Detroit Medical Cannabis Update

Detroit Medical Marijuana Update

The past week has actually been a busy one in the City of Detroit when it comes to Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act issues. The City application deadline for presently running centers was February 15. The Wayne County Circuit Court's Chief Judge, Robert Colombo, Jr. released a judgment relating to the voter initiatives as well as dispensary zoning requirements. Lastly, the City issued a postponement on applications as well as approvals for brand-new medical marijuana dispensaries within the City of Detroit.

Detroit MMFLA Deadline Comes and Goes: If you were a medical marijuana dispensary owner and you were on the City's authorized 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 additionally had to be submitted with the City of Detroit for municipal attestation of operating approval by that date also. If you did not get your application in by February 15, 2018, whether or not you were on the authorized list, and also regardless of whether you have been operating with City authorization, your license with the City will not be renewed. Neither will your present municipal license to run be renewed. In short, if you really did not get your application in by February 15, 2018, you're out of luck after the expiry of your present 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 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 and also policies with a medical cannabis licensing attorney who comprehends the intricacies of this ever-changing and complicated location of legislation.

Moratorium on New Dispensaries:

Detroit has placed a six month moratorium on applications for Medical Marijuana dispensary licenses since February 15. The City has specified that it will not issue any new dispensary licenses throughout that six month duration. Much more substantially, for dispensaries that were running under a municipal license or under a contractual arrangement with the City that they would not shut your center down, if you did not submit your State Application for a provisioning center 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 certainly not be approved to run, as well as your currently issued and valid license to operate in the City, will not be renewed. Companies that did not get their applications in by the deadline will certainly 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 be within its rights to do. Because of this, if you didn't get your application in prior to the target date, you ought to speak with a medical marijuana licensing lawyer to review your choices moving forward.

Circuit Court Strikes Down Zoning Initiative:

The last news regards the voter initiatives that were passed in November which changed the zoning requirements for dispensaries. Citizens authorized a decrease in the zoning limitations regarding medical cannabis dispensaries. The ordinance required that a provisioning center had to be at the very least 1000 feet away from a church or school. The initiatives proposed to decrease the zoning requirements so that dispensaries 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. 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 could not be altered by voter initiative. As a result, the initiatives were overruled as well as the initial zoning limitations are once more in place. While a number of citizen groups are vowing an appeal, it will certainly be a long time before the Court of Appeals and also, ultimately, the Michigan Supreme Court can weigh in on the problem. The zoning statute, if it continues to be unchanged, will likely likewise affect brand-new types of Medical Marijuana Facilities authorized for licensing under the MMFLA.

How Does This Influence My Application?: If you are a provisioning center operating legally in Detroit now, and also you sent your application to the State as well as the City by February 15, 2018, after that, these modifications will have little to no impact on you. Anybody operating a facility in Detroit that did not apply by the target date, or who is running illegally as well as is not on the Detroit accepted centers' list, the decision could be ravaging. You might not be able to operate your center after the end of the year, or sooner, depending upon the nature of your facility. If you are not on the authorized list, you will not be able to get city authorization to run, which is a condition precedent to obtaining your State license. As a result, you will certainly not have the ability to obtain an operating license from the State, as well as your unregulated center is likely to end up being a target of State regulators. If you were operating lawfully, yet did not get your application in to the City or the State by February 15, 2018, you will not be municipally accepted to proceed running past your current licensing date. There is additionally no warranty that you will certainly have the ability to submit an application after the present 6 month moratorium, neither is there any type of reason to think that the City will certainly approve anymore applications for provisioning centers. If your desire is to continue offering patients with medication, you require to speak to a well-informed clinical marijuana licensing lawyer to aid you come up with an intend on how you can attempt to proceed in the market.

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

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

call Fowler & Williams, PLC today for a consultation.

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