Detroit Medical Cannabis Update

Detroit Medical Marijuana Update

The previous week has actually been an active one in the City of Detroit when it involves Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act concerns. The City application due date for presently running facilities was February 15. The Wayne County Circuit Court's Chief Judge, Robert Colombo, Jr. released a judgment relating to the voter initiatives and dispensary zoning requirements. Lastly, the City issued a halt on applications and also authorizations for new medical marijuana provisioning centers within the City of Detroit.

Detroit MMFLA Deadline Comes and Goes: If you were a medical marijuana dispensary owner as well as 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 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 you were on the approved list, as well as no matter whether you have been running with City authorization, your license with the City will certainly not be renewed. Nor will your present municipal license to operate 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 six 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 ask about the policies and also guidelines with a medical marijuana licensing lawyer that comprehends the complexities of this ever-changing as well as intricate location of legislation.

Moratorium on New Provisioning Centers:

Detroit has placed a 6 month moratorium on applications for Medical Marijuana dispensary licenses as of February 15. The City has stated that it will certainly not release any type of new dispensary licenses throughout that six month duration. A lot more dramatically, for provisioning centers that were running under a municipal license or under a contractual arrangement with the City that they would not close your facility 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 operate, as well as your currently issued and valid license to operate in the City, will not be renewed. Services that did not get their applications in by the target date will certainly have to wait until at least after the moratorium is over before they can attempt to re-apply. There has been a lot of discussion that the City might not provide anymore licenses after that moratorium is passed, which it would certainly be within its rights to do. Consequently, if you didn't get your application in before the due date, you must chat with a medical cannabis licensing attorney to discuss your options progressing.

Circuit Court Strikes Down Zoning Initiative:

The last news concerns the voter initiatives that were passed in November which transformed the zoning requirements for dispensaries. Voters authorized a decrease in the zoning limitations concerning medical cannabis provisioning centers. The ordinance required that a provisioning center had to be at least 1000 feet away from a church or school. The initiatives proposed to lower the zoning requirements to make sure 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. 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 transformed by voter initiative. Therefore, the initiatives were overruled and the original zoning limitations are again in place. While numerous citizen groups are vowing an appeal, it will certainly be time before the Court of Appeals as well as, inevitably, the Michigan Supreme Court can evaluate in on the issue. The zoning statute, if it stays unchanged, will likely also impact new types of Medical Marijuana Facilities authorized for licensing under the MMFLA.

Exactly how Does This Influence My Application?: If you are a provisioning center operating legally in Detroit today, as well as you submitted your application to the State and the City by February 15, 2018, then, these changes will certainly have little to no influence on you. Anyone running a center in Detroit that did not apply by the target date, or who is operating unlawfully and is not on the Detroit authorized centers' checklist, the choice can be ravaging. You might not be able to operate your center after completion of the year, or sooner, depending on the nature of your center. If you are not on the accepted list, you will not be able to obtain city approval to operate, which is a condition precedent to getting your State license. Therefore, you will not be able 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 approved to proceed operating past your current licensing date. There is additionally no guarantee that you will be able to send an application after the present six month moratorium, nor is there any type of factor to believe that the City will approve anymore applications for provisioning centers. If your wish is to proceed giving individuals with medication, you require to speak with an experienced medical cannabis licensing lawyer to aid you come up with an intend on exactly how you can attempt to continue in the sector.

If you want to review getting a license under the Michigan Medical marijuana Facilities Licensing Act,

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

contact Fowler & Williams, PLC today for a consultation.