Am I Ready To Apply for a Medical Marihuana Facilities Grow License?

Considering starting a Medical Marihuana Grow to make sure that you can supply marijuana to the medical marihuana market? Are you a Medical Marihuana Act licensed caregiver that intends to take your item commercial on a bigger scale? Thanks to the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act, currently you can do so lawfully, as long as you can successfully get a license from the State to do so. This could be a fantastic possibility with many new owners seeing remarkable degrees of earnings and also success in the market. However, if you make this choice, you do need to make sure that you obtain a Michigan commercial grow license. Failing to do so will cause your endeavor being, more than likely, prohibited and also lead to court activity that will cripple your organisation before it begins.

Sadly, the Michigan commercial grow license application is a long, complex as well as expensive process. Ask a medical marijuana lawyer, as well as they will certainly inform you that you need to make certain that you are prepared. Let's consider the actions you will have to take, the team you need to construct as well as the position that you may find yourself in.

Who Can Apply?

The initial inquiry to ask yourself is whether or not you are qualified to apply for a Medical Marihuana Facilities license. Fortunately is that anyone, an individual or a full company can apply for a license. Applications started in 2017, and also there is presently no target date to finish the required forms. Of course, there are certain people, who, due to the fact that they can not satisfy the minimum financial needs, or due to the fact that they have a disqualifying criminal conviction in their background, are averted from applying. However, presuming you do not have a disqualifying criminal conviction, and also you, or your team of capitalists, fulfill the minimal economic needs, there are 2 primary steps to the MMFLA licensing application process. The first step will be completed whether you have a final location for your structure or not. However, if you have actually already selected a place prior to sending your State application, something that we extremely recommend, you can finish both actions at the exact same time.

Pre-Qualification

Pre-qualification is the very first step, and it starts with an extensive background check. There are 2 sections-- 401 and also 404 of the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act (M.C.L. 333.27401 et seq.) to refer to when determining who you need to legally disclose and also whether they have a relevant business interest in your operation. This includes individuals such as the spouse of the individual and all corporate officers. This is just one of the reasons that it is worth consulting with an MMMA lawyer as it can be rather tricky to get all the information correct. The State will certainly wish to do a deep dive into the backgrounds of not only all of the "interested parties," or members/owners of your cannabis company, but the State will certainly also consider the histories of every one of those individual's spouses as well. Should anybody have a disqualifying criminal conviction in their past, or not be of "good moral character," the State can refute the entire application. In other words, if there is one bad apple in the bunch, the State throws out the entire application. Therefore, it is necessary to understand about the backgrounds of the individuals you have in your investment group, prior to applying for your Medical Marihuana Facilities License. There are a lot of things that a knowledgeable attorney can do to aid you prepare for your application, as well as to ensure that any kind of prospective issues with your application are known, disclosed or planned for before the application is sent. Nevertheless, this isn't the only reason why an attorney will frequently be a crucial and needed hire.

Think about The Price

Before your information can be reviewed by an expert from the Bureau of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), Bureau of Medical Marihuana Regulation (BMMR), you need to pay a $6000 charge for your application. BMMR will certainly reject to move on with your application until this has been paid completely. As well as being pricey, this fee is non-refundable so you want to ensure that there are no issues with your application that can cause it being denied. An MMFLA attorney can make sure that this is the case and help you navigate any type of tricky issues. Further, before you can obtain State approval for operation, you will certainly also need to get a municipal or city authorization. Each city or township will certainly likewise need you to complete an application and you will certainly have to pay an application fee there also. The application expense can vary depending on what the city wishes to charge, nonetheless, they can not charge greater than $5,000.00. Most cities and also townships are charging the maximum amount. In total, the application fees alone are likely to be in excess of $10,000.00. That doesn't consist of the costs of ancillary services, such as accountants, designers, marketers and also various other services required for your application to be total.

Once you have gathered and paid the application fees, all applicants as well as supplemental applicants will certainly have their fingerprints taken. You may think that if you already have actually had your finger prints taken by local law enforcement this step can be missed. Nevertheless, BMMR will certainly not accept fingerprints unless they are asked for and also collected by them through the licensing procedure. You will certainly need to go to an authorized location where your finger prints can be collected electronically as well as sent for evaluation by the State.

Facility License

This is the 2nd step and remember, if you have already picked a location to grow cannabis, you can finish this step with the first. You must be prepared to meet all the MMFLA rules. During this step, you will need to have a business plan. Nevertheless, that plan needs to include particular things. You must have all of the parts called for by the State: facility plan, security plan, marketing plan, staffing plan, technology plan, waste disposal plan (if applicable), and also a record keeping plan. There are specific minimum requirements set forth in the Administrative Rules that regulate MMFLA facilities, with which you must show your business is in compliance.

Your facility must be located in a city or township that allows MMFLA companies to run. The MMFLA has strict regulations for people and companies preparing to grow in a municipality. If you wish to grow in a community, it must have an ordinance that authorizes marihuana facility operations. Colloquially, the municipality needs to have "opted-in" to the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act (list of Michigan municipalities that have actually opted in to MMFLA), and it needs to have passed a regulatory ordinance that sets for the policies and also standards for those facilities to operate within the city or township. The complete standards can be discovered in 205, however if you do have any type of inquiries you need to call your municipal authority. Or, alternatively, get your attorney to do this for you. As the application advances, BMMR will contact applicants, offering information on any other demands, consisting of a pre-licensure inspection of your location or facility.

Approved

Finally, you might acquire approval for your license. After you are notified of this, you will certainly need to pay for a regulatory assessment. Currently, the regulatory assessments for 2018 are as follows:

Safety Compliance Facility and Secured Transporters-- $0.00.

Class A Grow License-- $10,000.

Class B Grow License-- $48,000.00.

Class C Grow License-- $48,000.00.

Processor and Provisioning Center-- $48,000.00.

Likely, the State will establish an across the board equivalent regulatory assessment for all licenses in 2019. Regulatory assessments are subject to change each year, so it is impossible to predict precisely what it will be. Nevertheless, starting in 2019, no matter which license you get, anticipate the assessment to be imposed and for that assessment to be substantial.

Verdict.

We hope this helps you choose whether you are ready to apply for a Michigan commercial grow license. Keep in mind, with an attorney at hand, this process can be much easier, as well as you will obtain experienced suggestions on just how to proceed properly to guarantee that your application is approved. Even after you get authorization, legal advice is recommended to guarantee you stay on top of adjustments to the legislation and also regulations, and so that you can remain in compliance as well as keep your organisation open.

Here at Fowler & Williams, PLC, we specialize in helping clients acquire MMFLA licenses as well as ensuring continuing compliance.

Should you choose to retain counsel to aid you on your licensing journey, give us a call.

cannabis

October 31, 2018 Deadline for Caregivers and The Changing Marihuana Dynamic in Michigan

Caregivers and the DoDo

Marijuana and extinct birds would seemingly never ever come up in any kind of discussion. Nevertheless, in consulting with our marijuana clients, many of them are inquiring about the viability of the Caregiver model, specifically as it was pushed for years. What many in the market have actually referred to as the "Caregiver Model" is going the way of the Do-Do bird on October 31, 2018. Halloween this year will certainly be the extinction event for the caregiver model as many have actually understood it for many years here in Michigan. While Caregivers will continue to have the ability to grow and market to their registered patients, and for themselves, if they are likewise registered qualifying patients, the "gray market" where they were selling their excess, and making a pretty good revenue, is coming to an end.

What was the "Caregiver Model?"

Under the old "Caregiver Model," a Registered Caregiver might grow up to seventy-two (72) marihuana plants, if they had five registered qualifying patients (the most you were permitted) and they were a registered patient too. In many cases, several caregivers would collect at one area and grow their crops together, separated by paint lines on the flooring, or in more sophisticated conditions, with each having a protected locked room within the larger enclosed, locked center. Numerous Caregivers might produce even more useful marihuana than their patients could make use of. Those caregivers would after that sell their excess to dispensaries, many of which were operating with municipal approval throughout the State. This "grey" market led to substantial revenues for many caregivers and dispensary owners. Under Michigan's Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act, however, caregivers were mosting likely to be phased out by 2021. Several Caregivers and industry experts really felt that suggested the "Caregiver Model" might remain to generate those very same earnings for an additional 2 or 2 and a half years. The State, nonetheless, had other plans.

The State's Response

The State of Michigan, nonetheless, had other plans for the upstart marijuana industry. First, the Bureau of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs has taken a very scrutinizing method to licensing applications where any of the candidates were Caregivers. Much of those applications have been rejected over the past several months since the Board has found that there were failings to divulge by many of these caregivers regarding how much cash they made, exactly how they made it, and for failing to state that earnings on a State or Federal Tax Return. However, in a September 2018 publishing, LARA and the BMMR posted that all centers that are operating with municipal approval, but which have not gotten a State License, need to stop purchasing unlabeled and unsanctioned medical marihuana on October 31, 2018. https://www.michigan.gov/lara/0,4601,7-154-79571_79784-479748–,00.html. Any marihuana acquired after the October 31, 2018 date by those facilities should be properly identified and coded as required by the guidelines, and must come from a properly State Licensed grower or processor. The caregivers may still grow, but they will have no methods whereby to sell their product legitimately to a provisioning center or processor. The old "Caregiver Model" will, effectively, come to an end.

Results and Consequences

Some may say that there are still licensed or unlicensed centers that are going to continue buying from caregivers, regardless of the State mandate. To ensure, there may be some that take that risk.

Nonetheless, the State has actually shown a commitment to enforcement and examination. If the State were to determine that a candidate or a licensed facility was still taking caretaker overages and selling them, the State would likely do something about it. If a candidate were to be caught participating in this model, they would likely be refuted immediately by the Board. If a licensed center were to be caught breaking this mandate, the State would likely move on with sanctions against that facility's license, consisting of a suspension or revocation of the license. Given just how much those licenses are worth, and the expense of acquiring any one of the permitted center licensing types, a lot of owners will be extremely reluctant to take chances with the possible loss of their license, or understanding that their license will not be restored.

If you are a caregiver and do not understand what to do come October 31, 2018, are an individual thinking about requesting a MMFLA license, or are an applicant who needs representation or has concerns regarding exactly how these adjustments will affect you, give us a call. We have the experience and expertise in the cannabis and marihuana regulation fields to assist answer your inquiries and offer you the advice you need.

10 Things You Need To Know Before Opening A Marihuana Provisioning Center

You may be thinking of opening a marihuana provisioning center in Michigan. Now, after the passage of the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act or the MMFLA (M.C.L. 333.27401 et seq.) that is possible, but only if you acquire municipal approval and a State issued operations license. "Provisioning Center" is the legally allowable term under Michigan's Bureau of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Medical Marihuana Regulation, for what was previously referred to colloquially as a "dispensary." The existing guidelines no longer permit such companies to be referred to legally as "dispensaries" and the State requires that they be referred to as marihuana provisioning centers. A provisioning center is basically a organisation where qualifying patients under the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act or the MMMA (M.C.L. 333.26421 et seq.) may come to acquire medical marihuana for medical use. While a provisioning center can be a successful endeavor, there are a few things you to understand before you move forward.

Can You Transport Cannabis In A Private Vehicle?

Currently, under Michigan law, the general rule is that possession and transport of marihuana in a car is prohibited by law, and subjects you to criminal penalties. Only registered qualifying patients and registered caregivers under the MMMA can transport marihuana in a motor vehicle. Even then, they have to do so in strict compliance with the MMMA. Marijuana may only transported in a locked, closed container in the trunk of a vehicle, where it can not be accessed by the driver or individuals in the passenger compartment. You may also not have more than 2.5 ounces of usable marihuana, per registered qualifying patient. Caregivers can transport usable marihuana for up to 5 patients (and themselves also if the caregiver is also a qualifying patient) or up to 12 plants per patient (again, including plants for the caregiver, if they are also a qualifying patient). Under the MMFLA, nevertheless, provisioning centers that are licensed by the State and their local municipality, must only accept marihuana into their facility that is brought by a MMFLA State Licensed Secured Transporter, or, if they have a grow or processing center co-located ( connected to or on the same property) and transport of the marihuana will not occur on a public street, it can be moved as stated by lara, BMMR under the Administrative rules.

How Much Cannabis Can You Offer?

A licensed provisioning center under the MMFLA may not offer more than 2.5 ounces of marihuana daily to a registered qualifying patient. A provisioning center that is licensed may also offer to a registered primary caregiver, but not more than 2.5 ounces per qualifying patient attached to the caregiver's license. If you are licensed by the State to operate a provisioning center, you will have to use a point of sale system that has software that is complaint with the Statewide Monitoring Database, which utilizes a software program called METRC. The State allows the use of twenty-four (24) software programs that are METRC compliant. Every customer who goes into a provisioning center, you will need to utilize a point of sale system that has software that is compliant. Every client who sets foot in a provisioning center must have their card run through the Statewide Monitoring Database to make sure that they have not already been provided their maximum daily quantity of 2.5 ounces from another licensed provisioning center. A provisioning center should likewise update the qualifying patient's profile on the Statewide Monitoring Database after sale, so that the Database will show how much medical marihuana was acquired by the patient at your provisioning center.

What License Do You Need?

You need a full license provided by the state to operate as a Michigan provisioning center. If you are growing marijuana, you will likewise require to make sure that you apply for a Michigan commercial grow license application. You might wish to speak to an MMFLA attorney, such as Fowler & Williams, PLC, about this to ensure that you are fully licensed, or you will be shut down. Most importantly, DO NOT begin operating your provisioning center without a State license being issued to you under the MMFLA. While the process of acquiring a license is complicated and requires a significant amount of time and money, the success of these provisioning centers far exceeds the cost of acquiring one. If you can get approved for a license and make it through the application process to obtain a provisioning center license, you should do so before you begin operating.

Can You Get More Than One License?

Yes, you can apply and receive more than one license. This is useful for any business or individual who wishes to establish a provisioning center and a grow or processor at the same time. According to the law, there is nothing stopping you from doing this. Even more, you can get several provisioning center licenses so that you can run multiple provisioning centers in various cities. The licenses do not attach to the individual or the business that is applying, permitting you to use it anywhere you want. Rather, the licenses attach to the property you provide on your application for the business. Therefore, if you wish to open multiple provisioning centers, you will have to send multiple State applications. If you prefer to get various types of licenses (say a grow or processor license) in addition to a provisioning center, you can co-locate them at one facility, however you need to submit separate applications for each license type, and need to fulfill the minimum monetary and background requirements individually for each license type.

Just How Much Will A License Cost?

The cost for the license application to the State is $6,000.00 per application, regardless of license type applied for, including for a provisioning center. There are also municipal application costs, which can be up to $5,000.00 per application. Each municipality is different, and they can charge different fees, and they can vary the charges depending upon which kind of license you apply for. Generally, nevertheless, they charge the maximum permitted, which is $5,000.00 per license application. Even more, after you get a State license, there are regulatory assessments that will need to be paid every year, both after issuance and each year after when the license is renewed.

In 2018, the assessments differ.

Secured Transporters and Safety Compliance Facilities (testing labs) have no assessment ($ 0.00).

Class A Growers have a $10,000.00 regulatory assessment.

Class B and Class C Growers, Provisioning Centers and Processors have a $48,000.00 regulatory assessment.

The State has said that beginning in 2019 there will be a standardized regulatory assessment that will apply to all license holders, regardless of the type of license provided. In the meantime, nevertheless, the assessments will remain as noted above. You will likewise find that there are other professional costs that you will need to pay in order to guarantee that your application is complete, and that your business plan, with all of its essential parts, is up to par with the State's application requests. Those expenses can differ considerably, and are hard to anticipate.

Needless to say, the application and licensing process is an pricey venture, however in a market that is slated to do about $891,000,000.00 in annual sales this year, up from about $741,000,000.00 in 2017, the return on investment might be considerable.

Should You Have A Legal representative?

While not mandatory, you should certainly make certain that you are obtaining guidance from an MMFLA legal representative before you consider opening a Michigan provisioning center. It's important that you get the best possible legal suggestions and that you are following all the regulations and requirements. Only an lawyer experienced in handling cases under the MMMA and licensing work under the MMFLA, like Fowler & Williams, PLC, can guarantee that you have all the tools and guidance that you need to give your application the best opportunity at success. Failure to make certain that your application is complete, and that it provides support for your ability to currently comply and guarantee future compliance with the Administrative rules, your application is much more likely to be declined or rejected, and your dream of opening a provisioning center brought to an unceremonious ending.

Just How Much Will This Business Cost?

You can anticipate the overall start-up costs for this type of organisation to be anywhere between 400 and 500K, at a minimum. While the State requires a minimum capitalization requirement of $300,000.00 (one quarter of which must be liquid funds), that will not suffice, realistically, to begin business. You will need to potentially acquire land or property in an opted-in municipality. (Here is an up to date list of Michigan Municipalities currently opted-in to MMFLA) There will be obligatory fees, costs, and professional services that you need to obtain to make sure that your application is accurate and complete, and to make sure that you are presently in compliance with all laws and guidelines, along with ensuring future compliance. This includes everything from licensing to a full team of staff members and much more. It's certainly not cheap, and you need to be prepared for a heavy financial investment. However, as noted above, the market is large, and continuing to grow.

Can You Go Mobile?

No, you can not run a mobile provisioning center as it is presently illegal to operate one in the state of Michigan. However, this could change, which's why it  is very important to speak to a medical marihuana attorney regularly, so that you are keeping up to date with modifications to the law. Marijuana law is an evolving and altering field, and as a outcome, there might come a time where the MMFLA or the MMMA is amended to enable a mobile provisioning center.

What Are You Lawfully Able To Do?

As a provisioning center, your sole function is to supply safe medical marihuana to registered qualifying patients. You might only offer marihuana or marihuana infused items that were grown by a MMFLA licensed grower or processed by a MMFLA licensed processor and the products have been tested by a MMFLA licensed safety compliance facility with appropriate labeling and tracking. You may not sell these items prior to your acquiring a license, unless you were operating with city approval prior to February 15, 2018 and you have already sent an application to the State looking for a license.

Soon a change in law will likely allow for recreational cannabis sales. If the ballot initiative passes, for the first two years after the State passes recreational cannabis facility guidelines and starts accepting licensing applications, only centers licensed by the MMFLA to sell, grow, process, transport or test medical marihuana will be lawfully permitted to look for recreational marihuana licenses for the same activity. Hence, obtaining a provisioning center license under the MMFLA, provides you the chance to go into the recreational market, where others will not.

What Are The Requirements?

In order to get a provisioning center license, you need to guarantee that you do not have a disqualifying criminal conviction, and that you satisfy the minimum capitalization requirements, which as noted earlier are $300,000.00 with 25% liquid capital. You will also have to acquire an appropriately zoned structure in a city or township that has "opted-in" to the MMFLA to permit such facilities to run within their borders. Whether your own it or rent it does not matter, however you need to have the structure. After that, you will need to produce a business plan which contains all of the necessary aspects from the state, consisting of a security plan, facility plan, marketing plan, staffing plan, technology plan, recordkeeping plan, waste disposal plan, and more, showing that you will abide by the State's policies now and in the future.

Conclusion

We hope this offers you with some of the details you need before opening a Michigan provisioning center. Needless to say, the process is expensive, intricate and time consuming, however the reward and ROI can be substantial. In reality, acquiring a qualified MMFLA and MMMA attorney, like Fowler & Williams, PLC, can help streamline and simplify the application process, and take most of the work off your plate.

If you want details, or want to come in and talk about making an application for a provisioning center license, we would enjoy to have you come in for a consultation.