Detroit Medical Marijuana Update

Detroit Medical Cannabis Update

The previous 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 presently operating facilities was February 15. The Wayne County Circuit Court's Chief Judge, Robert Colombo, Jr. provided a judgment concerning the voter initiatives and dispensary zoning requirements. Lastly, the City issued a postponement on applications as well as 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 owner and also you got 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 additionally 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 you were on the approved list, as well as no matter whether you have been operating with City approval, your license with the City will certainly not be renewed. Neither will your existing municipal license to operate be renewed. Basically, if you didn't 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 guarantee that you will have the ability to apply, or be approved, once the moratorium is over. Even more reason to inquire about the regulations as well as rules with a medical cannabis licensing lawyer who recognizes the intricacies of this ever-changing and also complicated area of regulation.

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 stated that it will not provide any kind of new dispensary licenses throughout that six month period. A lot more considerably, for dispensaries that were operating under a municipal license or under a legal agreement with the City that they would certainly not close your center down, if you did not submit your State Application for a dispensary 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 accepted to run, and your currently issued and valid license to operate in the City, will not be restored. Services that did not get their applications in by the due date 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. Therefore, if you didn't get your application in before the target date, you should speak with a medical marijuana licensing lawyer to discuss your alternatives moving forward.

Circuit Court Strikes Down Zoning Initiative:

The final news concerns the voter initiatives that were passed in November which changed the zoning requirements for dispensaries. Voters accepted a reduction in the zoning limitations pertaining to medical marijuana provisioning centers. The ordinance required that a dispensary needed to be at the very least 1000 feet away from a church or school. The initiatives proposed to reduce the zoning requirements to ensure that dispensaries just had 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 could not be transformed by voter initiative. Therefore, the initiatives were overruled and also the initial zoning limits 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 evaluate in on the problem. The zoning regulation, if it remains the same, will likely additionally impact new sorts 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 right now, as well as you sent your application to the State and the City by February 15, 2018, after that, these adjustments will have little to no effect on you. Anyone operating a center in Detroit that did not apply by the deadline, or that is running illegally and is not on the Detroit accepted facilities' listing, the choice can be devastating. You might not be able to operate your center after the end of the year, or sooner, depending on the nature of your facility. If you are not on the authorized list, you will not have the ability to obtain city approval to run, which is a condition precedent to getting your State license. Therefore, you will certainly not have the ability to get an operating license from the State, and your unregulated center 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 not be municipally authorized to continue operating past your existing licensing date. There is also no warranty that you will be able to send an application after the present six month moratorium, nor is there any kind of factor to think that the City will authorize any more applications for dispensaries. If your need is to continue providing clients with medication, you require to talk to an educated medical cannabis licensing attorney to help you create a plan on exactly how you can attempt to proceed in the industry.

If you intend to go over getting a license under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act,

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

get in touch with Fowler & Williams, PLC today for a consultation.