Detroit Medical Marijuana Update

Detroit Medical Cannabis Update

The previous week has actually been a busy one in the City of Detroit when it involves 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 and dispensary zoning requirements. Finally, the City released a moratorium on applications and also approvals for brand-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 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 needed to be filed with the City of Detroit for municipal attestation of operating approval by that date as well. If you did not get your application in by February 15, 2018, whether or not you got on the approved list, as well as no matter whether you have actually been running with City approval, your license with the City will not be renewed. Neither will your existing municipal license to run be renewed. In other words, 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 warranty that you will have the ability to apply, or be approved, once the moratorium is over. Even more reason to ask about the policies and guidelines with a medical marijuana licensing lawyer that understands the intricacies of this ever-changing and also complex area of law.

Moratorium on New Dispensaries:

Detroit has placed a 6 month moratorium on applications for Medical Cannabis provisioning center licenses as of February 15. The City has specified that it will certainly not issue any type of brand-new provisioning center licenses throughout that six month duration. Even more considerably, for provisioning centers that were operating under a municipal license or under a contractual agreement with the City that they would not close your center down, if you did not send 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 not be authorized to run, as well as your presently 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 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 prior to the due date, you need to talk with a medical marijuana licensing lawyer to review your alternatives moving on.

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 provisioning centers. Voters accepted a reduction in the zoning constraints concerning medical cannabis dispensaries. The ordinance required that a provisioning center had to be at least 1000 feet away from a church or school. The initiatives proposed to reduce the zoning requirements to make sure that provisioning centers only 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. determined 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 can not be transformed by voter initiative. As a result, the initiatives were overruled and also the initial zoning limits are once more in place. While numerous citizen teams are vowing an appeal, it will certainly be time before the Court of Appeals and, ultimately, the Michigan Supreme Court can evaluate in on the problem. The zoning statute, if it continues to be unmodified, will likely additionally affect new kinds of Medical Marijuana Facilities accepted for licensing under the MMFLA.

Just how Does This Influence My Application?: If you are a dispensary operating legally in Detroit now, as well as you sent your application to the State and the City by February 15, 2018, then, these changes will have little to no influence on you. Any person running a center in Detroit that did not apply by the target date, or that is running unlawfully and also is not on the Detroit accepted centers' listing, the choice could be devastating. You may not have the ability to run your facility after the end of the year, or sooner, relying on the nature of your facility. If you are not on the authorized list, you will certainly not be able to get city authorization to operate, which is a condition precedent to obtaining your State license. Therefore, you will not have the ability to obtain an operating license from the State, as well as your unregulated center is likely to come to be a target of State regulators. If you were running legally, yet did not get your application in to the City or the State by February 15, 2018, you will certainly not be municipally accepted to proceed operating past your current licensing date. There is likewise no assurance that you will certainly be able to submit an application after the present 6 month moratorium, neither is there any type of factor to believe that the City will certainly approve any more applications for provisioning centers. If your desire is to proceed offering people with medicine, you need to consult with an experienced medical marijuana licensing attorney to help you develop an intend on exactly how you can try to continue in the market.

If you intend to review acquiring 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.