The Pathway to Victory

Detroit voters sounded their voices loud and clear on November 7 when they voted in favor of lifting multiple restrictions on medical cannabis collectives in the city. The citizens of Detroit effectively accomplished what the Detroit City Council could not accomplish. Before the approvals, Detroit’s restrictive regulations made it almost impossible for medical cannabis collectives to thrive without being in a state of constant worry. The victory is in part due to the tireless efforts of the men and women behind Citizens for Sensible Cannabis Reform.

“The committee [of Citizens for Sensible Cannabis Reform] was the sole party responsible for developing, executing and deploying resources necessary to successfully pass Proposals A and B on November 7 in Detroit’s election.”

“The committee [of Citizens for Sensible Cannabis Reform] was the sole party responsible for developing, executing and deploying resources necessary to successfully pass Proposals A and B on November 7 in Detroit’s election,” Citizens for Sensible Cannabis Reform Spokesman Jonathan Barlow told CULTURE.

Proposal A requires the city of Detroit to opt into the state’s highly regulated medical cannabis program and its five license types. The proposal expands the acceptable hours of operation for collectives. The hours have been extended from 10 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Now collectives can operate from 9 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., adding two hours of sales per day. It also drops buffer requirements for collectives near parks, daycare centers, liquor stores and arcades. Finally, it reduces the buffer zones around churches and competing dispensaries from 1,000 feet to 500 feet.

Sixty percent of voters approved Proposal A, and 39 percent rejected it, with all precincts reporting. “The legislation was passed to allow for equal and fair access to open and operate dispensaries in Detroit,” Barlow added. “This new ordinance will allow for a slightly different process which will hopefully allow for more to operate a dispensary as well as any of the other four licenses recognized by the state of Michigan.”

Proposal B expands the acceptable zones for medical cannabis facilities and drops the Board of Zoning Appeals application review that required public comment. The proposal also drops public nuisance regulations that could have potentially been a roadblock for many collectives. Proposal B was a more narrow victory, with 58 percent of voters in support, while 41 percent voted “no.”

Since March 1, the city of Detroit has shut down 186 of the city’s 283 collectives that were in operation. That number, according to the city’s interactive map, constantly changes. “Data concerning that number of closings can only be derived by the number of applications denied,” Barlow confirmed. “That information can be found on the city of Detroit’s website.”

“Now what?” is the question we asked Barlow regarding the committee’s next projects. “Multiple city and statewide initiatives are ongoing. But our next step is to take this campaign’s story, strategies and many successes, and bring [it] to other urban cities to learn from and adopt.”

According to Barlow, medical cannabis is the city’s best economic opportunity. By highly regulating the collectives in Detroit, it opens the door to business and makes it easier for collectives to stay open.

As of mid-November, there are only nine medical cannabis collectives that have been approved by the city, according to the city’s interactive map, while 90 more facilities are waiting for approval. Now that Proposals A and B have passed, it will be much easier for collectives to open and for patients to have adequate access.