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Law Michigan MMJ
- Thread starter momofthegoons
- Start date
I agree. Would they do the same thing if you reeked of cigarettes (like ALL people that smoke them do)?
Or garlic? Or..... ? I can think of a host of smells a lot more offputting.
ataxian
In a BLACK HOLE!
I 1977 in WAKIKI the police caught me smoking a joint of MAUI WOWIE without seeds.
He did not write me a ticket?
Night clubbing was fun & entertaining back in time!
At least CIVILIZED society was attained d?
Here's how you can get your marijuana-related criminal convictions expunged in Michigan
More than two years after Michigan voters approved marijuana for adult use, residents convicted of many pot-related crimes that have now been legalized have an opportunity to expunge them from their records.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a sweeping "clean slate" package of bills in October that will automatically expunge some criminal records in 2023, while others have to be applied for. On Monday, Attorney General Dana Nessel announced a new website where Michigan residents can learn about how to begin the process expunge the marijuana-related criminal records that require an application.
"Michiganders voted to legalize recreational marijuana use years ago," Nessel said in a statement. "Residents should rightfully be able to eliminate convictions for actions that are no longer considered a crime in our state."
According to the new website, "a person convicted of 1 or more misdemeanor or local ordinance marijuana crimes may petition the convicting court to set aside the convictions if they were based on activity that would not have been a crime after December 6, 2018, when a 2018 voter-passed initiative to legalize recreational use of marijuana in Michigan went into effect."
The website explains the requirements, including a checklist of eligible misdemeanor marijuana offenses. Additionally, a person convicted of one or more criminal offenses including felonies (but not more than a total of three felonies) may petition to expunge the convictions.
Applicants need to provide their full name and current address, as well as a certified record of each conviction that the applicant is seeking to expunge.
The application must be filed either by mail or in person in the court where the conviction occurred.
A court may or may not require the applicant to appear before a court.
More information will be added to the website as it becomes available.
Marijuana convictions can be a barrier to accessing jobs, loans, housing, education, and some public resources. The racist War on Drugs has had a disproportionate impact on people of color despite the fact that white people use marijuana at about the same rate as others.
Michigan's legal marijuana industry hits record sales, buoyed by new products
Bully Kush, resin-coated moon rocks, lemon ginger gummies, cannabis-infused peanut butter, and wedding cake distillate. This ain't your grandpa's weed.
As Michigan's legal marijuana industry continues to blossom, dispensaries are offering an eclectic array of products, from meticulously grown flowers to delicious edibles and potent tinctures.
Recreational and medical marijuana sales in the state hit a record $115.4 million in March, a more than two-fold increase over March 2020, according to Headset, a company that analyzes cannabis consumer trends. There were 1.4 million transactions in March.
In 2020, the first full year of legal recreational sales, dispensaries rang up more than $500 million in purchases.
"Michigan's cannabis market is still growing," Cooper Ashley, a data analyst at Headset, tells Metro Times. "It flattened out a bit in late 2020 but appears to be trending up again."
Although the state allowed dispensaries to stay open during the COVID-19 pandemic, legal cannabis consumption declined late last year. But in early 2021, sales not only rebounded, they began to soar to record levels.
That growth is expected to continue in April as people celebrate 4/20, the national holiday for cannabis culture. During the week of April 20 last year, medicinal and recreational sales grew 48% over the previous four weeks in Michigan, despite the pandemic, according to Headset.
"I'd say that we should expect at least as big of a response this year, but I know the weather in Michigan can be pretty variable this time of year, so that will probably be a fairly influential factor on 4/20 celebrations and shopping," Ashley says.
As the legal industry grows, Michigan-based companies are churning out new products that are changing how cannabis is consumed.
Michigan leads the nation with the highest market share of edibles. In March, 14.4% of total recreational and medical cannabis sales were for edibles.
One of the leaders is UBaked, a Burton-based company that grows high-quality flower and makes concentrates, sublingual sprays, and delicious edibles. Its cannabis-infused candy-bar line includes peanut butter, chocolate mint, cookies 'n' cream, strawberry crunch, orange creamsicle, root beer float, dark chocolate cherry (with Michigan cherries!), and a Suberbaked bar that tastes like Michigan's famous Superman Ice Cream.
Their new gummy line, which premieres this week, includes pink lemonade, blue raspberry, cherry lime, tropical fruit, orange, cherry lime, and lemon ginger.
"We like the variety to keep it interesting," Amy Beauchamp, co-owner of UBaked, tells Metro Times.
UBaked's resource and development team includes a food scientist and a technician who are working on hard candies, gum, suppositories, beverages, and skin care products. They're also working on micro-emulsion to make their products faster-acting.
UBaked's flower products are also popular, with crystal-coated strains like Sluricane, cherry goji, apple fritter, skunk piss, ice cream cake, gelato 33, Oreoz, and apple tart. Another top-selling product is live resin, a concentrate for dabbers and vapers.
"Our flower and concentrates always do well," Beauchamp says.
Michigan is expected to enter the beverage market soon. In January, the Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency announced a new process that will allow companies to manufacture and sell THC-infused beverages.
Michigan now has 410 medical cannabis dispensaries and 260 recreational marijuana shops. The growth continued in 2021, with Michigan issuing licenses for 46 new medical cannabis dispensaries and 45 new recreational marijuana shops.
While the growth of the cannabis industry has been strong, its full potential has been stymied by communities prohibiting the sale of recreational marijuana. Fewer than 100 of the state's 1,764 communities permit recreational marijuana sales.
In Detroit, the state's largest city, recreational dispensaries and cannabis consumption lounges are expected to open in a few months. The city barred new recreational marijuana businesses until it could develop an ordinance to ensure that longtime residents weren't squeezed out by outside profiteers. A federal judge, however, ordered the city last week to temporarily halt processing licenses for recreational marijuana businesseswhile he considers a lawsuit challenging the city's "legacy" ordinance that gives priority to longtime residents.
For communities that embraced recreational marijuana dispensaries, the rising sales are welcome news. In March, the state doled out nearly $10 million to municipalities and counties from excise taxes generated from recreational sales in the 2020 fiscal year. Communities receive about $28,000 for each dispensary.
"Infusing over $28,000 per retailer and micro business into local government budgets across the state is very impactful and shows how strong and successful the industry is becoming," Andrew Brisbo, executive director of the state's Marijuana Regulatory Agency, said in a statement.
The excise tax also generated about $11.6 million for schools and $11.6 million for roads.
Oz Cannabis is one of the faster-growing dispensaries, which has cannabis shops in Detroit, Ypsilanti, Bay City, and Traverse City. In the next several months, it plans to open new dispensaries in Owosso, Pontiac, and Meridian Township.
Jamie Garmo, a member of Oz Cannabis' executive team, said product diversity is a key part of the business. Its dispensaries sell flowers, edibles, topicals, tinctures, concentrates, and vapes.
"There is a lot of sophistication in these products now," Garmo tells Metro Times. "People don't want to get high just go get high. They want to enjoy what they are doing. It's part of the experience."
It's not just products that have become more sophisticated, but the processes that go into making them, as well. A new cannabis dispensary and grow operation that claims to be Detroit's largest is set for a grand opening on April 20.
Leaf and Bud is located on Livernois Avenue, tucked around the corner behind the Value Save grocery store not far from the Avenue of Fashion and the University of Detroit Mercy. Despite its unassuming location, inside is a dispensary with a sleek, modern feel. The long showroom is flanked by two curvy, neon-accented countertops, and on a recent visit, workers were in the process of stocking the counters with a variety of products, including those from Future Grow Solutions, which shares a space in the 140,000-square-foot building.
Leaf and Bud and Future Grow Solutions are separated by a security gate. But over at the grow operation, there's a similar futuristic feel.
The space houses rows of Future Grow Solutions' "CropTowers," 11-foot-tall towers that the company's master cultivator, Billy Zangoulos, says uses a "hyperponic" system to grow cannabis plants that shortens the vegetation cycle by weeks. Each tower holds 102 plants, which are suspended in the air and surrounded by lights.
"We can take a clone from a mother, we can develop roots on that plant, and then we can put that plant directly into flower at a smaller size," Zangoulos says. "We're surrounding that whole tower with LED light. So we've sort of saved money on the power consumption with the modern lighting, and we've skipped like a two- to three-month life cycle that would be required in a traditional grow."
Zangoulos says it's the largest vertical 360 grow operation in the state.
"It's all computer-controlled," he says. "It's all water-fed, no dirt, no mess. It's a very clean approach to it."
Zangoulos says he started growing cannabis in 2008, when Michigan voters approved medical marijuana.
"I got into it because I had medical issues," he says. "I have Crohn's disease. So I was one of the first thousand patients in the state of Michigan to get a card. And from that day, my life changed."
Zangoulos says he's amazed at how far the industry has come since then. When he saw the sophisticated grow operation at Future Grow Solutions, "I couldn't not say yes," he says.
"It's awesome," he says. "Every day you go in and you smile and you sing to your girls, and I say hi and make sure they're fed."
Michigan GOP lawmaker wants to create a marijuana blood-level limit for drivers
A Michigan lawmaker wants to specify how much of the intoxicating chemical contained in marijuana can be in someone's blood in order for that person to bedeemed a dangerous driver.
The measure introduced Wednesday by Rep. Pamela Hornberger, R-Chesterfield Township, is a controversial move that contradicts the recommendations of a state commission created under former Gov. Rick Snyder that studied the concept of THC blood levels and intoxication.
Recreational marijuana is legal in Michigan, and it's already illegal to drive while intoxicated in the state. But marijuana intoxication is not defined in the same way as alcohol intoxication; if someone has a blood-alcohol concentration of .08 or higher, that person is legally considered too drunk to drive.
The bill, HB 4727, essentially aims to craft a similar number for marijuana intoxication. That limit would be 5 nanograms per milliliter of blood. A nanogram is one-billionth of a gram.
In a statement, Hornberger said she is working with Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido on the measure. Hornberger is running to fill the state Senate seat Lucido gave up when he was elected prosecutor in the fall.
The bill comes in response to the death last year of a girl in Warren. Liliani "Lily" Leas was hit and fatally injured by a vehicle driven by a family member.
“We have to ensure there are appropriate punishments in place when drivers make the misguided decision to put the lives of others in danger by driving under the influence of THC,” Hornberger said in a statement.
“This legislation unfortunately won’t undo what happened to Lily Leas, but I’m hopeful it will prevent future tragedies.”
The driver, Nichole Leas, had THC in her system, according to the Macomb Daily. Representatives for Hornberger and Lucido did not immediately respond to questions about how much THC was in Leas' system.
In January, Leas pleaded no contest to a moving violation causing death, according to the Daily.
“Modifying the existing Motor Vehicle Code to incorporate a marijuana threshold will make our roads safer and provide an invaluable tool for law enforcement in investigating and prosecuting marijuana driving cases," Lucido said in a statement.
The commission determined it's very hard to accurately find someone's THC intoxication level based on a roadside or blood test. While breath testers can be used to determine whether someone is drunk (these are also controversial), there is no widely recognized comparable and established test for THC. The Michigan State Police had a pilot program to test oral swabs as of 2019.
Everyone's body processes THC very differently, the commission noted. A heavy marijuana user may have a THC level that far exceeds 5 nanograms per milliliter but not actually be impaired, whereas a newer or more limited user may have a lesser amount and be severely impaired.
By the time a blood test could be taken, the amount of THC in a person's body could also be very different than at the time that person was driving, the commission noted.
Instead of setting a firm limit, the commission recommended law enforcement use field sobriety tests already in use to determine whether a driver is drunk.
As of late 2020, six states had nanogram limits on THC blood content. Those limits ranged from 1 nanogram per milliliter of blood to 5 nanograms, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The number of drug-involved crashes in Michigan increased from about 2,000 in 2013 to 2,880 in 2017 before decreasing to 2,600 in 2019, according to a reportfrom the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. There were almost 10,000 alcohol-related crashes the same year, the university found.
10th recreational marijuana shop opens in Grand Rapids
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- The 10th recreational marijuana dispensary has opened in Grand Rapids.
High Profile, located just on the Grand Rapids-Kentwood border at 2321 44th St. SE, began its first sales of recreational marijuana this week.
“With the Michigan adult-use market booming, we’re thrilled to now offer our curated selection of premium cannabis products at High Profile to recreational consumers in Grand Rapids, Kentwood and Wyoming,” said Ankur Rungta, CEO of Ann Arbor-based C3 Industries, which owns the High Profile chain.
“Whether long-time cannabis connoisseurs or new to the plant, our experienced budtenders can help consumers find the best products to fit their needs and desires.”
The Grand Rapids High Profile location opened in October 2020 as a medical marijuana provisioning center. With its conversion to adult-use recreational Wednesday, it has become the 10th dispensary in the city.
The dispensary is open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day of the week.
One-eighth of an ounce of marijuana flower at the dispensary is billed at about $35 to $60 depending on the strain. In addition to marijuana flower, the dispensary also offers pre-rolled joints, edibles, vape cartridges, concentrates and more.
Along with its Grand Rapids location, C3 Industries has dispensaries in Ann Arbor, Buchanan and Grant in Michigan and plans to continue expansion throughout the state.
“With Michigan as our home, we look forward to bringing six more High Profile locations to the state throughout 2021, expanding convenient access to quality flower and products as demand continues to surge,” Rungta said.
The company also has stores planned in Missouri and one open in Oregon.
The other recreational marijuana dispensaries in Grand Rapids are:
- PharmHouse Wellness at 831 Wealthy St. SW
- Fluresh at 1213 Phillips Ave. SW
- Michigan Supply & Provisions at 2741 28th St.
- Michigan Supply & Provisions at 1336 Scribner Ave.
- 3Fifteen Cannabis at 2900 S. Division Ave. SE
- 3Fifteen Cannabis at 3423 Plainfield Ave. NE
- Exclusive Brands at 2350 29th St. SE
- Joyology at 3769 28th St. SE
- Gage Cannabis Co. at 3075 Peregrine Drive NE
arb
Semi shaved ape
35 to 60 a eight!?!
Goddamnitman........way to guarantee a thriving black market forfuckingever.
CarolKing
Always in search of the perfect vaporizer
The MI prices for 1/8 looked kinda spendy. I usually pay between $40 - 45 for a really high grade. Usually if you are over 55 you get a discount of 5%. If you pick the right day of the week many stores around my area in WA they have weekly specials on waxes and flowers. I pay $36 -$ 40 for a gram of concentrates on a regular day.
I still enjoy the feeling of going into a cannabis store remembering the days of meeting my black market friend. Worried at any moment he would get busted. Glad I wasn’t there when he did.
I edited the above the prices I pay for concentrates.
I still enjoy the feeling of going into a cannabis store remembering the days of meeting my black market friend. Worried at any moment he would get busted. Glad I wasn’t there when he did.
I edited the above the prices I pay for concentrates.
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Detroit City Council reveals recreational marijuana licensing plans
At least 50% of all new licenses to be issued to ‘Legacy Detroiters’
DETROIT – It’s been nearly a year since recreational marijuana was legalized in Michigan, yet recreational shops and other businesses have not been allowed in Detroit.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan laid out a new timeline Wednesday to change that with Detroiters getting preferential treatment.
“We are going to change the inequity on Detroit versus non Detroit ownership of this community,” Duggan said.
A minimum of 51% of the licenses will go to Detroiters with significant financial benefits, but getting there is a stringent process.
“This is going to be scrutinized,” Duggan said. “You can’t just throw something down on apiece of paper. You’re going to have to have income tax returns to show you’re legitimate, background checks, blight checks -- you have blight tickets on your properties, you’re not going to be able to start a new business.”
Detroiters who are certified as Detroit Legacies can apply for licenses in April and expect to receive licenses in May.
You can watch Jason Colthorp’s full story in the video of the newscast by following title link.
Those who qualify for Detroit Legacy status must be current Detroit residents who have lived in the city for at least a year prior to their license application.
Governor Whitmer signs legislation regulated delta-8 THC products
MICHIGAN — Today Gov. Whitmer signed legislation that will regulate, and cover delta-8 THC derived starting October 11, 2021.
This bill will update definitions regarding cannabis plant products making sure all intoxicating substances will be safety-tested and tracked through the MRA’s statewide monitoring system Michigan Executive Office of the Governor.
“This package of bills continues to show Michigan is the model for the nation in regard to protecting its residents and making sure that those who consume marijuana products do so in a safe manner,” said Gov. Whitmer. “I am glad to see Michigan continuing to lead on the implementation and regulation of a safe, secure marijuana industry, which has already brought tens of millions of dollars in new tax revenue to the state, as well as thousands of well-paying jobs.”
“The team at the MRA has always been committed to transparency and forward thinking and this was once again the case regarding delta-8,” said MRA Executive Director Andrew Brisbo. “We were proud to work with legislators and industry stakeholders to pro-actively address this issue and move an untested, unlicensed intoxicating synthetic product into our licensed and regulated system.”
“The voters of Michigan chose to legalize and regulate marijuana in the interests of justice and public health,” said Rep. Yousef Rabhi, D-Ann Arbor. “We know that banning these substances is not the best way to keep the public safe. But we also know that these psychoactive compounds are currently being sold with no public health standards to anyone, regardless of age. Instead of allowing these new hemp derivatives like Delta 8 to circumvent our world-class regulated system, this new law will apply the same rigorous testing and commercial standards that currently protect consumer safety in the legal marijuana marketplace.”
“I appreciate the support of Governor Whitmer and my legislative partner Representative Rabhi in helping Michigan take an important step in streamlining regulations for the safety of cannabis businesses and people around our state,” said Rep. Jim Lilly, R-Park Twp. “By mirroring Michigan’s existing liquor dram shop law and clearly defining the requirements for a proper injury lawsuit, we are bringing clarity to a previously murky area of our cannabis laws. I am extremely excited to see the Governor not only sign these bills, but also sign bills to protect Michigander’s from unregulated and untested Delta-8 hemp products. This legislation does the right thing by taking these products out of the unregulated marketplace and bringing them under the purview of a well-functioning Marijuana Regulatory Agency.”
“We applaud Governor Whitmer’s decision to sign this package of bills into law,” said Robin Schneider, Executive Director of the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association. “Regulating Delta 8 rather than banning the product is a smart and progressive move that is in the best interest of public health and safety. We are grateful that medical marijuana patients will have improved access to their certifying physicians and that state licensed cannabis businesses will have clearer standards and improved liability insurance coverage.”
“The U.S. Hemp Roundtable, the hemp industry's national advocacy organization, applauds Governor Whitmer and legislative leaders for developing a sound, common-sense approach to regulating delta-8 THC products that will not only serve Michigan residents well, but will also provide a model for the nation,” said Jonathan Miller, General Counsel of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable. “House Bill 4517 ensures that intoxicating products are not sold at retail stores, under the guise of hemp; rather that they are regulated akin to adult-use cannabis, restricted to adults and monitored for safety and potency. This is a win-win for Michigan farmers and consumers; we hope other states follow Michigan's lead.”
Michigan residents participating in the Michigan Medical Marijuana Program will be allowed telemedicine under House Bill 4745.
“I’m thrilled that medical marijuana patients now have access to telemedicine, just like the rest of Michigan’s medical patients do,” said Gov. Whitmer. “This package of bills makes a huge difference in the lives of those who rely on the medical properties of marijuana.”
Information from the MRA about delta-8 and is available on their website.
A cannabis lounge is coming to DTE Energy music theatre — and other Detroit venues
Smoking weed and chilling with some music is a mainstay combination of stoner culture. And some performers have pointedly groomed a stoner fan base — think acts like the Grateful Dead, Snoop Dogg, and Baroness.
As marijuana legalization spreads and people incorporate its use more openly, pairing marijuana and live music seems a natural phenomenon. Still, it's something of a surprise that Lume — the biggest cannabis company in Michigan, with 21 dispensaries and plans to have 40 by the end of this year, in addition to growing and processing facilities — has entered an agreement with entertainment company 313 Presents to make Lume the official cannabis of DTE Energy Music Theatre.
Of course, plenty of pot has been smoked and vaped up on the amphitheater's hill since the days when it was known as Pine Knob. The surprise is that such a big name as DTE Energy has an official cannabis brand, and the long-term plan is for Lume to actually sell products for consumption at the concert venue.
"We're trying to take cannabis out of the shadows and put it in the spotlights and get it into the culturally mainstream events," says John Gregory, chief marketing officer for Lume. "Cannabis and music have always gone well together, not tied to a specific kind of music. We can showcase our brand in an unexpected way. ... We want to get the taboo and old prohibition sentiments in the rearview."
The five-year agreement includes signage and branding throughout the venue ("stage, parking lot, everywhere you go," Gregory says), with products under glass for people to look at and the opportunity to place orders for later pick up at the stores. Eventually, the "Lume Tree House" can be easily converted into a consumption lounge.
Lume still has some heavy lifting to do to realize the end goal of selling products at the amphitheater. For one thing, Independence Township, where DTE Energy Music Theatre is located, has not opted in to the state recreational marijuana program — yet Gregory expects Lume will sell products there in the second year of operation. Maybe he knows something the rest of us don't know.
Not only will Lume be present at DTE Energy Music Theatre, but Gregory says the company has the right of first refusal for any company that 313 Presents has contracts with — places like the Fox Theatre, Little Caesars Arena, and Comerica Park.
"It's not if, it's when," says Gregory, who admits to being in talks with the major sports stadiums.
That's a natural extension of Gregory's previous job doing marketing with the New Balance Athletic Shoe company. He worked with a lot of people in the world of sports, and those contacts are contacts whether he's knocking on the door with shoes or cannabis. In fact, the new agreement with DTE Energy kicks off on Saturday, July 24 with a CBD-focused sort of athletic event. Yoga on the Lawn, led by Citizen Yoga founder Kacee Must, will take place on the hill along with a DJ set by MEHUŁ. There will also be wellness products provided by Lume.
Not everything there will be given over to cannabis consciousness. If a family-friendly event involving children is scheduled, Gregory says, "we will remove our branding or cover it up."
A quick look at the DTE Energy concert schedule for the rest of the year shows none of that. Instead acts such as Dead & Company, the Black Crowes, Chris Stapleton, Dave Matthews, and Pitbull and Iggy Azalea will attract audiences with plenty of cannabis-friendly folks. Indeed, although Lume won't be providing any consumables just yet, there will be cannabis consumption in the place. The Lume plan is sort of sanctioning what people are already doing.
This is pretty much what "big marijuana" looks like in Michigan at this point. Lume has close to 1 million square feet under cultivation. It has its own processing facilities and can provide products for those planned 40 stores. This new agreement with 313 Presents will make Lume very visible in the public eye, and cultivate the canna-curious crowd in environments where they feel safe.
Caregivers at odds with corporate cannabis over access to Michigan marijuana market
There’s a legislative and philosophical feud boiling in the world of Michigan marijuana.
Caregivers, who are each authorized to grow up to 72 plants at a time for themselves and up to five registered medical marijuana patients, are facing off with some of the most powerful commercial producers who believe registered home growers can pose a risk to public safety and supply the black market.
Steve Linder, a longtime Republican lobbyist and director of the Michigan Cannabis Manufacturers Association, is vague about exactly what his organization’s legislative goals are, but alluded to altering the role of caregivers to align with the safety requirements and regulations faced by licensed marijuana producers.
“The number one principle that we were founded on was providing safe, clean, tested products to the marketplace, just like any other product that people inhale or ingest,” Linder said. “... We want Michigan to not only have high testing standards, we want to lead the nation in testing standards, so that the public is confident that whatever product they use is going to perform as anticipated and is not going to harm them. That’s our guiding principle. And everything we do, whether it’s legislative or statutory, is geared toward making certain that the industry’s protocols and procedures and standards are beyond reproach.”
Linder’s avoided naming specific changes he’d like to see implemented to the caregiver system.
While no laws have been formally proposed, lobbyists for the Michigan Cannabis Manufacturers Association, which includes some of the largest vertically integrated marijuana companies in the state, have been feeling out the Legislature with an eye on further restricting caregiver grow limits, requiring testing and tracking product similar to licensed businesses, said Jamie Lowell, a legalization pioneer and the director of social responsibility and advocacy at the Botanical Company, a marijuana retailer based in Lansing.
Lowell on May 29 obtained a form entitled, “Addressing Public Health Concerns and the Black Market,” that he said was distributed to lawmakers by representatives from the Michigan Cannabis Manufacturers Association. Lowell said rumors began swirling a month prior to his receipt of the proposals from a legislator he declined to identify.
The document includes proposals to impose stricter limits on caregivers and competition from micro-businesses, which are self-contained, recreational license holders able to grow, process and sell products derived from up to 100 plants. Linder declined to confirm or deny issuing the proposal.
If enacted, the measures would limit caregivers to three plants per patient and 12 plants total. Under the current law, caregivers may have 12 plants per patient and up to 72 total. It would also require caregivers to enter their harvests and plants into the state-monitored tracking system, undergo inspections and notify the state government and local municipalities where the caregiver grows exist.
Caregivers, created by the 2008 voter-approved Medical Marijuana Act, are given mostly free reign to provide untested products to their patients. Their marijuana isn’t tracked or tested. They pay no licensing fees and don’t answer to the Marijuana Regulatory Agency.
Several police and business executives say they believe some caregivers are using their medical moniker to subvert the system, in some cases teaming up with other caregivers to increase their cumulative plant limits and set up major grows in homes or warehouses that have the ability to produce as much marijuana as some licensed companies.
Caregiver advocates say the problem is overstated and the proposed remedies unnecessary.
Linder and his member companies have “suffered a little bit of abuse” on social media and have become the focus online boycotts based on “misinformation” campaigns. Caregivers and others within the industry have painted the association and its members as heartless capitalists who want to strip medical marijuana patients of their medicine.
Ryan Bringold, 49, of Oakland County, has worked as a caregiver since medial marijuana was legalized in 2008. He’s been a marijuana legalization advocate since the 1990s. He’s planning a rally at the Michigan Capitol in Lansing on Sept. 15 to urge legislators not to alter the caregiver law.
“We’re starting to see these big, licensed, retail, big-money guys coming in and they’re working with legislators in Lansing against caregivers now,” Bringold said. “It really boils down to greed. They feel like they’ve put so much money in to get their licensing to be retailers and they feel the cannabis caregivers in the medical program are hurting the bottom line.”
Steve Linder became the face of caregiver opposition when, during an interview with Grown In in May, he said: “We think everything should be in the regulated marketplace.”
“We have a huge supply of cannabis that’s not in the licensed marketplace,” Linder said. “And it’s not tested. We don’t know where it’s grown, we don’t know who’s growing it. People are not employing, they’re not investing in infrastructure, they’re not paying taxes. So, we have to get at the unregulated supply and that law needs to be passed. And we’re going to lead the charge.”
Linder admitted that changes to the current law might be difficult, but not impossible. Because the caregiver law was part of a voter-initiated ballot proposal, it would require a 3/4 majority vote to alter.
Cannabis companies don’t want black-market marijuana sales to eat into their profits, which they undoubtedly are, but caregiver supporters think efforts to restrict caregiver production is misguided.
The Michigan Cannabis Manufacturers Association, to illustrate the size of the illicit and caregiver sales, paid the Anderson Economic Group to analyze the market.
The resulting report found that nearly 70% of all marijuana sales in 2020, more than $2 billion worth, weren’t through licensed businesses.
Law enforcement officials say marijuana black market operations are prolific.
In Sterling Heights, Fire Marshal Shawn Allen said city officials are responding to complaints about grow houses on a nearly daily basis. Often, when confronted, suspects typically present caregiver registration and patient cards, but are often operating outside the bounds of caregiver parameters he said.
Allen said his city has “abated” more than 500 home grows since August 2020 and estimates more than 1,000 others are still in operation within the 132,000-resident, 37-mile city.
“All of these places are rentals, so they’re not even occupied,” Allen said. “We’re starting to see the repeat customers now with the people we dealt with from last August. They’ve started growing again because there’s no penalty.
“Prosecutors will not touch this for us. They won’t help us here at all in the county. Anything marijuana-related, they don’t care, so it’s kind of left on myself to try and make it as safe as possible. The other things I do is write citations and under extreme conditions pull the power.”
While some enforcement on illegal caregiver operations is taking place at the local level, the only statewide enforcement comes from the state police Marijuana and Tobacco Investigation Section, led by Detective First Lt. Chris Hawkins.
The unit was created in 2017 to shut down illicit marijuana operations that compete with the licensed market.
Between July 2020 and June 30 this year, the unit seized over 12,000 marijuana plants, over 6,400 pounds of marijuana flower -- about a third of what’s sold in the recreational market each month -- and over 55,000 other marijuana vapes, edibles and other products, Hawkins said.
“We are only scratching the surface on what may be out there,” he said. “These aren’t caregivers who are growing like five extra plants.
“There are certainly times when we will do an illicit market enforcement where an individual has at least taken the steps of obtaining a caregiver card or patients, but it’s very clear they are nowhere within the boundaries” of the medical marijuana law. “The individuals engaging in the activity we see - I don’t think are going to be any more deterred if their 12 plants are now six plants or four plants.”
Caregivers are the pioneers of legalized marijuana in the state, but find their role increasingly diminished as the licensed markets takes hold.
As of December 2019, when the first recreational shops opened, there were 268,566 registered medical marijuana patients and 36,392 registered caregivers. Those numbers had dipped to 252,330 and 30,670, respectively, as of June, according to state Marijuana Regulatory Agency statistical reports.
Under emergency rules created by the Marijuana Regulatory Agency, caregivers were allowed to sell products and excess marijuana to commercial companies when the recreational market first opened, but were phased out entirely by September 2020.
“The state was encouraging caregivers to bring cannabis to stores and then eventually through processors and cultivators, and then they were kind of unceremoniously cut off,” Lowell said. “And so, yes, a lot of them did kind of ramp up to do that because they were encouraged to keep the inventory flow going.”
As of November 2018, more than 97% of all retail sales were of caregiver-grown product. By the time recreational sales began in December 2019, caregiver product still accounted for 60% of all sales, according to Marijuana Regulatory Agency data.
Now that the caregiver flow to the commercial market has been cinched, Lowell told MLive it’s likely some have not halted operations and may continue to sell to the black market. If that is the case, however, he said they’re not acting within the scope of a caregiver, which is illegal and enforceable.
“You’re not allowed to do that,” Lowell said. “That’s already the case, so creating more restrictions for caregivers that could potentially hurt patients is not the answer.”
Caregivers under the medical marijuana law were originally meant to be the sole legal producers and distributors of marijuana to those who used it for medical reasons. At the time, there was no framework for commercial medical marijuana sales.
There is now. The retail framework and commercial licensing program was developed under the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act, passed in September 2016, and the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act passed in 2018.
One of the most vocal companies regarding the caregiver-licensed market debate is Pleasantrees.
Pleasantrees CEO Randall Buchman, a one-time caregiver himself, resigned as president of the Michigan Cannabis Manufacturers Association in May when the debate erupted. The company said it wanted to control its own messaging.
In a public statement on Facebook, Pleasantrees said it supports caregivers “who responsibly grow for their five or less patients,” but also wants caregivers to be “transitioned to the licensed market so their efforts can generate legitimate jobs, income and welcomed competition in the legal marketplace.”
Pleasantrees is among the companies that have been targeted by boycotts.
“Any caregivers who is making millions is violating the rules of the caregiver program as they were intended to operate,” said Benjamin M. Sobczak, a legal adviser and attorney with Pleasantrees. “That begs the quest whether or not those persons are caregivers at all.
“But certainly, if confronted by any authority and asked to justify the existence of their operation, one can assume that they will present a caregiver card.”
More than 2,500 pounds of marijuana seized at US-Canada border in Detroit
Customs and Border Patrol agents in Detroit seized 2,583 pounds of marijuana at the U.S. and Canada border Wednesday.
A semi-truck, which was supposedly carrying aluminum caps, was headed into Detroit at the Fort Street Cargo Facility when it was searched. An X-ray showed that the truck was not carrying aluminum caps, and the truck was searched.
Agents found the marijuana packed in pallets.
"While CBP Field Operations continues to facilitate lawful trade and travel, drug interdiction remains an enforcement priority," said Port Director Devin Chamberlain. "The men and women of CBP continue to work to keep dangerous and unregulated substances from hitting the streets of the U.S."
According to officials, there has been a surge in contraband crossing the border since travel bans were enacted in March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wednesday's seizure is the second time in a month that more than a ton of marijuana was discovered at the border.
Baron23
Well-Known Member
That's been boiling every since they pass recreational, no?
Yeah, the corps are just trying to lock up the market for their own profit and everything else is BS, IMO.
Michigan Spends $20M In Marijuana Revenue To Study Medical Cannabis For Veterans With PTSD
A pair of research projects funded by $20 million in tax revenue from Michigan’s adult-use cannabis program will analyze the effects of medical marijuana in military veterans, state officials announced on Tuesday.
The bulk of the money, nearly $13 million, will examine “the efficacy of marijuana in treating the medical conditions of United States armed service veterans and preventing veteran suicide,” according to recipients at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). The grant will fund the next step of a study researchers say is the first clinical trial of inhaled botanical marijuana for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and only the second to compare the safety and efficacy of cannabis against a placebo.
Another $7 million in marijuana revenue-funded grant money was awarded to Wayne State University’s Bureau of Community Action and Economic Opportunity, which has partnered with researchers to study how cannabis might treat a variety of mental health disorders, including PTSD, anxiety, sleep disorders, depression and suicidality. Both new grants come from Michigan’s $20 million Veteran Marijuana Research Grant Program, which was established by the state’s legalization law approved by voters in 2018.
PTSD, depression and substance use disorders are all common among veterans, MAPS says. The disorders are also significant contributors to suicidality.
The tax revenue will fund Phase 2 of the organization’s clinical trial comparing the safety and efficacy of inhaled cannabis against a placebo. The research will also “not exclude” military veterans with major depressive disorder and substance use disorder, MAPS said. A total of 320 veterans across four sites, two of which are in Michigan, will spend five weeks “self-administering inhaled, self-titrated doses of high-quality botanical cannabis on an outpatient basis for treatment of PTSD.”
In other words, veterans will be able to smoke marijuana at home, however they like, for more than a month. Which is precisely what makes it a realistic study.
Berra Yazar-Klosinki, chief scientific officer for MAPS Public Benefit Corporation, said the grant funding provides the resources to “align the body of scientific evidence with cannabis that more closely mirrors what is available within state-regulated cannabis programs.” She added that the group “overcame significant regulatory obstacles obstructing cannabis research to conduct the first clinical trial of inhaled cannabis for PTSD.”
Veterans have been a potent force in the decades-long movement to end America’s war on drugs, playing key roles in uniting disparate political groups to turn the tide on cannabis prohibition and, increasingly, to explore the therapeutic potential of other controlled substances, including MDMA and psychedelics.
But as with much of the medical marijuana movement, support among veterans for the most part didn’t result from clinical studies, which were virtually impossible under widespread prohibition. Instead it came from individual and word-of-mouth experiences among veterans and their communities.
Funded by Michigan’s $20 million Veteran Marijuana Research Grant Program, which was established by 2018 the state’s legalization law, the new study is aimed at determining how effective smoked cannabis actually is at treating PTSD and its symptoms. If it’s demonstrated to work well, that could lead to Phase 3 trials and ultimately raw cannabis being developed and sold as a pharmaceutical. Eventually a joint—or at least one approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—could be covered by a veteran’s insurance.
“In Israel and Canada, veterans are able to use a certain amount of cannabis per day and have it reimbursed through their veterans health service programs,” Yazar-Klosinki told Marijuana Moment in an interview, noting that while the United States has made incremental progress toward reform, veterans still face serious obstacles to using cannabis under a doctor’s supervision.
“We still have more regulatory negotiations ahead of us in order to convince the FDA to let us use the kind of cannabis that that veterans are already using in the United States,” she said.
Yazar-Klosinki explained that because of difficulties sourcing high-quality cannabis from the few government-approved growers in the U.S., the team is planning to bring in the cannabis for Phase 2 trials from a regulated grower overseas. The team is “selecting appropriately qualified growers from abroad that have already validated their production and measurements…at the level of good manufacturing practices,” she said.
If the trials are successful, however, MAPS could ultimately develop a cannabis pharmaceutical product through its public benefit corporation, said founder and executive director Rick Doblin.
“Michiganders are granting non-profit researchers the opportunity to establish whether marijuana is helpful for veterans with PTSD,” Doblin said in a statement. “If so, we will seek to return that generosity by developing a public-benefit cannabis pharmaceutical product that would be eligible for insurance coverage, just like any other pharmaceutical drug.”
MAPS previously organized what it says was the only FDA-regulated controlled study of cannabis for PTSD, which was funded with $2.2 million Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment. All treatment groups showed “good tolerability and improvements in PTSD symptoms after three weeks,” a MAPS press release says. The study “further informed the development of this second, larger trial, identifying that higher quality cannabis must be used to differentiate between responses of the control group and the placebo group.”
The Wayne State University project, meanwhile, will “explore the biochemical mechanisms through which [cannabis] could be employed to treat PTSD, anxiety, sleep disorders, depression, and suicidality,” according to the research team’s proposal.
Strict regulations over who could legally grow and supply cannabis for research purposes has long limited meaningful experiments into the therapeutic value of cannabis. Sue Sisley, a researcher at the Scottsdale Research Institute, where the earlier MAPS study was conducted, complained in 2017 that cannabis provided for research purposes by the federal government “looked like green talcum powder.”
“It didn’t look like cannabis. It didn’t smell like cannabis,” Sisley said at the time, adding that some samples failed to conform to potency levels needed for the study. Others were so contaminated with mold they would have failed testing requirements in state-regulated markets.
Sisley, one of the authors of Phase 1 of the current study, is among a group of scientists and military veterans currently suing the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in an effort to force the federal government to formally reconsider marijuana’s federal Schedule I classification, which severely limits research. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard arguments in the case in June.
Meanwhile, some in Washington, D.C., are pushing to ease restrictions on research. The congressional infrastructure bill backed by President Joe Biden includes a number of cannabis provisions, including one that would direct the government to create a plan to eventually allow researchers to study cannabis from retailers in legal states. A bipartisan amendment proposed last week would further expand research into marijuana and CBD.
Also last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved an amendment meant to promote veterans’ access to medical marijuana by allowing doctors at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to issue cannabis regulations in legal states.
The federal government has already taken some initial steps to promote research. Most notably, DEA recently notified several companies that it’s moving toward approving their applications to become federally authorized manufacturers of marijuana for research purposes.
In other Michigan cannabis news, state Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) filed a legal brief this week arguing that residents fired from jobs for off-hours cannabis use that doesn’t affect their work performance should still be eligible for unemployment benefits.
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