Law Michigan MMJ

[BD9]

A long way to go but we're getting closer. I know Matt and Renae Johnson of Lush Lighting. Two of the nicest people I know. Renae taught me how to juice cannabis.

https://lushledlighting.com


https://www.abc57.com/news/dozens-p...ote-yes-on-recreational-marijuana-enterprises

Dozens of residents are pushing for Niles Charter Township board members to vote yes on allowing recreational marijuana businesses to open up in town.

One by one people rose up in a meeting at Niles Charter Township say why they believe the ordinance could change the scope of their town.

A common thread in the meeting was money. Some say medical marijuana patients already have to travel to get their prescriptions filled. Attendees said this is taking business outside the township.

Renae Johnson of Lush Lighting in Niles said, “they’re going to spend money here. They’re going to go to our local restaurants; you know we have a new hotel opening. They’re going to stay overnight to get the rest of their allotment.”

One woman who was sure she did not want the ordinances to pass said after the meeting she has more to think about after what she learned. She said crime is still a concern for her.

“I would like safety to be a bigger consideration than the money,” said Deborah Neilson. I didn’t feel like that was what happened at all.”

Lush Lighting owner Matt Johnson, said the opt in would provide marijuana regulations and protect people even more.

He said the results would include, a decrease in people buying off the street illegally and or growing it in their homes without proper care, causing safety hazards.

“We can offer an industry for them to move out of their home and into a legitimate business we can regulate it,” said Johnson.

Supporters said the 10% excise tax on future pot sales could go towards better education and fixing local roads.

A township board member told ABC57 that public safety is a concern and they need more time to make this decision. The next meeting is set for May 20, 2019.

 

[Baron23]

Michigan's new marijuana agency will regulate a market in turmoil


When Michigan officially consolidates pot business oversight into the Marijuana Regulatory Agency on Tuesday, state officials will be expected to tackle tough issues that are roiling the medical and recreational marijuana markets.

There are lingering fears among Michigan’s marijuana businesses about the viability of a fully licensed market that has yet to produce a steady, tested supply that can meet the needs of dozens of provisioning centers across the state.

Among the issues the new agency will take over from the Bureau of Marijuana Regulation: Dealing with unlicensed medical pot shops that a judge may continue to let operate; considering and approving medical marijuana license applications, and creating new licensing rules for Michigan's nearly five-month-old recreational adult use law.

After its launch, the Marijuana Regulatory Agency is expected to issue emergency rules for recreational licenses and begin accepting license applications by the fall. It's an operation that potential applicants are hoping runs more smoothly than the litigation-plagued process for medical shops.

"I think what we’re hoping to see is some greater clarity and hopefully a uniform regulatory process for both the medical market and the transition into the adult recreational market," said Joe Neller of Green Peak Innovations, a licensed grower and processor in Dimondale.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s executive order, which takes effect at the end of the month, combines adult use and medical marijuana regulation under one agency to streamline what has been a cumbersome and slow-moving licensing and regulatory process. The agency will bring a swift end to the hours-long public licensing meetings held by a licensing board that became a symbol of Michigan’s obstacle-laden transition to a marijuana state.

“All elements of this agency have been designed to serve and better protect Michigan residents, and I’m eager to have a unified effort across state departments to make sure this process runs effectively and efficiently," Whitmer said in a March 1 statement that accompanied the executive order.

The order was greeted with hesitance by some and hostility by others such as Medical Marihuana Licensing Board member Don Bailey, a longtime police officer whose tough licensing screening became the bane of applicants statewide.

Bailey said he’s worried the new system will cut corners in the name of efficiency when thorough due diligence is needed to ensure a safe and legal market.

“The only way to speed the (licensing) process up is to do less than we’re doing, and we’re doing woefully little right now,” he said.

In with the new
The existing Bureau of Marijuana Regulation has managed the medical marijuana licensing and the development of administrative rules for the licensed adult use market for several months.

On Tuesday, the bureau will become the Marijuana Regulatory Agency, the latest step toward full implementation of the 2016 medical marijuana licensing law and the adult use marijuana ballot proposal passed by voters in November.

The bureau will answer directly to the governor, but still rely on the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs for services like finance and human resources. The agency will be led by Executive Director Andrew Brisbo, who serves as the current bureau's director.

Michigan's marijuana lead regulator Andrew Brisbo shows off the files from a single license application for medical marijuana in 2018. Brisbo will lead the new Marijuana Regulatory Agency. (Photo: Jonathan Oosting / The Detroit News)

The bureau has 102 full-time employees and a 2019 budget of roughly $19.7 million, said spokesman David Harns.

Recommendations for the 2020 fiscal year would increase the agency's ranks to 150 full-time employees and increase funding to $22 million to handle the additional workload of the recreational pot market.

The agency anticipates issuing emergency rules for recreational marijuana by June or July and will likely begin taking applications in September or October, Harns said.

Recommendations collected during "stakeholder" meetings in Lansing, Detroit and Marquette are expected to influence the new rules, which should mirror those developed for medical marijuana licensing.

The partial separation of the agency from LARA makes sense given the time and resources the marijuana industry is likely to monopolize, said Rick Thompson, a longtime cannabis advocate and publisher of Michigan Cannabis Industries Report.

“At this point, it makes sense to have all the administration under one roof,” Thompson said.

Changes in medical licensing
In the regulated medical pot market, the largest immediate change will be the end of medical marijuana licensing meetings that have become infamous for applicants and attendees.

The hours-long meetings held roughly once a month for more than a year have sparked disagreements, debate and appeals among applicants who argued they were mistreated by the appointed board or delayed by the state review of their applications.

The board's denials frustrated applicants who felt licensing standards were not applied equally or consistently, said Green Peak Innovation's Joe Neller.

Thompson is relieved the licensing board’s role will end.

“That was a circus,” Thompson said. “It was non-productive. It aired a lot of dirty laundry, and I didn’t feel like transparency was added."

While the state’s backlog of medical marijuana license applications once amounted to weeks and months, the state is now processing applications as they come in, Harns said.

The process is likely to speed up even more as the new agency takes over for the licensing board, said Shelly Edgerton, the former LARA director who now is senior counsel at Dykema Law. Edgerton, who registered as a lobbyist this year, now works with clients seeking licenses in the cannabis market and other industries regulated by LARA.

Brisbo's team likely is already planning to streamline the licensing and appeals process as well as increase staffing to accommodate the expected rush of applications for the recreational market, Edgerton said.

Among the biggest improvements expected from the new agency is a sort of “rolling application process” that doesn’t wait on monthly approvals from a licensing board, she said.

“I think you’ll see the ability of the department to respond more quickly,” Edgerton said.

While application reviews will no longer be public, the agency will hold quarterly public hearings to receive comments.

That combined with a running list of licensees should create a level of transparency similar to LARA's other licensing processes, Edgerton said.

Cleaning up landscape
Lingering uncertainties in the marijuana industry have led to divisions that were on display Wednesday as marijuana supporters protested on the Capitol lawn. One licensed business, Green Peak Innovations, argued for a stricter enforcement of state testing requirements, while other marijuana patients urged a delay of the requirements lest the state experience a shortage of medical marijuana.

Applicants and officials also want to resolve litigation that has halted the closure of unlicensed facilities that have been operating temporarily while seeking a license. A state appeals judge is expected to rule this week on whether and for how long the unlicensed facilities can remain open.

Buy Photo
Protesters urging the state to more strictly enforce medical marijuana testing standards organized on the Capitol lawn Wednesday, April 24, 2019. Counter-protesters also attended the event, asking the state to delay implementation of those standards so as to prevent a shortage in the market. (Photo: Beth LeBlanc/The Detroit News)

The unlicensed facilities and the desire of some licensed facilities to continue selling untested product are creating a cloud of uncertainty over the licensed market — one that Green Peak's Neller hopes the new agency will address quickly.

"We believe that they should require all product that is sold in the market to be tested," Neller said. "This is still a medical program and there is no other medical program that would allow untested product to the patient regardless of the waiver they would sign."

The Michigan Cannabis Industry Association called the protest "a short-term bump in the road" that the new Marijuana Regulatory Agency could address.

"We’d like to see an agency that is a partner with the industry as much as possible," said Josh Hovey, a spokesman for the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association. "We want to see an agency that helps bring the black market to its demise and also ensures that the licensed businesses are behaving responsibly.”

 

[momofthegoons]

Michigan Officials Advise Testing Vape Cartridges for Heavy Metals

Medical cannabis retailers need to be doing more to ensure that their products are contaminant-free.

State officials in Michigan are encouraging medicinal cannabis retailers to have their vape cartridges tested for heavy metals after lead was detected in some products. In a public health and safety bulletin issued on April 12, the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs reported that the Bureau of Marijuana Regulation (BMR) had identified the contaminated vape cartridges when lab test results were entered into the statewide monitoring system. The tainted products were subsequently destroyed, according to state regulators. The bureau also urged medical marijuana dispensaries to have their product on hand tested and noted that consumers could do the same.

“BMR encourages all licensed provisioning centers to have their vape cartridges tested. Patients and Caregivers who would like to have cartridges tested, at their own expense, can take them to a licensed safety compliance facility,” the bulletin advises.

The bureau has updated regulations to require samples of vape cartridges to undergo lab testing after they are filled. Previous rules only mandated testing for the cannabis oil used to fill cartridges.

Research Finds Heavy Metals in E-Cigarettes
The advisory noted that a Johns Hopkins University study released last year found that lead and other toxic metals including chromium, manganese, and nickel had been detected in the vapors produced by some e-cigarette devices. Rich Able, a medical device marketing consultant, told Forbes that “the metals detected in this study have been associated with multiple adverse health effects under chronic conditions of exposure. Neurotoxins such as lead are linked to increased risk of cardiovascular and kidney disease. The other metals listed are even more nefarious to human organs.”


Able called for government regulation of e-cigarette devices to help ensure their safety.

“It is critical for manufacturers of these delivery systems to design, engineer and manufacture these devices to FDA medical device quality standards,” he says. “To continue manufacturing and marketing these devices to the smoking population without further diligence and clinical review is unethical and unconscionable.”

The BMR noted that Michigan is one of the few states with legal pot that mandates heavy metals testing for cannabis products. When stricter standards for cannabis including testing for heavy metals went into effect in California at the beginning of the year, some vape cartridges were also found to be contaminated with lead. Michigan regulators noted that no vape cartridges with ceramic heating elements had been found to be tainted with lead.


Michigan legalized the medicinal use of cannabis in a 2008 election. In last year’s midterm elections, voters in the state legalized the recreational use and sale of marijuana for adults. Officials are currently creating the regulatory framework for cannabis businesses, but retail dispensaries are not expected to open until next year. Many existing medical cannabis providers may be forced to close if they are not able to obtain licensing under the new regulations.

 

[Shredder]

Michigan regulators noted that no vape cartridges with ceramic heating elements had been found to be tainted with lead.

Good to know

 

[momofthegoons]

2 prominent names get approval for pot businesses at final meeting of marijuana board

LANSING – Republican Party powerhouse Chuck Yob is the latest well-known name to get approved for a medical marijuana business license.

At the last meeting of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Licensing Board on Thursday, Yob, along with partners Edward Dingler and Stephen Zaminski, were approved for a medical marijuana dispensary in Douglas in southwest Michigan.

Yob, who served as Michigan's committeeman on the Republican National Committee, had to resign his coveted seat on the Mackinac Island Park Commission, however, before he could be approved for the license. The rules surrounding marijuana licensing prohibit anyone appointed to a state commission that has some regulatory authority from getting a marijuana business license. Yob was chairman of the commission and had five years left in his term.

The partnership plans go beyond the marijuana dispensary in Douglas, Yob said, with grow and processing operations and additional dispensaries in White Cloud and Hesperia on the west side of the state.


More: Gretchen Whitmer signs executive order to abolish Michigan marijuana licensing board

More: Michigan looking for people to try growing, processing hemp

Yob said he became interested in the business after falling down a flight of stairs at President Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington D.C. in 2017 and breaking his neck.

“They put me on so many pain pills and I was out of it for four months,” he said. “And that’s the reason I got involved because I’m dead set against pain pills.”


While he’s never tried marijuana before or after his accident, “I’ve talked to a lot of people who have been really helped by medical marijuana and it’s kept them off pain pills.

Another prominent Detroit businessperson — Maria Gatzaros — also was pre-qualified Thursday for a large grow operation and a dispensary.

Gatzaros is the wife of the late Ted Gatzaros. The couple were key figures in the development of Greektown in Detroit and the Greektown Casino. Maria Gatzaros is still the owner of 400 Monroe Associates, a real estate development, property management and restaurant company. The company owns and manages office buildings in Detroit; Fishbones restaurants in Greektown, Southfield and St. Clair Shores; the Antheneum Suites Hotel and the London Chop House in Detroit.

The pre-qualification and license approvals were among more than 100 that were considered at the last formal meeting of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Licensing Board, which ceases to exist on Tuesday.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a March 1 executive order shifting authority from the politically appointed board to a newly created agency — the Marijuana Regulatory Agency, which will operate under the umbrella of the state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

The executive order came as the board has struggled to consider license applications in a timely manner, effectively stalling the realization of a fully fleshed out medical marijuana market at a time when the much bigger recreational weed business is just around the corner.

The licensing board was a body created in the laws passed by the Legislature in 2016 to regulate and tax the medical marijuana market. It is a five-member board, with recommendations on who should serve having come from former Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, R-Grand Haven, former Speaker of the House Tom Leonard, R-Dewitt, and then-Gov. Rick Snyder.

Members of the board are former Speaker of the House Rick Johnson, a Leroy Republican, who was chosen by Meekhof; David LaMontaine, a Monroe resident and business agent and executive board member of the Police Officers’ Association of Michigan, who was nominated by Leonard, but who resigned the seat in March; and three Snyder appointees: Nichole Cover, a Mattawan pharmacist, health care supervisor for Walgreens and chairwoman of the Michigan Board of Pharmacy; Donald Bailey, a retired sergeant for the Michigan State Police from Traverse City, and Vivian Pickard of Bloomfield Hills, who is the president and CEO of the Pickard Group consulting firm and former president of the General Motors Foundation

The board has come under fire for inconsistent decisions on medical marijuana licenses. Some applicants have been denied for minor brushes with the law that are decades old and even some cases where charges were dismissed. Since they started awarding licenses last summer, the board has approved 179 licenses, including 29 on Thursday: 16 dispensaries, 11 growers; one testing facility and one secure transporter

While the medical marijuana law called for the licensing board, the 2018 ballot proposal that legalizes marijuana for adult recreational use — which was approved by voters 56-44% — called for the state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to handle licensing.

Combining the licensing authority under one will make the licensing process quicker and more efficient, Whitmer said in her executive order. Andrew Brisbo, who has served as the executive director of the Bureau of Marijuana Regulation, will lead the new agency, although he will be subject to an advise and consent hearing in the state Senate on May 2.

The last meeting was bittersweet for board members, who served as unpaid volunteers.

Johnson, who broke into tears when he said his goodbyes, said he felt the board helped a brand new industry get started in Michigan.

“It has been quite a drive forward to put something in place,” he told the audience, noting that he has two seriously ill family members who have been helped tremendously by medical marijuana. “Keep doing what you’re doing because there are people who need to be helped.”

Bailey was more pointed in his comments, saying the industry needs to be more vigilant in rooting out illegal operations. The former state cop was especially hard on many applicants and was a frequent no vote on those hoping to get a license.

“To everybody who we voted for, good luck to you going forward. I believe you are going to need it,” he said. “The black market has expanded exponentially. It’s going to be a huge problem. It’s going to take local and state police and LARA to bring this under control.”

On Thursday, the board approved licenses for one testing facility in Warren; dispensaries in Detroit, Morenci, Bay City, White Cloud, Lansing, Douglas, East Tawas, Pinconning, Buchanan, Chesaning, Flint, Kalamazoo, Oscoda. Lapeer and Reading; grow operations in Beaverton, Warren, Vassar, Lansing, Battle Creek, Arlington and Bangor, and a secure transporter in Harrison Township.

After Thursday’s meeting, the new Marijuana Regulatory Agency will consider license applications as it gets them. The debate and decisions will no longer be open to the public.

 

[Baron23]

Michigan police can't search passengers in stops without consent, ruling finds

A recent Michigan Supreme Court ruling on police searches of passengers during traffic stops can give people more power to challenge such probes and is expected to affect police training in Metro Detroit and across the state, officials and legal experts say.

“The opinion protects Michigan citizens and visitors against unreasonable police searches,” said Michael Faraone, the Lansing-based attorney for the passenger whose case sparked the decision. “It is a change in Michigan law. State and local police will need to be retrained on what is allowed.”

On Monday, the court ruled in favor of a passenger, Larry Mead, who claimed his rights were violated when police in Jackson County searched his backpack in May 2014 without his consent.

A sheriff’s deputy had stopped the car he was riding in with an expired plate driven by a woman Mead had met earlier that night. The driver was giving him a lift, the ruling said.

The deputy looked in Mead’s backpack after the driver consented to a search of her car. The backpack held marijuana and methamphetamine.

Mead eventually was arrested, convicted as a fourth-offense habitual offender and sentenced to serve two to 10 years in prison.

In its unanimous decision, the state Supreme Court said the search was unconstitutional.

“…A passenger’s personal property is not subsumed by the vehicle that carries it for Fourth Amendment purposes,” the ruling stated, referring to the amendment that protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. “…A person can get in a car without leaving his Fourth Amendment rights at the curb.”

The decision overruled the court’s previous 2007 decision that stopped passengers from challenging a search of a car in which they were traveling.

Chief Justice Bridget McCormack noted Mead had “a legitimate expectation of privacy in his backpack that society is willing to recognize as reasonable,” which are key in invoking the Fourth Amendment’s protections, and said police can’t search a passenger based on consent from a driver.

McCormack compared the situation to someone using a ride-sharing service.

“Because (the driver) did not have apparent common authority over the backpack, the search of the backpack was not based on valid consent and is per se unreasonable unless another exception to the warrant requirement applies,” the court ruled.

The ruling is significant “because it cleared up an area in which the Supreme Court had gotten the law wrong,” said David Moran, a University of Michigan law professor who leads the Michigan Innocence Clinic. “…The Fourth Amendment is all about common sense and reasonable expectations of privacy and social norms. It’s just common sense that the police will now need to ask passengers: ‘Mind if I search that bag?’”

In a statement, Michigan State Police spokeswoman Shanon Banner said: “We are reviewing the ruling and will publish a legal update to ensure our members are aware of the case-specific circumstances of this ruling.”

The Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards, which sets training guidelines at the state's basic training academies for officers, has reviewed the curriculum at those sites, contacted the leaders there as well as pored over the state licensing exam to see if any adjustments are needed, executive director Tim Bourgeois said. No changes are expected at this point, he added.

“In general, these changes occur from time to time and law enforcement adjusts to them," Bourgeois said.

Many law enforcement agencies routinely update training for their personnel and anticipate having to tweak instructions based on legal developments, said Robert Stevenson, executive director of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, which has about 1,100 members statewide.

“Within our profession, I’ve not seen shock" over the ruling, he said. "It’s just a further tuning of the search and seizure laws. It’s not a complex concept.”

Others believe that, however training changes, police officers will work to comply.

“Our professional and hard-working men and women law enforcement officers are extremely adept and adaptable to changes in the law,” said Chris Tomasi, assistant general counsel of the Police Officers Association of Michigan, a public employee labor organization. “Officer safety is always at the forefront of our goals and objectives and should also be for the administration.”

Faraone, whose client served two years and then was discharged from parole, described the order as transformative.

“Until this opinion… if anyone took a ride from a stranger, and the driver is stopped for a traffic infraction, and if the driver consents to a search of their car, the police might dig through your purse or backpack even if they had no reason to believe that it contained contraband,” he said

 

[momofthegoons]

Michigan judge slams state for ‘freakish’ regulation of medical marijuana businesses

A year-long saga of changing compliance deadlines for 50 medical marijuana shops allowed to operate unlicensed is over.

Court of Claims Judge Stephen Borrello ordered Tuesday that Michigan regulators cannot set any new compliance deadline for unlicensed pot shops.

In his 12-page opinion, Borrello chastised officials in the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs for being “ill-equipped” to handle the licensing process in a timely manner -- which has led to the current market of unlicensed businesses.

“At the outset, the Court notes that LARA’s entire method of handling license applications has been ‘apt to sudden change, freakish, or whimsical,’” Borrello wrote.

Temporarily operating provisioning centers will be allowed to operate until their license applications are considered by the state -- and officials can only ask them to shut down 60 days after their license application has been denied, Borrello ordered in a ruling that affects eight consolidated cases.

Borrello has left the issue of whether caregiver marijuana can be used to supply the licensed market up to the state to decide.

The state’s new Marijuana Regulatory Agency is reviewing the court orders before issuing a statement, said David Harns, spokesman for the agency.

The state has been trying to hold unlicensed businesses to a licensing deadline since June 2018 but have been thwarted by court orders. Borrello has previously extended the deadline. The most recent attempt to enforce a deadline was brought forward by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who had proposed March 31 -- but another barrage of last-minute legal filings from medical marijuana businesses stopped that under a ruling from Borrello.

Borrello said the changing compliance deadline has been a “bait-and-switch” for unlicensed pot shops, and has been changed without any regard for the status of their license applications.

“However, the state failed to provide any rationale for how the continuous setting of looming deadlines promotes a more regulated market. And to the extent that the state might continue with this variation on a theme, such deadlines, enacted under the misleading guise of proper regulation, will likely continue to be constitutionally infirm as well,” Borrello wrote.

Michigan’s medical marijuana market is in turmoil.

There’s a major divide in the industry between licensed medical marijuana businesses and caregivers, who the state has allowed to supplement the stock on provisioning center shelves. The tension played out in full force in Borrello’s courtroom, and with counter-protests on the steps of the capitol building last week in Lansing.

Tuesday, Borrello denied motions in a lawsuit filed by two corporate medical marijuana growers -- VB Chesaning (High Life Farms) and Green Peak Innovations. The mega growers sought to force the state to abide by the law and to cut out caregivers from the regulated supply chain.

 

[Baron23]

Temporarily operating provisioning centers will be allowed to operate until their license applications are considered by the state -- and officials can only ask them to shut down 60 days after their license application has been denied, Borrello ordered in a ruling that affects eight consolidated cases.

Wait....WAIT....this is actually common sense? Really? Wow....who would have thunk! haha

 

[momofthegoons]

Wait....WAIT....this is actually common sense? Really? Wow....who would have thunk! haha

Well... we'll see. I really wish he had also addressed the caregiver issue.

 

[Baron23]

City of Detroit approves multi-million dollar cannabis business park project with training center


The City of Detroit approved plans for a multi-million dollar project for a cannabis business park on Livernois Avenue which would include five cultivations businesses, two processing businesses and a provisioning center.

Also included at the business park will be a cannabis training program put on by Green Cure Wellness Inc. and Southeast Provisioning LLC.

“The grow/processing will be in the back of the facility, so it’s out of the way of the residential area,” said Maurice Morton of the Morton Law Group and former Chief of the special operations division on the Detroit police force. “It’s going to be very discreet, you won’t even know it’s there.”

Morton, a partner of Green Cure Wellness and Southeast Provisioning, said that a huge motivating factor in creating the training program is to help some of the people whose lives have been negatively impacted by the war on drugs.

“As a former prosecutor, many people have been surprised by my investment in the cannabis industry, but I refuse to sit back and watch as other build wealth and African Americans are left out,” said Morton. “I want to help build opportunities for other people of color.”

The Michigan State Police reported that in 2017, one of every 12 people who were arrested were charged with marijuana-related offenses, most of which were possession or consumption. They also reported that black men between the ages of 18 to 24 were arrested at a rate 10 times higher than white women, even though their rates of use were similar.

The new training facility will be free to those with past convictions and will train for positions in the industry including budtenders, processors, master growers and business owners. Morton said that other businesses have already inquired about becoming a part of the training center.

“Training is what we need in this industry,” said Morton. “It’s so heavily regulated and you can’t just jump in and know what you’re doing. Everything has to be handled a certain way and if we can train people, especially the population that has been negatively impacted by drug laws, we can do a service for the industry.”

Construction for the business park is set to begin in May with the first cultivation business being open by August or September. It’s expected that the entire park will be running by 2020.

 

[Shredder]

Well... we'll see. I really wish he had also addressed the caregiver issue.

IDK if he can do anything to caregivers since it's in our constitution.

I kinda would like the status quo to stay, and watch the multi millionare folks squirm.

 

[momofthegoons]

I kinda would like the status quo to stay

Oh... I absolutely want the status quo to stay. I love having a caregiver and do not want to have to rely on dispensary products. Especially as we seem to be getting into a lot of prepackaged stuff.

 

[momofthegoons]

Medical marijuana now available to patients the same day as approval

MICHIGAN -- Medical marijuana is now immediately available to medical marijuana patients in Michigan after receiving online approval.

This will go into effect Wednesday, May 1.

Medical marijuana patients who apply for their marijuana registry card online will be able to use their approval email as a temporary substitute for a valid registry card.

This will allow patients to receive their medical marijuana the same day they are approved.


The Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA) has made this change to the Michigan Medical Marijuana Program (MMMP) to allow patients with debilitating medical conditions to receive their medical marijuana as quickly as possible.

“A process that used to take several weeks now can be done in a single day,” said MRA Executive Director Andrew Brisbo. “We are excited to offer this new online approval option for the state’s medical marijuana patients.”

Patients may use their approval email until they receive their card in the mail or for up to 10 days from the date of the approval email.

In order to purchase marijuana, patients will still be required to present a valid driver's license or government-issued identification card with a photo.

Visit their website in order to use the online service and they are reminding patients to note the following:

• A patient’s certifying physician must have an online account with the MMMP
• A patient must register for an online account
• The patient must submit an online application

The MRA will be publishing a guide to help licensed provisioning centers to verify the validity of approval emails being used as a temporary substitute for a registry card.

If you have questions about the temporary card or the online application process, please email MRA-MMMPinfo@michigan.gov or call 517-284-6400.

 

[Shredder]

Medical marijuana now available to patients the same day as approval

MICHIGAN -- Medical marijuana is now immediately available to medical marijuana patients in Michigan after receiving online approval.

This will go into effect Wednesday, May 1.

Medical marijuana patients who apply for their marijuana registry card online will be able to use their approval email as a temporary substitute for a valid registry card.

This will allow patients to receive their medical marijuana the same day they are approved.


The Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA) has made this change to the Michigan Medical Marijuana Program (MMMP) to allow patients with debilitating medical conditions to receive their medical marijuana as quickly as possible.

“A process that used to take several weeks now can be done in a single day,” said MRA Executive Director Andrew Brisbo. “We are excited to offer this new online approval option for the state’s medical marijuana patients.”

Patients may use their approval email until they receive their card in the mail or for up to 10 days from the date of the approval email.

In order to purchase marijuana, patients will still be required to present a valid driver's license or government-issued identification card with a photo.

Visit their website in order to use the online service and they are reminding patients to note the following:

• A patient’s certifying physician must have an online account with the MMMP
• A patient must register for an online account
• The patient must submit an online application

The MRA will be publishing a guide to help licensed provisioning centers to verify the validity of approval emails being used as a temporary substitute for a registry card.

If you have questions about the temporary card or the online application process, please email MRA-MMMPinfo@michigan.gov or call 517-284-6400.

Good deal, unless you want a caregiver. If you want a caregiver you still have to use snail mail and paper.

And there's still a fee of $25 for a caregiver background check for each and every patient.

Notice how the state is gradually edging caregivers out?

 

[momofthegoons]

Notice how the state is gradually edging caregivers out?

Yup.... and look what just happened....

Michigan officials end caregiver marijuana supply to medical pot shops

The stock of medical marijuana products at licensed Michigan businesses will soon change, as a result of new guidance from state officials.

Effective immediately, licensed medical marijuana provisioning centers can no longer stock their shelves with products grown by caregivers, the Marijuana Regulatory Agency announced Thursday in a press release.

Licensed shops can only buy from state-licensed growers and processors. Caregivers, however, will be allowed to sell to state-licensed growers and processors -- who will be required to test the product and enter it into the state’s tracking system.

The switch away from the illegal supply of caregiver weed to the regulated market was supposed to occur April 1, but was delayed for a month due to a barrage of lawsuits filed against the state in a separate but entangled issue over the ability of unlicensed pot shops to operate.

Court of Claims Judge Stephen Borrello issued his orders two days ago -- which allow unlicensed pot shops to stay open until 60 days after officials decide on their license applications. Borrello left the issue of caregiver product up to the Marijuana Regulatory Agency to decide.

Now the embattled medical marijuana market will switch over to regulated product as its main source.

Corporate mega-growers have criticized the use of caregiver marijuana for the past five months, as it has tested positive for E. coli, Salmonella, mold, lead and other heavy metals. No illnesses have been reported to the state from its use.

Licensed growers have also complained that competition from caregivers is hurting their business.

In turn, patients and caregivers have lashed out against the corporate growers. They claim mega growers aren’t manufacturing the medicinal products that they need and are only focused on products that recreational users will want.

Jerry Millen, owner of a Walled Lake licensed provisioning center, predicted the market will not respond well as a result of the state’s latest regulatory action.

“I’m afraid this is going to make the black market explode 100-fold,” Milen said.

Caregivers won’t be keen to start new business relationships with the same licensed growers that insulted their products last week, Millen said. Instead, caregivers will likely flood the unlicensed pot shops that the state has allowed to open with their product -- a black market with lower prices and more medicinal products that patients will likely seek out, Millen said.

Michelle Donovan, a lawyer with Butzel Long who sued the state over the caregiver supply issue, also predicted a surge in the black market as a result of the state’s action.

“It’s going to allow the caregivers to sell their products directly to the dispensary centers that don’t have their state license,” Donovan said. “Do I want to drop mine off and pay to get it tested, or do I go down the street?”

 

[Shredder]

A surge in black market products? Laughable compared to before prop one.

To me a black market shows problems with the regulated markets. Most likely two problems. Availability and price.

The two provisioning centers closest to me are at $35 an eighth or $10 a gram. While caregiver products are about 1/2 that. That and the scarcity are the "real" problems.

 

[momofthegoons]

The two provisioning centers closest to me are at $35 an eighth or $10 a gram. While caregiver products are about 1/2 that.

The dispensary I used to frequent sells their flower anywhere from $25 - $40 an eighth. But they really get you by the gram; fro $6 up to $20 a gram... depending on what you choose. Those $6 grams are pretty sketch. And frankly? None of the weed looks have as nice as what I get from my caregiver for $180 for the first oz (with a free 1/4 per month) and subsequent ounces purchased that month being $170. Don't even get me started on their concentrate prices.... and often quality as well. You have to pay top dollar for anything decent.

I think that there will be backlash from patients in this whole thing. And our Michigan NORML has done a fair job of getting folk to speak up and contact state reps. Hopefully the caregiver system will stay intact. At least that's what I'm hoping...

 

[Shredder]

The dispensary I used to frequent sells their flower anywhere from $25 - $40 an eighth. But they really get you by the gram; fro $6 up to $20 a gram... depending on what you choose. Those $6 grams are pretty sketch. And frankly? None of the weed looks have as nice as what I get from my caregiver for $180 for the first oz (with a free 1/4 per month) and subsequent ounces purchased that month being $170. Don't even get me started on their concentrate prices.... and often quality as well. You have to pay top dollar for anything decent.

I think that there will be backlash from patients in this whole thing. And our Michigan NORML has done a fair job of getting folk to speak up and contact state reps. Hopefully the caregiver system will stay intact. At least that's what I'm hoping...

The places I mentioned are fully licensed, I have heard of better prices in Bay City, but from those that can still buy from caregivers. Fully licensed facilities are not patient favorites so far, and with good reason. People vote with their feet, so eventually the state will have to relax the more restrictive rules that keep prices high, and encourage the black market.

Your prices are in line with most caregivers that I know around here. And idk about freebies from them, but I lways try to give a good value with free samples, 30 gram ounces, volume discounts, bonuses and money back garrentees.

I never have had to give back money, but I have exchanged varieties based on patients wants. I have one patient who only likes certain varieties, but I encourage splitting up orders for a little variety. Most do, but one, I think, doesn't like change. To each there own. One told me Jesus og made him depressed, and I quickly made an exchange, but he likes Jesus og rosin, go figure.

The volume discounts really help me. Right after harvest it helps to get my overall weights back in line with my allowed amounts. That and making concentrates. It's always a juggling act, but I try to be low when a harvest is getting ready.

 

[Baron23]

State to accelerate decisions on unlicensed pot shops, recreational market

On only its second day of operation, the new state Marijuana Regulatory Agency began flexing its muscles Thursday, saying it will either approve or deny the license applications of most unlicensed medical marijuana dispensaries by June 1 and will immediately change rules on where licensed dispensaries can buy their products.

The agency was responding to a court ruling issued Tuesday by Court of Claims Judge Stephen Borrello, which stated that the agency couldn’t shut down about 50 unlicensed medical marijuana dispensaries until their applications for a license had been reviewed and approved or denied.

Andrew Brisbo, the director of the agency, told a Senate committee Thursday during his confirmation hearing, that “if an applicant failed to provide the documentation necessary to make a decision, we can deny them on that basis and those will all be done before June 1.”

He said about 77 applicants have paid the state’s $6,000 application fee, and provided some, but not all, of the documentation necessary to make a decision. Some of those applicants are unlicensed dispensaries that have been allowed to continue to operate while they wait for their license application to be considered by the state.Those dispensaries will be forced to shut down if the state denies them a license.

Roughly 80 more marijuana businesses, including growers, transporters, processors and dispensaries, have been denied pre-qualification status or a license and are appealing the decision. The state won’t be able to act on those businesses until after their appeal is heard and their application is reconsidered by the agency.

Borrello also ruled against medical marijuana caregivers, who are registered to grow up to 72 cannabis plants for five patients. They wanted to continue to be able to sell their overages directly to licensed and unlicensed dispensaries, which could sell the pot to patients as long as they acknowledged that they knew the product hadn’t been tested.

Now under rules that the state tried to enforce earlier this year, the caregivers will immediately only be able to sell their overages to licensed growers and processors, who must test the product before it can be sold to licensed dispensaries.

Continuing to allow at least some caregiver product into the market will help deal with potential shortages as more growers are licensed and their cannabis begins to reach maturity.

“The regulated supply is making progress toward meeting demand,” Brisbo said. “We aren’t there today, but we’re giving continued allowance … for caregivers to sell product into the regulated market to provide supplemental inventory.”

The new agency, which was established by an executive order issued by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, takes over for the five-member, politically appointed Medical Marijuana License Board. The volunteer board, which met only once a month and had been criticized for its slow pace and inconsistent decisions, was abolished last month after issuing 179 licenses, including for 89 dispensaries.

The new agency will be handling applications as they come into the office and is expected to be able to make licensing decisions more consistently and frequently.

“We all want to get to the same end point and that’s a fully regulated market,” Brisbo said, adding that he expects the agency to have draft rules ready by June for the impending recreational marijuana market that was approved by voters in November.

“And we will begin accepting applications three months later,” he said. “We want to get (the recreational market) up and running and quickly as possible.”

The court ruling and the new agency's determination that most of the unlicensed dispensaries' licenses will be approved or denied by June 1 has put a bill awaiting a vote in the state Senate on hold. The bill would require that unlicensed dispensaries shut down by June 1 or risk not being able to get a license for at least one year.

 

[momofthegoons]

Thirteen Companies Awarded Medical Marijuana Permits In Lottery

High fives and smiles of relief comingled with frustrated groans and looks of disappointment Friday as names were drawn during a public lottery to distribute 13 medical marijuana dispensary permits in Traverse City.

City staff held the lottery in front of a packed house in the commission chambers at the Governmental Center (pictured). Before the lottery began, City Clerk Benjamin Marentette read the names aloud of all 72 prequalified applicants, with each name written on an individual index card. The cards were then all placed in a five-gallon bucket and mixed several times, with Marentette drawing cards out one at a time as staff wrote the company names in numerical order on a paper display for the audience.

The top 13 locations selected to receive provisional dispensary permits included five on Munson Avenue – all within one mile of each other – and three on Garfield Avenue, located within the same .7-mile stretch. The list of businesses and locations receiving provisional permits includes:

1. WL Green Ventures – 707 South Garfield Avenue
2. Apex World Wide LLC – 472 Munson Avenue
3. Leoni Wellness LLC – 1226 South Garfield Avenue
4. Securcann dba Plantera – 514 Munson Avenue
5. Joint Ventures LLC – 752 Munson Avenue
6. Royal Highness LLC - 314 Munson Avenue
7. Green Peak Industries dba Skymint – 822 East Front Street
8. Revolution Strains Inc – 223 Lake Avenue
9. Great Lakes Northern Lights LLC – 719 Parsons Road
10. Morenci Brothers Holding Group LLC – 356 Munson Avenue
11. TGMD LLC - 704 South Garfield Avenue
12. TeeBz LLC - 728 East Front Street
13. AEY Capital LLC - 1025 Hannah Avenue

As the lottery unfolded, Marentette explained to attendees that only one permit would be awarded per location, meaning that if duplicate addresses came up during the first 13 names drawn, only the first application selected would receive a permit. That caveat prompted worried calculations among applicants as numerous duplicates were drawn in the early stages of the lottery. For example, after WL Green Ventures at 707 South Garfield Avenue was selected first, four more applications for that same address were picked in the following 12 slots. With the duplicates eliminated, other applicants drawn in the late teens still had a shot at permits – though city staff didn’t release a finalized list with duplicates removed until several hours after the lottery, leaving some hoping their math was correct and they had made the cut.

Valerie Rissi of Beulah was among those to receive good news from the city. She owns Revolution Strains Inc. and is planning to open a dispensary at 223 Lake Avenue between Rare Bird Brewpub and The Parlor. Rissi, who is also opening another dispensary in Macomb County, is new to the industry but was inspired to go into medical marijuana after her husband died from brain cancer. “My focus is more on the medical marijuana than the recreational side,” she says. “Medical marijuana is a true alternative. From anxiety to depression to seizures to cancer patients, it’s all documented that cannabis helps that.”

Several properties that made the top 13 list currently have active businesses in them, including 707 South Garfield Avenue (Precision Tune Auto Care), 1226 South Garfield Avenue (Fit For You), 822 East Front Street (Signature Salon), 728 East Front Street (Hamlet's Quick Lube & Auto Repair), 514 Munson Avenue (Black Diamond Broadcast Group/Classic Rock The Bear), and 314 Munson Avenue (O'Grady Development Company). The former Cottage restaurant and Life Story Funeral Home buildings on Munson Avenue are also planned homes for new dispensaries, as is a prominent vacant lot at the corner of Garfield and Hannah avenues.

Melisa and Ian Bertram are real estate agents who’ve begun carving out a niche as the “green realtors for northern Michigan,” helping would-be marijuana entrepreneurs find suitable locations for their businesses. The Bertrams represented three applicants in the Traverse City lottery, two of which were awarded provisional permits. One is a house at 356 Munson Avenue that will be demolished to make way for a dispensary. The other is Fit For You gym at 1226 South Garfield Avenue (the gym will continue to lease a back portion of the building, while the dispensary will be up front, according to the agents). Melisa Bertram says both properties sold for above market value to cash buyers who already have site plans and engineering drawings ready to go and are expected to close on their deals “within the next 10 business days.”

While some local businesses will share space with new dispensaries, others will be displaced by them. Kyle O’Grady of O’Grady Development Company previously told The Ticker his business would be relocating after the company agreed to sell its Munson Avenue property to a dispensary. At Black Diamond Broadcasting, co-owners Mike Chires and Norm McKee said by email that they “were informed months ago by our landlord that he had sold our building, potentially to be used as a dispensary. Because of this, and having outgrown our current building, we’ve been pursuing a new location for months.” The partners added that The Bear radio station would likely move into a new building along with station Rock 105 by mid-August.

Applicants who made the cut of 13 celebrated after the lottery, shaking hands and laughing excitedly in the hallway outside the commission chambers. Other candidates, however, weren’t as fortunate. Among those drawn toward the end of the lottery - all but eliminating their chance of ever receiving a city permit – were former Detroit Lions star Calvin Johnson, whose application to open a dispensary in the Sail Inn building was drawn in spot 61 of 72. Traverse City resident Tina Schuett, who purchased the former Krause Realty Solutions building with family at 488 Munson Avenue in the hopes of opening a dispensary, was selected in spot 67. Schuett was among a group of local property owners who considered filing suit against the city to delay the lottery, citing concerns deeper-pocketed applicants were unfairly flooding the lottery with multiple applications to increase their odds of winning. Schuett says she ultimately decided to let the lottery “play out.”

“And I feel it basically played out exactly how we warned the city it would,” she says. “It’s a ton of non-locals and people who gamed the city getting rewarded. It also ended up with us having a green mile on Munson Avenue, which I don’t think people in Traverse City will be happy about.” Schuett says she’s planning to take a few days to consider her next steps. “I’m fully open to all options,” she says, which could include taking legal action, selling her building, and/or opening a dispensary in another city. “I just wish it would have been a more level playing field from the beginning,” she says.

The 13 recipients who were awarded provisional permits from the city now have six months to obtain their final permits. That process includes background investigations, physical inspections of properties, reviews of their operational plans, and more. If any applicants fail to meet the requirements – or the deadline or criteria for receiving an extension – the next person on the lottery list will have an opportunity to get a license. The next three applicants on the list (after duplicate addresses are removed) are Green Stem LLC at 747 East Eighth Street, Michigan Provisioning Center LLC at 1245 South Garfield Avenue, and 116 Bridge St LLC at 309 South Elmwood Avenue.