Detroit Medical Marijuana Update
The past week has actually been a hectic one in the City of Detroit when it involves Medical marijuana Facilities Licensing Act concerns. The City application due date for presently operating centers was February 15. The Wayne County Circuit Court’s Chief Judge, Robert Colombo, Jr. released a judgment regarding the voter initiatives and also dispensary zoning requirements. Finally, the City released a postponement on applications and 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 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 submitted with the City of Detroit for municipal attestation of operating approval by that date also. If you did not get your application in by February 15, 2018, whether you got on the accepted list, as well as regardless of whether you have actually been operating with City authorization, your license with the City will certainly not be renewed. Neither will your existing municipal license to run 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 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 warranty that you will have the ability to apply, or be approved, once the moratorium is over. Even more reason to inquire about the policies and also policies with a medical cannabis licensing attorney that recognizes the complexities of this ever-changing and intricate location 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 actually stated that it will not issue any brand-new dispensary licenses throughout that six month duration. Even more substantially, for provisioning centers that were operating under a municipal license or under a legal agreement with the City that they would certainly not shut your center down, if you did not send your State Application for a dispensary license, and submit 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, and your currently issued and valid license to operate in the City, will certainly not be renewed. Companies that did not get their applications in by the target 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 provide 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 ought to talk with a medical marijuana licensing lawyer to discuss your options moving forward.
Circuit Court Strikes Down Zoning Initiative:
The last news concerns the voter initiatives that were passed in November which changed the zoning requirements for provisioning centers. Citizens approved a reduction in the zoning restrictions relating to medical marijuana dispensaries. The ordinance required that a provisioning center needed to be at least 1000 feet away from a church or school. The initiatives proposed to reduce the zoning requirements so that dispensaries only 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 filed 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 might not be changed by voter initiative. Therefore, the initiatives were struck down as well as the initial zoning limits are once more in place. While a number of citizen groups are vowing an appeal, it will certainly be time before the Court of Appeals and also, ultimately, the Michigan Supreme Court can weigh in on the issue. The zoning regulation, if it stays unchanged, will likely also impact brand-new types of Medical Cannabis Facilities approved for licensing under the MMFLA.
How Does This Effect My Application?: If you are a provisioning center operating legally in Detroit right now, and you sent your application to the State and the City by February 15, 2018, after that, these adjustments will certainly have little to no impact on you. Any individual operating a facility in Detroit that did not apply by the due date, or who is operating unlawfully and is not on the Detroit authorized facilities’ checklist, the decision might be ruining. You may not have the ability to run your center after the end of the year, or sooner, depending upon the nature of your center. If you are not on the approved list, you will not be able to get city authorization to run, which is a condition precedent to acquiring your State license. Consequently, you will not have the ability to get an operating license from the State, and also your unregulated facility is likely to end up being a target of State regulators. If you were operating legally, however did not get your application in to the City or the State by February 15, 2018, you will not be municipally approved to proceed running past your current licensing date. There is additionally no assurance that you will certainly have the ability to submit an application after the present 6 month moratorium, neither exists any type of factor to believe that the City will authorize any more applications for provisioning centers. If your wish is to proceed providing individuals with medication, you need to consult with an educated clinical cannabis licensing attorney to help you create an intend on exactly how you can try to proceed in the sector.
If you wish 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 an assessment.