLA.

How Does This Impact My Application?: If you are a dispensary operating legally in Detroit today, and also you sent your application to the State and also the City by February 15, 2018, then, these modifications will certainly have little to no influence on you. Any individual running a center in Detroit that did not apply by the due date, or that is running illegally as well as is not on the Detroit authorized centers' listing, the decision might be ravaging. You might not have the ability to run 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 not have the ability to acquire city authorization to operate, which is a condition precedent to obtaining your State license. Because of this, you will not be able to obtain an operating license from the State, as well as your unregulated facility is likely to come to be a target of State regulators. If you were running legally, but did not get your application in to the City or the State by February 15, 2018, you will certainly not be municipally authorized to proceed operating past your existing licensing date. There is also no assurance that you will be able to send an application after the present 6 month moratorium, neither exists any factor to believe that the City will certainly accept anymore applications for dispensaries. If your need is to proceed providing individuals with medicine, you require to speak to an experienced clinical cannabis licensing attorney to aid you create an intend on how you can attempt to continue in the industry.

If you want to discuss obtaining a license under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act,

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

contact Fowler & Williams, PLC today for an assessment.