After September 15, Can I Still be a Caregiver?

The Bureau of Medical marijuana Regulation is standing firm on their position that all cannabis facilities that are not licensed by the State under the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act, will have to shut down, and will receive a cease and desist letter at that time. While the facilities are not mandated to shut down, the State Bureau of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs has made clear that any center that continues to operate after receipt of the cease and desist will most likely not be granted a license. Further, the State has set forth suggested Final Rules relating to Medical Marihuana Facilities licensing, which is going to enable or registered qualifying patients to obtain home shipments from provisioning centers (with constraint, of course) and also will certainly additionally allow online ordering. So, where does that leave registered caregivers, that were anticipating to be able to remain relevant to their clients until 2021?

Traditional Model

The old for registered caregivers was quite easy. You were enabled to grow up to twelve plants for each patient. You could have five patients, aside from yourself. If the caregiver was also a client, they could likewise grow twelve plants for individual use too. So, a caregiver could grow an overall of seventy-two marihuana plants. Most caregivers generated far more usable marihuana from those plants than they could use for patients and individual use. The caregivers would then sell their excess product to medical marihuana dispensaries.

Under the emergency rules, marihuana dispensaries that were running with municipal authorization, but that had not received a State license were permitted to continue running and buying from registered caregivers. Those facilities were allowed to buy caregiver excess for thirty days after getting their State license for supply. That implied considerable revenues for caregivers and considerable supply for dispensaries.

After September 15, 2018

The problems for registered caregivers only starts on September 15, 2018. All State licensed centers that will continue to be open and operating can not buy any kind of product from caregivers. State Licensed Provisioning Centers, but statute and administrative rules are strictly banned from acquiring or offering any item that is not produced by a State Licensed Grower or Processor that has had their product tested and certified by a State Licensed Safety Compliance Facility. Any State Licensed Provisioning Center that is found to have product available for sale that is not from a State Licensed Grower or Processor is subject to State sanctions on their license, consisting of short-term or permanent retraction of the license. Given the threat, licensed centers are extremely unlikely to take the chance of purchasing from a caregiver, offered the prospective repercussions.

Additionally, the unlicensed centers to whom caregivers have been continuing to sell to, even during the licensing process, will be closing down. Some may continue to run, but given the State's stance on centers that do not abide by their cease and desist letters being looked at very adversely in the licensing process, the market will certainly be drastically reduced, if not eliminated. Consequently, caregivers will certainly not have much choice for marketing their overages, and also will be limited only to their present clients.

New Administrative Rules

A hearing will be held on September 17, 2018 regarding the brand-new proposed final administrative rules for the regulation of medical marihuana facilities, which will become effective in November, when the emergency rules cease being effective. Those final recommended administrative rules allow for home delivery by a provisioning center, and will likewise allow managed online ordering. Those 2 things take away much of the role contemplated by caregivers under the brand-new rules. Patients would still require them to head to the provisioning facility to get and deliver marijuana to patients that were too ill or who were handicapped and can not get to those licensed centers to acquire their medical cannabis. With this modification to the administrative rules, such patients will no longer require a caregiver. They will have the ability to place an order online and have the provisioning center deliver it to them, essentially removing the requirement of a caregiver.

Conclusion

For better or worse, the State is doing everything it can to get rid of caregivers under the brand-new administrative scheme, even prior to the intended removal in 2021 contemplated by the MMFLA. There are a lot of factors the State could be doing it, but that is of little comfort to caregivers. The bottom line is, the State is getting rid of the caregiver model, and they are moving that process along with celerity. The State is sending the message that they want caregivers out of the marketplace asap, and they are establishing guidelines to make sure that happens sooner rather than later. The caregiver model, while helpful and needed under the old Michigan Medical Marihuana Act structure, are currently going the way of the Dodo. Like everything else, the Marihuana regulations are evolving, and some things that have thrived in the past, won't make it to see the brand-new legalized era.