Law Michigan MMJ

[Shredder]

So if a caregiver with five patients plus themself can now have 6x2.5 for 15 oz, and a penalty kicks in at 30 oz? Or could a caregiver have 10 oz for every patient? Or 10 oz minus what the patient has in possession. Or what exactly?

Lots of questions still. It would be nice if the state made all the new rules public so we know what's what. It seems crazy that a caregiver could not have the amount a patient could. Or can they?

 

[momofthegoons]

Michigan bill to ban growing marijuana at home flames out

LANSING – Marijuana enthusiasts will be able to grow pot at home after all as the state Senate failed on Thursday to muster a supermajority vote to make changes to the recreational marijuana ballot proposal voters approved in the Nov. 6 election.

The biggest change in the bill proposed by Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, R-Grand Haven, would have dropped the provision that would allow people to grow 12 plants at home for personal use.

Meekhof said he wanted to prevent a flood of marijuana into neighborhoods by people growing their own pot, but by 8:30 p.m. Thursday, it became clear that he didn't have the three-quarters supermajority vote necessary to make changes to the ballot proposal.

"I'm very disappointed. I knew it would be a heavy lift," he said. "What we're going to be allowing to happen is going to make our society less safe."

Under legislative rules, Thursday was the last day that the bill could be considered in the Senate in order to comply with a five-day rule before it could be considered in the state House of Representatives. The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn for the year next week before the five days expires.

Meekhof's efforts to rally the 29 votes needed to move the changes fell short. He didn't have the support of all 26 Republicans in the Senate and Democrats were unwilling to challenge the proposal that passed by a 56-44 percent margin on Nov. 6.

In addition to a ban on homegrown pot, Meekhof also wanted to lower the 10-percent excise tax rate to match the 3-percent tax on medical marijuana. But the lower tax was also expected to serve as a disincentive for communities to allow marijuana businesses into their towns because the tax revenues would be low.

The marijuana legalization law, which into effect on Dec. 6, prohibits home growers from selling their products, although they can give it away. Legal weed won't be commercially available until the state develops the rules and regulations that will govern the recreational market and begins awarding licenses in early 2020.

As a result, the home grow option was an important one for the people who spearheaded the campaign to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use.

Meekhof also wanted to shift how the tax revenue was distributed, shifting money that was supposed to go to schools, roads and communities that allow marijuana businesses to instead give those tax dollars to law enforcement and the communities

The chances of passing the changes to the approved ballot proposals, however, were always slim in this lame duck session. Because the two proposals were passed by the voters, the Legislature needs to muster a supermajority — three-quarters votes — in both the House of Representatives and Senate. Republicans hold a 27-11 super majority in the Senate, but only a 63-47 edge in the House.

They would need 29 votes in the Senate and 83 votes in the House to pass the changes to the marijuana law.

"The state has said they’re in support of recreational marijuana, but this part (the home grow provisions) is something they wish they would have done better," Meekhof said.

Before giving up on his bill, Meekhof said he was hoping for some "harmonic convergence" with members in the House of Representatives. But it didn't come to pass.

The marijuana legalization includes a provision that gives the state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs the authority to regulate and license marijuana businesses. Meekhof’s proposal changes that so that a politically appointed licensing board — similar to how the medical marijuana industry is regulated — also has the authority over licensing businesses in the recreational marijuana industry.

 

[Baron23]

The biggest change in the bill proposed by Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, R-Grand Haven, would have dropped the provision that would allow people to grow 12 plants at home for personal use.

Even just floating this publicly is idiotic. This guy is the Senate Majority Leader....you kind of think he would know how to count votes in his legislature.

 

[momofthegoons]

I don't see any other option since the governing body has stated they wont be 'ready' for recreational sales until 2020.

Makes you wonder how Nevada managed to decide to legalize, legalize, and get stuff out on the shelfs in one year; doesn't it?

Cannabis Businesses In Michigan Gift Marijuana To Bypass Law

Although marijuana is now legal for recreational use across the state of Michigan, there isn’t anywhere for adult cannabis consumers to purchase it. The state must first assemble the regulatory affairs for the new pot market, which, if the predictions are accurate, could set it at early 2020 before dispensaries open their doors.

This means for the next year or so, most pot consumers (at least those without a medical marijuana card) will be forced to continue frequenting the black market. Or maybe not.

It seems a handful of entrepreneurs have identified a loophole in the law that will allow them to capitalize on legal cannabis long before the state gets its act together.

It’s a master plan that borrows a chapter from the District of Columbia – where marijuana is legal, but there is no retail market is available – in which cannabis operations simply “gift” marijuana to customers who purchase food or other non-pot-related merchandise.

A Boston-based online business by the name of On High Road is one of those with plans to strike while the iron is hot. The company sells adults 21 and older “munchie bags” full of baked good and assorted candies for anywhere between $55 and $120. As an added bonus, customers also receive a complimentary supply of marijuana with every order.

Owner Brandon Anthony says his company, which is rolling out services in Detroit, keeps law enforcement from swooping in to shut them down by never gifting more weed than what is allowed under the state’s possession limit. And his operation doesn't keep a surplus of weed on hand.

“There is a gifting clause within the law, so we give the cannabis to customers,” Anthony told the Detroit Free Press. “Under the laws in Michigan, you can gift up to 2.5 ounces.”

In Ann Arbor, a business called Smoke’s Chocolate is doing much of the same. The operation opened its doors early this month, providing customers with chocolate and then tossing in a complimentary stash of weed. The business isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to advertising what it’s really about. Its slogan is simply “Buy some chocolate, get some weed.” Not so subtle, but to the point.

Owner Marc Bernard runs the online shop out of his apartment, according to a report from MLive. And it has been lucrative so far. The company was pulling in an average of $600 per day before it was forced to take a temporary hiatus for expansion purposes.

“It’s been absolutely insane,” Bernard said. “We went viral, and we have not been able to keep up with demand.”

These types of online weed businesses have been known to pop up in every legal marijuana states while the powers that be work to implement the legal system.

The idea gained momentum after the District of Columbia legalized marijuana a few years back without including a way for the people to buy it. It’s a perfect business model for smaller operations that want to participate in the cannabis industry without coming up with a huge bankroll.

“Michigan has been on our radar since last year,” Anthony said. “With all the legal and licensing fees, we couldn’t afford (applying for a license), so we figured out a legal loophole. And I have an attorney that tells me all the legal loopholes are covered.”

Legal experts say the “gifting” model is right in line with the law. It is perfectly acceptable in Michigan to give someone (as long as they are an adult 21 and over) up to 2.5 ounces of raw marijuana or 15 grams of cannabis extracts. As long as nobody is profiting from the exchange (no remuneration), all is well and good… technically. The law, however, is not cut and dry, as there are still a lot of questions about where the line is drawn.

For example: Can Michigan medical marijuana patients give cannabis away to people without a medical marijuana card? No one really has any idea. There is also the question of whether selling low dollar items at ten times the price really counts as “no remuneration.” So far, law enforcement has not said how it will approach the grey market.

But one thing is for sure, the weed dealers in Michigan are going to push the limits in the coming months while the state figures out how its taxed and regulated scene is going to go down.

 

[Baron23]

Makes you wonder how Nevada managed to decide to legalize, legalize, and get stuff out on the shelfs in one year

Absolutely....I have said the same many times. NV understands the value of money and business and got it done. With MI, MD, OH, and many others its normal state gov operations...which is to say slow, inefficient, ineffective and they don't care because none of them are going to lose their gov jobs.

Sad, really.

 

[Shredder]

Ya, the state's position is not realistic. The medical law, and now this one, is to help people, then the state jumps in to criminalize everyone. Shame on them.

I was talking with a friend today on how little has changed as regards to mj, now that we have legalization. It's still a tool used to arrest people, prolly always will be.

 

[Baron23]

Dozens of Michigan communities are voting to ban marijuana shops

In a sea of blue that represents the overwhelming number of yes votes that Oakland County residents lodged to legalize marijuana, the city of Troy stands out.

In the county’s map of election results, Troy residents — by narrow margins in nearly every precinct — voted against legal weed with a final tally of 19,508 "no" votes and 18,528 "yes" votes. In the rest of the county, the map shows wide swaths of support and voters approved the measure 59 to 41 percent.

The Troy City Council, which already had banned medical marijuana businesses from the city, took note of the vote just six days after the election.

“Council DIRECTS City Administration to draft an ordinance opting out of recreational marijuana facilities,” the seven members of the council said unanimously in supporting a resolution to ban marijuana businesses from the city.

Troy joins dozens of other communities around the state to just say no to marijuana businesses. In some cases, like in Troy, it’s the desire to keep weed out of the city’s business landscape. In others, the decision to eschew the businesses and the tax revenues that would come from pot sales in their towns is more of a temporary choice while they wait for the state to set the rules and regulations that will govern the fledgling recreational marijuana market.

In Livonia, where voters passed marijuana legalization by 55 to 45 percent, the council also voted Dec. 3 to opt out of the recreational weed businesses, but kicked the issue into a committee to look at options for the future.

“I don’t think Livonia is ever going to be the Wild Open West,” when it comes to marijuana, said City Attorney Paul Bernier. “Livonia tends to be a conservative town. People who wanted to see it decriminalized didn’t necessarily want to see a ‘Weed Is Us’ on Plymouth Road.”

Under the ballot proposal, communities have to either pass a resolution to prohibit marijuana businesses or adopt an ordinance that would regulate such businesses. If they vote to ban the businesses, they won’t get any of the tax revenue from the 10 percent excise tax on recreational weed sales. That money will be dedicated to schools, road improvements and the communities that let the businesses in.

So far, dozens of communities across the state have opted out, according to an unofficial list from the state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. Meanwhile, at least 109 communities have already passed ordinances to allow medical marijuana businesses in their towns.

Many more places will take up such opt-out resolutions in the coming year, predicted Scott Greenlee, executive director of Healthy and Productive Michigan, which campaigned against the legalization and is helping communities draft opt-out resolutions.

“We’re probably working with close to 100. And there are many more than that who are waiting for the first of the year,” he said. “They’re telling us they want as little marijuana around their community as possible. And a lot of these communities would opt out of allowing people to possess it, too.”

Even in communities where voters overwhelmingly supported legal weed, councils are voting to opt out of having businesses that sell marijuana.

In Royal Oak, voters passed legal pot by 70 to 30 percent. But you wouldn’t know that by the 4-3 vote city commissioners took last month to prohibit marijuana businesses in the Oakland County town, at least for the near future.

“Once the state comes up with licensing guidelines, if the commission wants to revisit and opt into allowing establishments, the city might want to consider medical and recreational businesses,” said Timothy Thwing director of Community Development for the city. “But right now, we need a clear statement from the city that, no, you can’t do this.”

The city has been getting bombarded with calls from marijuana entrepreneurs who want to invest in the city, Thwing said, adding he doesn’t want businesses to make significant investments in buildings and equipment before getting a definitive answer on whether businesses will be allowed in town.

While the commission complied with Thwing’s recommendation, City Commissioner Kyle DuBac said the only clear statement that should be considered is the one sent by voters Nov. 6.

“Six days ago, 70 percent of Royal Oak residents voted yes on proposal 1,” he said during the Nov. 12 meeting. "This seems completely out of balance with our residents. For us to say no we’re not going to do that, flies in the face of our residents.”

But Royal Oak Mayor Mark Fournier said he wants more than just the election results to guide the city’s future with marijuana.

“It’s important to make sure we’re not acting at the last moment and it becomes the wild west here,” Fournier said during the November meeting. “I want to make sure we have a thoughtful process in place with a lot of community input.”

Next door in Ferndale, where voters approved the marijuana proposal by 84 percent to 16, the city already has adopted an ordinance to allow up to five medical marijuana dispensaries and a testing facility in the city, although none have been licensed by the state yet.

“And we don’t anticipate opting out of the recreational market,” said Mayor Dave Coulter. “We’ve given ourselves a May 1 deadline to come up with recommendations for the recreational market.”

Birmingham, where the downtown is populated by upscale retailers and restaurants, the council also voted to prohibit marijuana, even though voters passed the proposal by 61 to 39 percent.

“The decision was made to let’s get more information and not move so quickly until more is known and (state) regulations are in place,” said Kevin Byrnes, communications director for the city.

Michael Whitty, a Birmingham resident and supporter of the marijuana legalization, said he’s not upset by the city's action.

“It doesn’t trouble me,” he said. “As a proponent, my main concern is I simply want to end marijuana arrests. Converting conservative city councils (on allowing businesses in) is the next round and that might take a few years.”

The marijuana legalization proposal allows people 21 or older to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana on their person and up to 10 ounces in their homes as long as it’s locked up. It also allows people to grow up to 12 plants in their homes for personal use.

Legal weed won’t be commercially available for sale until the state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs comes up with the rules and regulations to govern the recreational marijuana industry by December 2019 and begins awarding licenses to marijuana businesses by early 2020.

Although the list is not complete, the towns that have voted to prohibit marijuana businesses are: Royal Oak; Bloomfield Township; Birmingham; Livonia; Plymouth; Monroe; Brown City; Portage; Sault Ste Marie; the Villages of Port Sanilac, Carsonville, Mackinaw City and Melvin; and the townships Ingham, Elmer, Minden, Newberg, Volinia, Brady, Prairie Ronde, Ada, Ashland, Cheshire, Maple Valley, Columbus, Charleston, Burtchbill, Frenchtown, Lamont, Washington, Watertown, Bridgehampton and Speaker.

 

[momofthegoons]

Michigan's minor marijuana investors catch a break from the state

LANSING — Investors with only a small ownership stake in marijuana businesses would escape financial scrutiny, under a bill that received final passage early Friday morning.

Currently, a person with any ownership stake in a marijuana business has to undergo a thorough financial and criminal background check by the state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs or LARA.

The Senate passed a bill last week to change the investigation threshold to anyone with at least a 10 percent ownership interest. People with less than 10 percent interest in the business would still have to go through a criminal, but not a financial background check.

The bills — SB 1262 and 1263 — are intended to streamline the licensing process for state regulators, who have gotten bogged down with investigating businesses featuring dozens of owners.

The original House version of the bill would have put the investigation level at 5 percent, but decided to give final passage to the Senate version of the bill at 4 a.m. Friday morning on a 96-11 vote.


Sen. Patrick Colbeck, R-Canton, opposed the legislation as a blow to transparency.
The financial and criminal background checks completed on marijuana business applicants have resulted in 131 applicants getting denied either pre-qualification status or an actual license from the state's Medical Marijuana Licensing Board, a five-member body that is appointed by the governor from names recommended by the Senate Majority Leader and Speaker of the House.

“It’s very important for us to understand who has a financial stake in these businesses,” he said. But the Senate passed the bill last week on a 30-7 vote.

The other bill in the package would prohibit and penalize marijuana business owners to operate if they don’t have a license from the state.

Currently there are nearly 100 marijuana dispensaries that are operating under emergency rules while they wait to get a license from the state. Those dispensaries are supposed to shut down after Dec. 31 if they still don’t have a license. That bill passed on a 35-2 vote in the Senate and 102-5 in the House.

Since the licensing board began awarding in August, 91 licenses, including 45 dispensaries, have been approved and 178 businesses have been given pre-qualification status. Another 37 license applications and 94 pre-qualification applications — which generally are given before a marijuana business has approval from a community to locate their business there — have been denied.

On Nov. 6, voters approved a ballot proposal that legalizes marijuana for adult recreational use. The licensing process for recreational businesses will be handled by LARA, rather than the politically appointed board.

After the state develops the rules and regulations for the new recreational market, marijuana is expected to become commercially available for sale in early 2020.

Another package of bills that received wide, bipartisan support in both the House and Senate on the final day of the lame duck session removes industrial hemp, which is derived from the cannabis plant, but used for industrial purposes, such as fibers, textiles and paper, from the definition of marijuana.

The bills also require the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to establish, operate, and administer an industrial hemp licensing and registration program.

All the bills — SB 1262 and 1263 and HB 6330 and 6380 — are headed to Gov. Rick Snyder to either sign or veto.

 

[momofthegoons]

Medical Marijuana Facility Temporary Operation Set to End on December 31, 2018

December 28, 2018 – Judge Stephen L. Borrello today dismissed the last pending court case concerning temporary operation of unlicensed medical marijuana facilities. In his order, Judge Borrello noted that his temporary restraining order – which prohibited the State of Michigan and Dept. of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) from imposing any new deadline for temporary operation – had expired, rendering the case closed.

Unlike prior emergency rules, administrative rules now in effect under the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act do not authorize temporary operation of a proposed marijuana facility. However, LARA has agreed that applicants that applied for a license by February 15, 2018 and submitted a valid attestation from the local municipality may temporarily operate until December 31, 2018. Any unlicensed operation after December 31, 2018 may be considered an impediment to licensure.

 

[momofthegoons]

Wow... John has aged... I remember seeing him at the Diag and many, many times prior to his arrest. I was at the concert for his release from prison. Seems like so long ago and when I see John (or look in the mirror lol) I realize how long this fight for legalization has been going on; almost my whole life.

Legendary pot advocate John Sinclair opening cafe in Detroit

Despite being a self-described mess, the aging and more mellow John Sinclair is taking a victory lap.

Arguably, the man most responsible for starting the movement to legalize marijuana in the United States, Sinclair is quietly celebrating Michigan’s vote to free the weed by repeating a daily ritual — lighting up a joint or two, but now happily doing so without the fear of being arrested.

As he prepares to help open the John Sinclair Foundation Café and Coffee Shop on Monday at 7 Mile and Woodward in Detroit, he hopes to resurrect the hippie hangout days full of art, music and poetry that he remembers so fondly.

“I live in Amsterdam half the year and every day I go to the coffee shops. I take my laptop and do some work and smoke a joint when I want to,” Sinclair said. “Here in Detroit, there is nowhere to go. I live off the Cass Corridor and there are all these new people there, but they’re all squares. They don’t smoke weed. They’ve got coffee shops, but they’re upscale, like you see on TV.”

He’s given up the radical notions that led him to start the White Panther Party to support the ideology of the Black Panthers with the ultimate goal of changing a capitalist society. That activism led to too much attention from law enforcement and he wracked up three marijuana-related arrests and ended up landing a 10-year prison sentence for giving an undercover cop two joints.


After serving more than two years of the sentence – with time in both Marquette and Jackson correctional facilities – Sinclair was let out a few days after a “John Sinclair Freedom Rally” in 1971 in Ann Arbor that featured rock luminaries John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Bob Seger and Stevie Wonder, poet Allen Ginsberg and radical activists Abbie Hoffman and Bobby Seale. The Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the sentence was unduly harsh and he was released from prison and his conviction was ultimately overturned.

But he never gave up weed, and started several organizations that advocated for legalization. A few months after he was released from prison, Sinclair was instrumental in getting the first Hash Bash — an annual, very public and smoky celebration of all things marijuana — off the ground on the Diag at the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor.

John Sinclair recites a poem as he speaks during the annual Hash Bash at U-M's Diag in Ann Arbor on Saturday, April 7, 2018. (Photo: Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)


“I’m the pioneer. I was the first one in Michigan who said marijuana should be legal and they said I was totally nuts,” he said. “I’m proud to have a played a part in this. I spent nearly three years in prison because of marijuana.”

Matt Abel, director of the Michigan chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, called Sinclair, "The father of the modern legalization movement since the late '60s. He was one of the first to go public that marijuana should be legal and has stayed with the fight all these many years. It’s great that we have him as a senior leader of the movement."

Time has not been kind to Sinclair, however. He's traveled the world, living in Ann Arbor and New Orleans and now splits his time between Amsterdam, where marijuana is plentiful, and Detroit. But his health is failing and after a few falls, the 77-year-old now uses a wheelchair and calls the Detroit Medical Center his second home.

“I’m a mess,” he acknowledged.

But not enough of a wreck to give up his passions: a weekly radio show, promotion of artists, musicians and poets and the ability to get high.

“I learned in prison when I was up in their face with the radical stuff about ending their way of life and the war and female oppression. I concluded there’s nothing I can do about it. In the '70s, they said back off,” he said. “So I focused on the arts. The only issue I’ve really kept active on is marijuana because it’s so important. It’s been a continuous war for 80 years on people like you and me. They’ve got no business messing with us for getting high.”

And he hopes that will continue at the coffee shop, which will be housed in the appropriately named Dr. Bob’s Psychedelic Healing Shack, a brightly painted doctor’s office, café and gathering spot for hippies, hipsters and anybody who’s looking for a place to “relax.” He'll record his radio show on Monday nights,, feature blues' musicians on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights and host poetry readings on Sundays.

John Sinclair Foundation Cafe and Coffeeshop at Dr. Bob's Psychedelic Healing Shack at 18700 Woodward Avenue on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2018. (Photo: Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)

There will be no marijuana for sale at the coffee shop and even smoking in a public place remains in a legal gray area. But on a recent Wednesday afternoon, Sinclair casually smoked a joint at the gathering spot and dreamed about what is to come.

“It’s been my dream for a long, long time, since 2008 when they legalized medical marijuana, that we should have a place where we can go,” he said. “I’m not interested in dispensing weed, I’m a person who’s gotten his weed form the black market since 1962. In Michigan, if you smoke weed, you know somebody who’s got it. I just want a place where you can go and relax.”


Although Michigan’s new marijuana law prohibits public consumption of pot, it also allows communities to designate spots for cannabis consumption at businesses that aren’t accessible to people under the age of 21. Sinclair hopes that his coffee shop will become one of those officially designated spots.

And while he’s happy with the ballot proposal victory — it passed by a 56-44 percent margin — he’s disturbed by the maze of rules, regulations and expenses that are going along with the budding marijuana industry.

“They came up with all this oppressive regulatory stuff,” he said, referring to a $6,000 application fee and $66,000 regulatory assessment to open a retail pot shop. “Take the seed-to-sale tracking they’re going to do with marijuana. Do they track a carrot? Do they track a tomato seed? There’s nothing wrong with marijuana. There’s never been everything wrong with it.”

And now that Michigan voters have had their say, joining nine other states that have legalized marijuana for adult recreational use, Sinclair expects the federal government will jump on board too within the next few years. And while he’s glad to have played a part with taking marijuana mainstream, he hopes widespread acceptance and legalization happens in his lifetime.”

“First off, it’s a gold mine. And it’s not something that people need to be locked up for,” he said. “In my life, I’m always trying to close the circles. It’s getting shorter and shorter all the time, so if there’s something I want to do, I have to do it now.”

John Sinclair speaks to the Free Press at the John Sinclair Foundation Cafe and Coffeeshop on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2018. Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press

John Sinclair lights up a joint during an interview with the Free Press at the John Sinclair Foundation Cafe and Coffeeshop on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2018. Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press

Inside of the John Sinclair Foundation Cafe and Coffeeshop on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2018.

John Sinclair Foundation Cafe and Coffeeshop at Dr. Bob's Psychedelic Healing Shack at 18700 Woodward Avenue on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2018.

 

[Shredder]

Dr bob? That dr bob? As in bob townsend?

 

[momofthegoons]

A quick Google search shows that it is an establishment that's been there a while; run by Dr. Bob Pizzmenti and his wife Tissheama. There are some pretty funny reviews on Yelp about the place; my favorite being;

An extremely colorful house right on Woodward, in Highland Park. Now that is a business to check out. The sign outside says 'innate chiropractic and vegetarian cafe.' Inside I discover neither. There is a long wall with jars of various herbs to purchase, but no resemblance of a cafe anywhere in site, nor chiropractic services. The girl behind the counter asked me if I saw their chickens running around outside, and a bare footed man with a severe case of super innate body odor, walked by me proclaiming the day is wonderful. Describing this place is like describing a really non coherent dream one has, where anything and everything is intermixed. I still have no clue what is this place. However, I will give them 3 starts for simply bringing color to otherwise gloomy stretch of Woodward.

leave it to John Sinclair to be involved with something like this....

 

[Shredder]

A quick Google search shows that it is an establishment that's been there a while; run by Dr. Bob Pizzmenti and his wife Tissheama. There are some pretty funny reviews on Yelp about the place; my favorite being;



leave it to John Sinclair to be involved with something like this....

Ahhh, not that dr bob.

That sounds like a hippy paradise. Chickens! Yes to chickens.

I've heard rumors of a "social club" trying to start in the Cheboygan area. As long as its not a bunch of high schoolers I'm ok wid it, although I have no personal need to vape in public, or semi public. But a weed themed hippy coffee shop sounds great to this old hippy.

 

[momofthegoons]

There's a short news vid that couldn't be embedded... follow the link to view.

The dispensary that I was visiting has closed. It was considered one of the premier dispensaries in the area; The Reef. It was always on jam with patients. Michigan has really screwed this up and has left 100's of patients without their meds. And with the people they have on the licensing board, you really have to wonder if it's intentional.

I'm thankful every day for my caregiver. Without him I'd be SOL.

More than 70 medical marijuana dispensaries shut down over state licensing

WAYNE, Mich. (WXYZ) — Dozens of local medical marijuana dispensaries are shut down after the state issued a deadline for the businesses to get a license.

However, many dispensaries say it’s not right and they should have received their license from the state months ago.

Now, patients are left looking for new dispensaries to get their medication.

"If you’re going to open any of them, this is the place that needs to be open right here," Allison Fuller said.

She;s been a customer of Holistic Health Wayne since it opened.

More than 70 unlicensed state medical marijuana dispensaries are shutdown as of December 31.

"Those dispensaries that have been operating under that temporary operation have to get a state license in order to continue to distribute marijuana," Barton Morris, Principal attorney at the Cannabis Legal Group said.

The temporary operators have been given approval from the cities they’re established in, but are still waiting on state approval.

"The applications still haven’t come up yet to the marijuana licensing board and others have been simply denied," Morris said.

Patients who visit their regular dispensary are now left looking for answers.

"I’m forced to find meds elsewhere, an undesirable, probably not a safe location," Jeremy Mikeska, a medical marijuana user said.

"I thought we were all set when we did this voting, apparently not, I don’t understand it," Alan Horn, a medical marijuana user said.

Some fear patients will resort to other ways to get their medication.

"Probably have to revert to the black market or to the caregiver system," Morris said.

Now medical marijuana dispensaries that serve thousands of clients are in the dark, waiting for the marijuana board to give them the green light, while patients take the risk of going somewhere else, somewhere they’re not sure of.

"There’s so many cancer patients that come here for Rick Simpson oil, and know they have nowhere to go. So there’s actually people that are dying that have nowhere to go for their medication," Fuller said.

Temporary medical marijuana dispensaries had to apply for a state license back on February 15, 2018.

After speaking with a local dispensary, they say they're losing hundreds of thousand of dollars, if not millions and says this whole situation is a big mess.

 

[Baron23]

Michigan has really screwed this up

Not Michigan....Michigan's politicians and bureaucrats. They will do it EVERY time. (well, in NV they seemed to actually do a pretty good job of it...but the rest...meh).

 

[Shredder]

There's a short news vid that couldn't be embedded... follow the link to view.

The dispensary that I was visiting has closed. It was considered one of the premier dispensaries in the area; The Reef. It was always on jam with patients. Michigan has really screwed this up and has left 100's of patients without their meds. And with the people they have on the licensing board, you really have to wonder if it's intentional.

I'm thankful every day for my caregiver. Without him I'd be SOL.

More than 70 medical marijuana dispensaries shut down over state licensing

WAYNE, Mich. (WXYZ) — Dozens of local medical marijuana dispensaries are shut down after the state issued a deadline for the businesses to get a license.

However, many dispensaries say it’s not right and they should have received their license from the state months ago.

Now, patients are left looking for new dispensaries to get their medication.

"If you’re going to open any of them, this is the place that needs to be open right here," Allison Fuller said.

She;s been a customer of Holistic Health Wayne since it opened.

More than 70 unlicensed state medical marijuana dispensaries are shutdown as of December 31.

"Those dispensaries that have been operating under that temporary operation have to get a state license in order to continue to distribute marijuana," Barton Morris, Principal attorney at the Cannabis Legal Group said.

The temporary operators have been given approval from the cities they’re established in, but are still waiting on state approval.

"The applications still haven’t come up yet to the marijuana licensing board and others have been simply denied," Morris said.

Patients who visit their regular dispensary are now left looking for answers.

"I’m forced to find meds elsewhere, an undesirable, probably not a safe location," Jeremy Mikeska, a medical marijuana user said.

"I thought we were all set when we did this voting, apparently not, I don’t understand it," Alan Horn, a medical marijuana user said.

Some fear patients will resort to other ways to get their medication.

"Probably have to revert to the black market or to the caregiver system," Morris said.

Now medical marijuana dispensaries that serve thousands of clients are in the dark, waiting for the marijuana board to give them the green light, while patients take the risk of going somewhere else, somewhere they’re not sure of.

"There’s so many cancer patients that come here for Rick Simpson oil, and know they have nowhere to go. So there’s actually people that are dying that have nowhere to go for their medication," Fuller said.

Temporary medical marijuana dispensaries had to apply for a state license back on February 15, 2018.

After speaking with a local dispensary, they say they're losing hundreds of thousand of dollars, if not millions and says this whole situation is a big mess.

Of course it's intentional, just like the old marijuana tax act, they declare you need stamps, and then the govt won't issue stamps. Our new gov just needs to dump the Lara board and start over. That's why our old gov appointed antis to the board, to obstruct, and thats what theyre doing. I'm hoping these issues will work themselves out sooner rather than later.

 

[momofthegoons]

And so it begins....

 

[momofthegoons]

And another..... this one in Ypsilanti. Patients have a serious problem in Michigan. Time to write the powers that be.... I believe this leaves a total of 11 dispensaries open in the entire state. Quite a change from the 600 or so that were open prior.

 

[Baron23]

“It cannot be described as anything but a failure,” said Michael Komorn, president of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association, of the state’s progress in 2018."​

I would expect @momofthegoons to agree with this ^^.

“There has been a disconnect ... between the way people in government view marijuana and the way that the public views it,” Rockind said."
​

This is the key problem in a number of states....for example, FL also. IMO, fuck the government...we are a democracy and government is to respond to the electorate, not the other way around.


Recreational weed may spark up Michigan's medical marijuana industry

One in four applications for a license to run a medical marijuana facility made it to the state licensing board in 2018 as state officials conducted extensive vetting and fielded inquiries from 900 prospective businesses.

Last year the industry welcomed new regulations and legal clarity from a 2016 law -- the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act (MMFLA) -- and the state saw the first retail sale of medical marijuana in October.

The 2018 launch of the commercialized medical marijuana industry ended with a marijuana shortage and the closure of at least 72 dispensaries. Starting 2019, patients are having trouble finding their medicine.

“It cannot be described as anything but a failure,” said Michael Komorn, president of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association, of the state’s progress in 2018.

Industry insiders are holding out hope that Michigan’s medical marijuana program will be reformed in 2019 as Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration takes power, and as the recreational marijuana program launches.

“Governor Whitmer has been a supporter of medical and recreational marijuana for years. The administration is exploring any and all options to ensure patients are protected and have access to medical marijuana," said Tiffany Brown, Whitmer’s spokeswoman.

Interest was high in gaining a business license to sell and grow medical marijuana in Michigan in 2018.

“I think people began (2018) with the idea that the Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act was going to create opportunities for people who were operating in the dark to now give them a chance to operate in the light,” said Neil Rockind, a criminal defense attorney. “I don’t think the pace or the manner in which the applicants have been treated have proven that to be true.”

Michigan ended 2018 with the same problem it started with: dispensaries full of medical marijuana supplied by caregivers that don’t have a license. At least 72 provisioning centers were advised that they should shut down by Dec. 31, 2018.

Andrew Brisbo, director of the Bureau of Marijuana Regulation who oversees the state’s licensing program, said he believes regulators have been successful in their efforts to launch the licenses while maintaining safe access for patients.

“Being such a divisive issue, we knew there would be people who didn’t agree,” Brisbo said. “It was a very delicate balance to continue to allow the regulated model to be successful while maintaining patient access. It’s frankly impossible to keep everyone with an opinion on it happy.”

Out of the 532 complete license applications the state received last year, the state’s licensing board reviewed 138 from July to December. The board approved 99 and denied 39 licenses.

“I don’t think anyone considers it enough -- but it’s what we have,” said Denise Pollicella, a lawyer with Cannabis Attorneys of Michigan, regarding the number of licenses.

Far more preliminary applications were reviewed during the board’s initial screening process for businesses: of the 304 inquiries considered, 101 were denied.

Brisbo is proud that his department was able to present 304 preliminary applications to the board, as each required heavy scrutiny of a lengthy application.

"When we started taking applications the intent was to process as quickly as we could," Brisbo said. "The review and determinations to be made on existing facilities turned out to be a more complicated endeavor."

The licensing board -- a group of five individuals appointed by Snyder -- has drawn fire from applicants and their lawyers as state law allows them to reject applications based on subjective criteria. Minor issues have also cost applicants their chance as well. For example, the board denied license applications from former-Lion Calvin Johnson to grow, sell and process medical marijuana due to out-of-state traffic tickets that he resolved prior to the board meeting.

As of Jan. 8, 2019, there are 50 provisioning centers with active licenses spread across the state. Still, Grand Rapids and its metro area -- similar to most of West and Mid-Michigan -- is a medical marijuana desert. North of Cadillac, there are two licensed provisioning centers: one in Frederic and one in the Upper Peninsula in Houghton.

“My biggest frustration is we’ve had this law on the books since 2016. I feel like we as a state should have gotten it going sooner,” Pollicella said. “Clearly it’s not enough provisioning centers to serve everyone in the state.”

Although nearly 100 medical marijuana businesses have licenses to operate in Michigan, the market has been slow to launch -- and there’s a shortage of licensed medical marijuana to sell. Half of the 24 licensed growers in the state received approval in December to move forward.

That’s an issue because of the lag time between when licenses are approved and the product makes it to a store. For instance, the first licensed grower in the state -- High Life Farms -- received state approval in July. Marijuana from its first harvest was sold in late October at Healing Tree Wellness Center on 8 Mile in Detroit.

State regulators took steps to ameliorate the supply problem, announcing in early December that provisioning centers could keep stocking their shelves with medical marijuana grown by caregivers through the end of 2018 without jeopardizing their license applications. Legally, caregivers aren’t allowed to sell the medical marijuana they grow to anyone but the five patients they serve.

“In 2019 the fact that there’s no marijuana on the shelves -- I don’t blame LARA I blame the legislature,” Komorn said. “The legislature wrote that law that precluded the caregivers as sources. LARA took steps to try and fix it.”

But compounding the marijuana shortage was another late-breaking development in 2018: dispensaries that regulators had allowed to operate unlicensed were told to shut down by Dec. 31. The state’s order affected at least 72 dispensaries -- all of which had applied for a license in February with the state. Their license applications were in various stages of consideration and approval, and some were considered inactive, said David Harns, spokesman for the BMR.

“We have received communication from medical marijuana stakeholders requesting that action be taken to address the problems caused by the removal of the stay and the department is in the process of determining whether continued operation in violation of current administrative rules could affect an applicant’s future licensure,” Harns said in a statement.

In the background of 2018, medical marijuana businesses weathered multiple storms. The deadline for businesses to become licensed constantly changed as regulators gave businesses leniency and then a judge intervened.

Resistance from local governments also played a factor, as more than 400 communities have opted out of medical marijuana, and more than 100 opted in during 2018.

“There has been a disconnect ... between the way people in government view marijuana and the way that the public views it,” Rockind said. “That disconnect really reared its head in 2018.”

Proposal 1 had a chilling effect on local governments' acceptance of the MMFLA. Many communities decided to take no action with regards to the medical marijuana program as they waited to see if recreational marijuana would be legalized -- which voters ultimately approved Nov. 6.

Entering 2019, patients are having trouble accessing their medicine. There are 297,515 card-carrying medical marijuana patients in Michigan -- and nearly 93 percent of them are using medical marijuana to address their severe and chronic pain.

Courtney Bosse's daughter, Jasmine, was diagnosed with childhood epilepsy at the age of four in January 2017. For a year and a half they tried pharmaceutical drugs that came with severe side effects, and didn't seem to work.

They turned to cannabis; and waited for Jasmine's medical marijuana card to come in the mail. Bosse drove from their home in Lowell to a shop in Ann Arbor -- the closest place available with the products Jasmine needed. They tested several throughout December, and finally found one that worked: a THCA tincture.

But when she called the shop to re-stock, they didn’t have the tincture any more: the shop had its state license, and could only sell state-licensed products that had been tested. Other shops that were open in December didn’t have the product she needed for her daughter’s epilepsy. Finding a caregiver was difficult and risky.

"I can't even buy marijuana flowers and bud for me to try and make it itself," Bosse said. "It's an experiment that I don't have time for."

Ultimately, Bosse found someone who would gift her the tincture she needs for Jasmine, now age 6. It's a temporary solution.

“It really just blows my mind that we’re even having this conversation,” said Amie Carter of Burton. “In the end it’s medicine for our children."

Carter, who has a 12-year-old son with autism, successfully petitioned the state to add autism to the list of conditions that qualify for the medical marijuana program.

“That’s what I think the state is missing in this whole thing," Carter said. "We’ve had a medical marijuana program since 2008; here we are in 2019, the state just voted on recreational and now we’re at a loss for getting our children medication.”

As Gov. Whitmer’s administration takes office this January, many in the medical marijuana industry are hopeful for change.

“The existing administration finds itself in power in conjunction with the Proposal 1 passage,” Komorn said. “In my view this is a mandate to the governor, attorney general and secretary of state to fix this problem.”

Whereas medical marijuana facility licenses are approved by an appointed board, recreational marijuana business licenses will be approved by staff. At first, certain licenses for recreational marijuana businesses will only be awarded to medical marijuana facility license holders.

Komorn said the state should unify the licensing process for both businesses as it prepares to launch the rules and oversight for recreational marijuana companies.

Thomas Nafso is an attorney representing three Detroit provisioning centers who previously worked for the Michigan Attorney General’s office advising the state’s Liquor Control Commission. He believes the medical and recreational marijuana programs could be combined in the future.

“I think the way that the recreational initiative language was written -- there’s pretty broad authority for rule promulgation,” Nafso said.

Conversations have already begun between the Bureau of Marijuana Regulation and the new administration on how to launch the adult-use program, officials said. Work groups will be established to provide feedback, Brisbo said.

The bureau is under the guidance of the new director of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Orlene Hawks. Whitmer appointed her to the role.

Additional legislation passed in the 2018 lame duck session may speed up the application process for medical marijuana facilities in the mean time, Nafso said. Senate Bill 1262 removes background checks and financial vetting for applicants with less than a 10 percent stake in a company.

 

[BD9]

Michiganders PLEASE check your medicine if you have purchased these strains:

• Gelato

• Superman OG

• Mimosa

• Girl Scout Cookies

• Critical Cali

GMO

Silver Haze

GSC

Critical Kush

Blueberry

Skunk #1

• Chunk D

• Amnesia Lemon Kush

• Special Kush

• Purple Punch

Marijuana products recalled in Michigan

http://www.abc57.com/news/marijuana-products-recalled-in-michigan


The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) has issued two health and safety advisories because of the sale of marijuana that failed laboratory testing.

The following two businesses carry products affected by the recall.

Patients or caregivers who have affected medical marijuana products should return them to the store where they were purchased for proper disposal.

Products sold between 12/18/2018 and 1/3/2019 at The Green Mile Detroit, located at 6650 E. Eight Mile Road in Detroit, are affected by the recall, including:

• Gelato

1A405010000076E000000140

Failed for total yeast and mold.

• Superman OG

1A405010000076E000000141

Failed for chemical residue.

• Mimosa

1A405010000076E000000125

Failed for bile-tolerant gram-negative bacteria and total coliforms.

• Girl Scout Cookies

1A405010000076E000000126

Failed for total yeast and mold.

Products sold between 12/12/2018 and 12/29/2019 at Compassionate Care by Design, located at 401 N. Sage Street in Kalamazoo, are affected by the recall, including:

• Critical Cali

1A4040100000515000000014

• GMO

1A4040100000515000000015

• Silver Haze

1A4040100000515000000016

• GSC

1A4040100000515000000017

• Critical Kush

1A4040100000515000000018

• Blueberry
  1A4040100000515000000019

• Skunk #1

1A4040100000515000000020

• Chunk D

1A4040100000515000000021

• Amnesia Lemon Kush

1A4040100000515000000022

• Special Kush

1A4040100000515000000023

• Purple Punch

1A4040100000515000000024