Detroit Medical Cannabis Update
The past week has been a hectic one in the City of Detroit when it involves Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act issues. The City application deadline for currently running centers was February 15. The Wayne County Circuit Court's Chief Judge, Robert Colombo, Jr. released a judgment pertaining to the voter initiatives as well as dispensary zoning requirements. Finally, the City provided a halt on applications and authorizations for 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 approved 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 likewise had to be filed 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 or not you were on the approved list, and also no matter whether you have been running with City authorization, your license with the City will not be renewed. Neither will your present 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 expiration 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 warranty that you will be able to apply, or be approved, once the moratorium is over. All the more reason to inquire about the laws as well as rules with a medical cannabis licensing lawyer who comprehends the intricacies of this ever-changing as well as complicated area of regulation.
Moratorium on New Provisioning Centers:
Detroit has placed a 6 month moratorium on applications for Medical Marijuana dispensary licenses since February 15. The City has specified that it will certainly not release any brand-new dispensary licenses during that 6 month duration. Even more substantially, for dispensaries that were running under a municipal license or under a contractual agreement with the City that they would 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 not be authorized to run, and your presently 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 need 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 may not release anymore licenses after that moratorium is passed, which it would certainly be within its rights to do. As a result, if you didn't get your application in before the target date, you must talk with a medical cannabis licensing attorney to discuss your alternatives 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. Citizens approved a reduction in the zoning constraints regarding medical marijuana provisioning centers. The ordinance required that a provisioning center needed to be at the very least 1000 feet away from a church or school. The initiatives proposed to decrease the zoning requirements so that provisioning centers 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. 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 can not be altered by voter initiative. As a result, the initiatives were overruled as well as the original zoning limitations are once more in place. While several 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 weigh in on the concern. The zoning ordinance, if it stays unchanged, will likely also impact brand-new sorts of Medical Marijuana Facilities accepted for licensing under the MMFLA.
Exactly how Does This Influence My Application?: If you are a dispensary operating legally in Detroit right now, and also you submitted your application to the State and the City by February 15, 2018, after that, these changes will certainly have little to no effect on you. Any individual operating a center in Detroit that did not apply by the deadline, or that is running unlawfully and also is not on the Detroit authorized centers' listing, the choice can be ruining. You may not have the ability 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 be able to get city authorization to run, which is a condition precedent to getting your State license. Because of this, you will not have the ability to acquire an operating license from the State, and your unregulated facility is likely to end up being a target of State regulators. If you were running legally, but 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 running past your present licensing date. There is also no guarantee that you will certainly have the ability to submit an application after the present six month moratorium, nor is there any reason to think that the City will certainly accept any more applications for provisioning centers. If your wish is to proceed giving individuals with medication, you require to consult with a well-informed clinical marijuana licensing lawyer to help you generate a plan on just how you can attempt to continue in the sector.
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,
contact Fowler & Williams, PLC today for an assessment.
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