LARA Medical Marijuana Application License Released

Application Released

The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and the Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation released the long-awaited Application for Licenses under the Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act. The State will begin accepting applications on December 15, 2017 for all types of licenses, provisioners, cultivators/growers, secured transporters, processing facilities and testing laboratories. The application has been eagerly anticipated by lawyers and applicants for some time, but particularly since the Department released Emergency Administrative Rules earlier this week, setting forth the requirements for what is required for the application process, as well as requirements for marijuana facilities once they begin operating. Now, however, applicants and attorneys who are assisting them, finally have the application and know exactly what the State is requiring.

Application is Substantial and Daunting

The good news is that the application has been released. The bad news for applicants is the size of the application and the amount of information the State is requiring. The paper application is 45 pages. That does not include the attached business plan, marketing plan, community plan, tax records financial projections, CPA certifications, bank records and more that must be attached and presented to the State. Further, while the State is not setting a limit on the number of licenses that it will issue, they are not going to issue them indiscriminately. Applications will need to set themselves apart as to how and why their facility should be licensed rather than another.

Compliance and A Story

The most important thing for any applicant is going to be working with an attorney to thoroughly go through the administrative rules and come up with a compliance plan. The compliance requirements for maintaining a license under the MMFLA are quite substantial, from hiring procedures, document retention and point of sales system access to security and building plan requirements that must be strictly adhered to at all times. Having a compliance plan in place at the time of the application is one of the most important ways that you can help your application succeed, but without legal assistance, you will have a difficult time getting such a plan in place. Licenses have to be renewed every year, and the State is going to be strictly regulating the industry, looking for any non-compliance issues. Applicants and business owners have too much money invested in their businesses to afford to be shut down by the State for non-compliance issues. While a good attorney can fight the State in administrative hearings, there is no guarantee of success, and, as the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Another way to set your application apart is to have a story. Telling the State how much money you have or how much money you can make is simply not going to be enough. Applicants will need to be able to present a story about why their business benefits the community at large, and also the locale where they are going to be located. There is a stigma attached to any business related to the cannabis industry in general, and being able to present information to the State to show how an applicant’s business can step outside of that stigma and be involved in their community will be a strong push in setting the application to the top. There are a number of strategies that an attorney can provide to you to help craft your application in this regard.

Contact Fowler & Williams, PLC to Start Advising You Regarding Your Application

You need an attorney to assist with this process. The application itself is daunting and requires compliance with an already substantial number of administrative rules and statutes. More importantly, you will need the guidance an attorney can provide with helping set up a compliance plan, security plan, business plan and marketing plan. We have relationships with many businesses to whom we have referred clients who can assist with every step, not only of the application process, but with facilities compliance, marketing, accounting and more. Give us a call today, so we can help set your application apart, ensure that your license is protected with compliance and, if necessary, provide zealous representation in the event of any allegations made by the State that would impact your license.

HERE is a copy of the application.  (ZIP file, right click, “save as”)

Searching for a  Michigan Medical Marijuana Attorney?

Many Michigan Communities Planning to Ban Commercial Recreational Marijuana Facilities

It has emerged that some communities within Michigan are trying to ban commercial cannabis facilities concentrated on supplying the drug for recreational abuse within the borders of their neighborhoods. This news comes within weeks of the state of Michigan authorizing laws that would permit marijuana to be cultivated and sold recreationally.

The law is due to go into effect in December, so those neighborhoods will need to act quickly if they wish to utilize their opt-out to block the sale of recreational cannabis in their location. So how can these neighborhoods select to opt out of a law like this? The current opt-out system implies that if they wish to avoid the sale of recreational marijuana, they need to pass an ordinance or encourage citizens to authorize a ballot saying that the neighborhood does not want to take part.

The treatments surrounding such ballots and when they need to occur or when they can take place is really dirty to say the least. Some think that they can't take place up until the next general election in 2020, however neighborhoods opposing the law aren't pleased with that delay. It remains to be seen how this plays out as parties on each side make their case.

Potential Restrictions

If a community does manage to pass a local ordinance, there is a range of outcomes of that process. Naturally, as mentioned above, it's possible that it will lead to these type of services being prohibited and commercial marijuana sales being stopped. Nevertheless, that's not the only potential result of the local ordinance. It's likewise possible that rather than banning the sale of marijuana, it's rather restricting in particular ways that are not unreasonably unwise which don't obstruct the law itself. This can suggest a host of various things in practice.

For example, one restriction may involve cannabis organisations operating in the city needing to acquire a local license prior to they can start trading, on top of the state license they already have. How businesses market or install signs might also be restricted, and the variety of hours they're enabled to open for might also be topped. There might likewise be charges and administrative expenses levied against business. All of these conversations need to be had once a local ordinance is passed in the community.

The Towns Seeking To Opt Out & Why They're Doing So

Monroe was amongst the neighborhoods to first act and voice its opposition to the new cannabis laws. However, the community has stated that they're only opting out till they have more information, suggesting they have not eliminated on participating in this brand-new market at some point in the future. This underlines how unsure some communities are of the law, even if their opposition isn't completely based in the facts just yet. The best understanding and more details could be enough to persuade them to get involved moving forward.

The story is comparable in Pinckney, where the local lawyer said that it's best for the neighborhood to opt out now early in the process and keep the right to decide back in later if the community wished to do so. Troy is another community trying to pass a local ordinance in order to opt out of the recreational cannabis industry in the meantime. In Jackson, views are really divided. A vote on a proposal that would have enabled medical and recreational cannabis to be offered in the community came down to a split vote and failed. There's not a lot of consensus on this issue in many neighborhoods.

Triggering Increased Costs?

There are some communities and residents that are fretted about a boost to public spending that might have to occur as a result of recreational cannabis sales being legislated in their neighborhoods. In Northville Township, the Public Safety Director is evaluating the capacity for public safety costs to increase. It's thought that safety spending will increase, and it's being asked whether the increased tax earnings from the legalization of cannabis sales will cover that rise or not.

There is certainly going to be an advantage to local communities in regards to tax revenues since 15% of the tax collected from cannabis sales can go directly to the neighborhoods in which those marijuana facilities are located, so it has the potential to raise a great deal of cash for each area affected. If it's discovered that this income goes beyond other costs needs associating with the legalization, communities will be a lot more willing to push ahead with embracing the market.

After September 15, Can I Still be a Caregiver?

The Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation is persevering on their position that all cannabis facilities that are not licensed by the State under the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act, will need to close down, and will get a cease and desist letter at that time. While the facilities are not mandated to close down, the State Bureau of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs has made clear that any center that continues to operate after receipt of the cease and desist will very likely not be granted a license. Further, the State has set forth suggested Final Rules concerning Medical Marihuana Facilities licensing, which is going to allow or registered qualifying patients to get house shipments from provisioning centers (with constraint, of course) and will additionally permit online buying. So, where does that leave registered caregivers, who were expecting to be able to remain relevant to their clients until 2021?

Traditional Model

The old for registered caregivers was pretty straightforward. You were allowed to grow up to twelve plants for each client. You could have five clients, apart from yourself. If the caregiver was also a client, they could likewise cultivate twelve plants for individual usage as well. So, a caregiver could cultivate a total amount of seventy-two marihuana plants. Most caregivers produced far more usable marihuana from those plants than they could utilize for clients and individual use. The caregivers would then sell their excess product to medical marihuana dispensaries.

Under the emergency rules, marihuana dispensaries that were running with municipal approval, but that had actually not obtained a State license were allowed to continue operating and also buying from registered caregivers. Those facilities were permitted to acquire caregiver excess for thirty days after obtaining their State license for supply. That meant substantial revenues for caregivers as well as considerable supply for dispensaries.

After September 15, 2018

The troubles for registered caregivers only begins on September 15, 2018. All State licensed centers that will continue to be open and operating can not buy any kind of product from caregivers. State Licensed Provisioning Centers, but statute and administrative rules are strictly prohibited from buying or offering any product that is not generated by a State Licensed Grower or Processor that has actually had their product tested and certified by a State Licensed Safety Compliance Facility. Any State Licensed Provisioning Center that is discovered to have product available for sale that is not from a State Licensed Cultivator or Processor is subject to State sanctions on their license, consisting of short-term or irreversible revocation of the license. Given the danger, licensed facilities are really unlikely to run the risk of buying from a caregiver, given the potential effects.

Additionally, the unlicensed facilities to whom caregivers have been continuing to market to, even during the licensing procedure, will certainly be closing down. Some might continue to run, but given the State's stance on centers that do not comply with their cease and desist letters being looked at very adversely in the licensing process, the market will certainly be badly reduced, if not eliminated. As a result, caregivers will certainly not have much recourse for selling their excess, as well as will certainly be restricted only to their existing clients.

New Administrative Rules

A hearing will be held on September 17, 2018 concerning the brand-new proposed final administrative rules for the regulation of medical marihuana facilities, which will become effective in November, when the emergency rules cease being effective. Those final suggested administrative rules allow for house delivery by a provisioning center, and will also allow managed online buying. Those 2 things eliminate much of the function contemplated by caregivers under the brand-new regulations. Clients would still need them to go to the provisioning center to get and deliver cannabis to patients that were too sick or that were disabled and can not get to those licensed centers to get their medicinal marijuana. With this change to the administrative rules, such clients will no longer need a caregiver. They will have the ability to place an order online and have the provisioning facility deliver it to them, basically removing the necessity of a caregiver.

Conclusion

For better or worse, the State is doing everything it can to eliminate caregivers under the new administrative system, even before the intended elimination in 2021 contemplated by the MMFLA. There are a great deal of factors the State could be doing it, but that is of little comfort to caregivers. The bottom line is, the State is doing away with the caregiver , and they are moving that process along with celerity. The State is sending the message that they desire caregivers out of the industry asap, and they are developing guidelines to ensure that occurs sooner rather than later. The caregiver model, while advantageous and needed under the old Michigan Medical Marihuana Act structure, are now going the way of the Dodo. Like everything else, the Marihuana regulations are evolving, and some things that have flourished in the past, will not make it to see the new legalized era.

Marijuana Attorney: An Easy Definition

What is a marijuana lawyer, what do they do, and how can they benefit you? These three questions are probably on your mind if you're looking into opening a medical cannabis company in Michigan. Do not fret, all your inquiries will be addressed in this post.

What is a Cannabis Lawyer?

To put it concisely, a cannabis attorney is someone who provides legal services focusing on marijuana law. Mostly, this refers to medical cannabis and the licensing required to begin a business in this field.

A marijuana attorney will represent marijuana organisations that need help. There is a variety of various legal problems they might have, and it may shock you to see how much a cannabis attorney can assist you with.

What Do Cannabis Attorneys Help You With?

The work these attorneys do will depend on the scenario you find yourself in. If you don't have an organisation however want to begin one, then they help you request a license. A cannabis lawyer has all the understanding and experience to know the complete application process. They will help you find the proper license depending upon the kind of cannabis company you're opening. Not only that, but they provide you with the list of requirements for the licensing applications. This guarantees you have everything you need to proceed and get your service license.

Together with this, they provide legal support in marijuana defense cases as well. If your business gets hit with any criminal charges, then a lawyer will assist battle them on your behalf. This can help prevent your business from being incorrectly implicated of things or wrongly shut down.

Furthermore, a marijuana lawyer can also assist you with the banking side of things-- most significantly the tax concerns. A great deal of company owner are unaware of the tax implications when beginning a medical marijuana business. So, having legal assistance in this field is really beneficial.

How Will Entrpreneurs Take Advantage Of a Marijuana Attorney?

As a cannabis business owner-- or possible business owner-- you will gain from dealing with the best attorney. They put your interests initially and will carry your issues for you. Prior to you even open your doors, they exist to guarantee you get the best license to operate lawfully in Michigan. This prevents issues with the law, as lots of organisations get shut down for not having the appropriate license.

Not just that, but they can help you conserve cash by combating any legal charges and other issues that you might be getting penalized for. To put it simply; if you wish to open a marijuana business in Michigan, then you need the help of a cannabis attorney.

By reading this article, all of your questions concerning this subject should be responded to. If you require a cannabis lawyer in Michigan, then please do not think twice to call our team today. You can leave a message via the form on our website, send an email, or give us a call. Our marijuana lawyers will gladly assist you with any issues you face.

Detroit Medical Cannabis Update

Detroit Medical Marijuana Update

The previous week has been a busy one in the City of Detroit when it involves Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act problems. The City application deadline for currently running facilities was February 15. The Wayne County Circuit Court's Chief Judge, Robert Colombo, Jr. issued a ruling pertaining to the voter initiatives as well as dispensary zoning requirements. Ultimately, the City provided a halt on applications and also authorizations for brand-new medical marijuana provisioning centers within the City of Detroit.

Detroit MMFLA Deadline Comes and Goes: If you were a medical marijuana provisioning center owner and you were on the City's approved operating list, you were required to submit your application to the State of Michigan Bureau of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs by February 15, 2018. That application likewise had to be filed with the City of Detroit for municipal attestation of operating approval by that date also. If you did not get your application in by February 15, 2018, whether you were on the approved list, and also no matter whether you have been operating with City approval, your license with the City will certainly not be renewed. Neither will your present municipal license to run be renewed. In short, if you didn't get your application in by February 15, 2018, you're out of luck after the expiration of your existing license, at least, within the limits of the City of Detroit, for at a minimum of six months, until the moratorium is passed. Even then, there's no guarantee that you will be able to apply, or be approved, once the moratorium is over. All the more reason to inquire about the laws and policies with a medical cannabis licensing lawyer who understands the intricacies of this ever-changing as well as intricate area of legislation.

Moratorium on New Dispensaries:

Detroit has placed a 6 month moratorium on applications for Medical Marijuana dispensary licenses as of February 15. The City has actually stated that it will not release any kind of new provisioning center licenses throughout that 6 month duration. Even more considerably, for dispensaries that were operating under a municipal license or under a legal agreement with the City that they would certainly not close your facility down, if you did not submit your State Application for a provisioning center license, and send your application to the City of Detroit for an attestation by close of business on February 15, 2018, you will certainly not be approved to operate, and also your currently issued and valid license to operate in the City, will certainly not be restored. Businesses that did not get their applications in by the target date will certainly have to wait until at least after the moratorium is over before they can attempt to re-apply. There has been a lot of discussion that the City might not provide anymore licenses after that moratorium is passed, which it would certainly be within its rights to do. As a result, if you didn't get your application in before the due date, you ought to chat with a medical cannabis licensing attorney to review your options moving on.

Circuit Court Strikes Down Zoning Initiative:

The last news relates to the voter initiatives that were passed in November which altered the zoning requirements for provisioning centers. Citizens authorized a reduction in the zoning restrictions regarding medical marijuana provisioning centers. The ordinance required that a dispensary had to be at the very least 1000 feet away from a church or school. The initiatives proposed to reduce the zoning requirements to ensure that dispensaries only needed to be less than 500 feet away from a church or school. The City of Detroit challenged the legality of the voter initiatives and filed a suit in the Wayne County Circuit Court. On Friday, Wayne County Circuit Court Chief Judge Robert Colombo, Jr. determined that under the Home Rule statute, which governs how cities like Detroit are run and governed in the State of Michigan, zoning restrictions and requirements can not be transformed by voter initiative. As a result, the initiatives were struck down and the initial zoning restrictions are again in place. While several citizen teams are vowing an appeal, it will be a long time before the Court of Appeals and also, ultimately, the Michigan Supreme Court can consider in on the issue. The zoning regulation, if it continues to be the same, will likely additionally influence new sorts of Medical Cannabis Facilities authorized for licensing under the MMFLA.

Exactly how Does This Effect My Application?: If you are a provisioning center operating lawfully in Detroit right now, as well as you sent your application to the State and the City by February 15, 2018, after that, these adjustments will certainly have little to no impact on you. Any person operating a facility in detroit that did not apply by the due date, or that is operating illegally and is not on the Detroit approved facilities' checklist, the choice might be devastating. You may not be able to run your facility after completion of the year, or sooner, depending upon the nature of your center. If you are not on the approved list, you will not be able to acquire city authorization to run, which is a condition precedent to getting your State license. Because of this, you will not be able to obtain an operating license from the State, and your unregulated facility is likely to end up being a target of State regulators. If you were running legally, but did not get your application in to the City or the State by February 15, 2018, you will not be municipally accepted to proceed running past your existing licensing date. There is additionally no guarantee that you will certainly be able to submit an application after the present 6 month moratorium, neither exists any reason to think that the City will certainly approve any more applications for provisioning centers. If your desire is to continue giving patients with medication, you need to talk with an educated clinical cannabis licensing attorney to aid you create a plan on just how you can attempt to proceed in the market.

If you wish to review getting a license under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act,

be it a provisioning centers, processing center, grow operation, testing laboratory or secured transporter,

contact Fowler & Williams, PLC today for an examination.

Michigan Medical Marijuana – Know Your Rights

In Michigan, the law cuts short of completely legalizing the use of medical cannabis. This can make the entire legal circumstance difficult to grasp. It is important that you understand the law and also know your rights when utilizing medical marijuana in Michigan. You do not wish to make pricey mistakes, and also you most definitely do intend to have the ability to stand your ground as well as recognize your rights if you ever need to defend them for any reason.

The First Requirement

To start with, you need to be a qualifying patient or registered as a primary caregiver for you to be able to possess and also use marijuana without facing trouble with the law. To become a qualifying patient, you have to be diagnosed as having a debilitating medical condition by a professional and also completely qualified physician. They will certainly supply you with a written certification stating this if it holds true.

What Protections Do You Receive?

The law protects qualifying patients and primary caregivers from every one of the state laws pertaining to the use, possession and also manufacture of marijuana. This stays the situation as long as you possess an amount of the medication that's equal to or less than the recommended legal quantity. You will certainly have a registry identification card if you are a qualifying patient or their caregiver; you will certainly need to be in possession of this if you are carrying cannabis.

Where Can You Use Medical Cannabis?

In regards to where you can use the cannabis, it's best to stick to your residence or the residence of someone else that has actually offered you authorization to utilize it there. You are not enabled to use it in any kind of school, correctional facility, public transportation or any public area. It is essential to keep in mind this since you're not protected from the drug laws if you utilize it in those places.

About Growing Marijuana

If you are planning on growing your own marijuana plants for usage, you need to understand the rules surrounding this practice. The plants need to be kept locked up in an enclosed place. The growth of the plants is only enabled use by the qualifying patient. The caregiver can be paid for their support in growing and also manufacturing the plants on the patient's behalf.

Police Searches: What You Need to Know

As long as you're in possession of your registry identification card and also you're carrying a quantity at or below the legal proscribed amount of marijuana, local police will assume you're participated in the use of medical marijuana. As such, you will not be treated as a criminal or placed under arrest. This additionally implies that the police are not within their rights to search you without consent being offered.

Affirmative Defense

There have been situations in the past where valid holders of registry identification cards have actually got into trouble. But the affirmative defense is set out by the state and says that the defense of having medical purpose for the cannabis in their possession is a valid defense when they possess no greater than an affordable quantity, their doctor has mentioned their requirement for it bases upon their medical history as well as the medicine was being used only to deal with the patient.

As Cannabis Industry Grows, So Do the M & A Numbers

Growing Marijuana
No, this isn't a technological article about just how to better grow cannabis, or a brand-new hydro system. The cannabis industry is growing rapidly. With legalization in Canada taking full effect on October 15, 2018, as well as much more cannabis legalization measures on ballots throughout the USA, the stigma on the industry is reducing, and the industry is growing. A look at the stock prices for Tilray, Canopy, Aurora and also others on the Canadian Stock Markets can inform you all you need to understand these days about the development and trajectory of the industry.


Mergers & Acquisitions
Obviously, as the industry grows, larger players in the marijuana market, and outsiders, will be coming in to acquire companies across the cannabis industry. In recent days, Constellation Brands (the parent Company of Corona and Modelo Beers), got a section of Canopy for 5.4 Billion Dollars. Cigarette manufacturers are seeking prospective partners in various markets across the USA for acquisition. Nevertheless, there are additionally interior industry mergers occurring also. Today it was revealed that MedMen has acquired PharmaCann for $682 Million bucks in an all stock bargain. (https://mjbizdaily.com/medmen-inks-blockbuster-682-million-stock-deal-to-acquire- medical-cannabis-firm-pharmacann/) PharmaCann was a significant player on the market, having provisioning centers, processing facilities as well as grows in multiple States, including Michigan. To date, this is the biggest inside the industry merger and also acquisition deal yet. Expect this to continue at a fast pace as more States legalize medical as well as recreational marijuana.



Day-to-day Impact
For the single location provisioning center, this news might not seem like much of anything. Nevertheless, every person ought to pay attention. As these mergers and acquisitions continue, the impact will certainly trickle down to the smaller sized, single State or solitary location players. The key to long-term survival and also making certain the very best opportunity of making money from a future merger or acquisition opportunity: enter into a vertical integration chain.



To do that, you need to have the right connections and also industry know how to link with processors, growers, labs and transporters who can interact, with legal guarantees and also obligations. If that interests you, we can aid. Give our office a call
and set up a meeting to go over all of your options.

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