Downtime in Detroit

Sixty-two medical cannabis collectives in Detroit will have the opportunity to attain some level of respite while legal issues are sorted out. The legal issues stem from a group of cannabis businesses that issued a lawsuit because they were denied licensure under a previous, less lenient ordinance. Until the lawsuit is settled, the city’s medical licensing process is temporarily on hold.

Last November, Proposals A and B were passed, and the ordinance amendments dropped buffer zones from 1,000 feet to 500 feet around “liquor, beer, wine stores, child care centers, arcades and parks” in Detroit. But the businesses that were initially denied licensure under the original language were not happy about the new less lenient rules and claimed that they were denied a level playing field. Had some of those businesses applied under the new rules, they may have been approved.

“. . . As long as the [city] clerk signs [the attestation] and the applicant includes that in their application by Feb. 15, they will be allowed to continue to operate, and it won’t be an impediment to licensure.”

That led a group of those businesses to file a lawsuit, which ended up causing Detroit’s entire medical cannabis licensing process to be placed on hold. The new ordinances were supposed to go into effect Jan. 4, but the city won’t be accepting applications until the legal challenge is settled.

It’s only the latest spoiler in a chain of unexpected—and often confusing—legal events that govern Detroit’s medical cannabis system.

Prospective medical cannabis collective owners must go to the City Clerk’s office with their state license application, a photo ID and notarized proof of local zoning approval called an “attestation.” Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) handles state-level licenses, but obviously is impacted by Detroit’s current situation. “Dispensaries that are currently operating, with local approval under the old ordinances, they need to have an application turned in to the state by Feb. 15, and part of the application is an attestation that the city is allowing the temporary operation of their facility,” LARA spokesman David Harns told CULTURE. “So as long as the [city] clerk signs that and the applicant includes that in their application by Feb. 15, they will be allowed to continue to operate, and it won’t be an impediment to licensure.”

In order to prevent the medical cannabis program from shutting down, state licensing officials decided to allow existing dispensaries operating with local approval to stay open as long as they turned in applications for a state license by Feb. 15. “That expires on June 15, because all marijuana facilities need to be licensed by that date, regardless of any other issues,” Harns continued. “So the city of Detroit would need to have their ordinance issues fixed, so that the state can issue a state operating license to the provisioning centers [that] are operating with local authorization.”

On top of the local issues, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recent directive has added to the confusion surrounding Detroit’s medical cannabis licensing process. So far, however, it appears interim U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider, whose jurisdiction includes Detroit, won’t do anything differently than in the past.

As of mid-January, only 50 of the state’s 1,773 villages, townships and cities had set up local ordinances that allow for medical cannabis businesses, according to the Detroit Free Press. Detroit was one of them.

Currently, the city of Detroit now has until June 15 to come into compliance with state law. Otherwise, 62 local dispensaries could be in jeopardy.