Detroit Medical Marijuana Update

Detroit Medical Marijuana Update

The past week has been a busy one in the City of Detroit when it involves Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act issues. The City application deadline for currently operating centers was February 15. The Wayne County Circuit Court's Chief Judge, Robert Colombo, Jr. provided a judgment pertaining to the voter initiatives and also dispensary zoning requirements. Finally, the City released a halt on applications and also 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 also you got on the City's accepted 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 too. If you did not get your application in by February 15, 2018, whether you got on the accepted list, and despite whether you have actually been operating with City authorization, your license with the City will not be renewed. Neither will your existing 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 6 months, until the moratorium is passed. Even then, there's no assurance that you will be able to apply, or be approved, once the moratorium is over. Even more reason to inquire about the guidelines as well as regulations with a medical marijuana licensing attorney that comprehends the complexities of this ever-changing as well as intricate area of law.

Moratorium on New Provisioning Centers:

Detroit has placed a six month moratorium on applications for Medical Cannabis provisioning center licenses since February 15. The City has actually specified that it will not issue any type of brand-new dispensary licenses throughout that six month duration. A lot more significantly, for dispensaries that were running under a municipal license or under a contractual contract with the City that they would certainly not shut your facility 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, as well as your currently issued and valid license to operate in the City, will certainly not be renewed. Organisations that did not get their applications in by the deadline will need 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 might not release any more licenses after that moratorium is passed, which it would certainly be within its rights to do. Because of this, if you didn't get your application in before the due date, you must speak with a medical marijuana licensing attorney to review your choices moving forward.

Circuit Court Strikes Down Zoning Initiative:

The final news pertains to the voter initiatives that were passed in November which altered the zoning requirements for dispensaries. Citizens approved a decrease in the zoning constraints relating to medical marijuana provisioning centers. The ordinance required that a dispensary had to be at least 1000 feet away from a church or school. The initiatives proposed to reduce 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 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 transformed by voter initiative. Consequently, the initiatives were struck down and also the original zoning limitations are again in place. While a number of citizen groups are vowing an appeal, it will be a long time before the Court of Appeals and also, eventually, the Michigan Supreme Court can weigh in on the concern. The zoning regulation, if it continues to be unchanged, will likely additionally affect brand-new types of Medical Cannabis Facilities authorized for licensing under the MMFLA.

How Does This Influence My Application?: If you are a provisioning center operating legally in Detroit today, as well as you sent your application to the State and the City by February 15, 2018, after that, these adjustments will certainly have little to no effect on you. Any individual running a facility in Detroit that did not apply by the due date, or that is operating illegally and is not on the Detroit approved centers' listing, the choice might be devastating. You may not have the ability to operate your facility after the end of the year, or sooner, relying on the nature of your center. If you are not on the authorized list, you will not have the ability to get city authorization to operate, which is a condition precedent to obtaining your State license. Therefore, you will not be able to acquire an operating license from the State, and also your unregulated facility is likely to come to be a target of State regulators. If you were running lawfully, however 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 current licensing date. There is likewise no assurance that you will be able to submit an application after the present 6 month moratorium, nor exists any reason to believe that the City will accept anymore applications for dispensaries. If your wish is to proceed giving clients with medication, you need to talk with a knowledgeable medical cannabis licensing attorney to aid you generate an intend on how you can try to continue in the industry.

If you wish 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,

call Fowler & Williams, PLC today for an appointment.