marijuana

Last November, Michigan voters approved Proposal One, which legalized recreational marijuana across the state. In Tuesday's election, three communities voted on whether or not to allow marijuana businesses, after nearly 600 communities across the state exercised their right to opt out of those businesses. 

If you live in one of 19 communities around the state, Michigan officials would like to help you break into the legal recreational marijuana business; a business that in other places has often been segregated by race and income.

Michigan’s marijuana regulators want to promote local pot business ownership in 19 communities that have historically been impacted most by past marijuana prohibition.

The Marijuana Regulatory Agency’s “social equity program” will assist people living in Detroit, Flint and other targeted cities with their business applications and reduced fees.

Part of the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act (2018) requires the MRA to:

A state lawmaker has proposed clearing the criminal records of people convicted of possessing or using marijuana. It would apply to misdemeanor convictions prior to voter approval of a ballot question legalizing recreational marijuana in Michigan.

Michigan is another step closer to having recreational marijuana businesses.

Last Wednesday, Michigan’s Marijuana Regulatory Agency released emergency regulations for businesses planning on entering the recreational marijuana retail marketplace. 

Here are some key points that you should know about these regulations.

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Michigan legislators may soon vote to slap a warning label on marijuana products aimed at pregnant and nursing mothers. 

While it is discouraged by medical professionals, some women use cannabis products during pregnancy to ease the effects of morning sickness. 

State marijuana regulators hope to get emergency rules in place for Michigan’s recreational marijuana market this month.

Recreational marijuana use has been legal in Michigan since the passage of last year’s state ballot question. But recreational sales are still in limbo, as the Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency works on the rules.  

Director Andrew Brisbo hopes to start taking applications for recreational cannabis businesses this fall.

Michigan’s attorney general is getting behind a push to change federal law to allow banks to do business with marijuana companies.

Even in states like Michigan, where marijuana is legal, marijuana remains a "cash" business.

Michigan’s medical marijuana dispensaries will no longer be able to buy and sell untested cannabis products from caregivers.

The new rules are actually old rules that the state’s Marijuana Regulatory Agency says it will enforce. That's following a court ruling earlier this week. 

It’s a new month and a new lease on life for dozens of unlicensed medical marijuana businesses in Michigan.

A Michigan Court of Claims judge sided with unlicensed cannabis businesses on Tuesday.  

In a sometimes scathing opinion, Judge Stephen Borrello slammed the state’s handling of applications from medical marijuana businesses.  

This Tuesday, the way Michigan regulates the marijuana industry will undergo a change.

On March 1st, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) signed executive order 2019-7. The order created the Marijuana Regulatory Agency, within the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA). The agency will officially replace the Medical Marihuana Licensing Board this week.

Michigan’s licensed medical marijuana businesses are starting to push back against the state’s apparent willingness to allow unlicensed dispensaries to stay open.

They plan to rally at the state capitol on Wednesday.

For months, operators of dozens of unlicensed provisioning centers convinced state regulators to extend deadlines to require that they obtain a state license to operate. When the state set a firm March 31st deadline, the dispensaries convinced a Court of Claims judge to issue a stay. The judge is expected to issue a ruling this week which may allow the unlicensed centers to keep their doors open.

State lawmakers want to put in place a final deadline for medical marijuana facilities to get a license, or not be able to stay open.

A state House committee unanimously passed a bill Wednesday. It gives a June 1st deadline for facilities – and if they stay open without a license, the facility can’t get a license for a year.

Dozens of unlicensed medical marijuana provisioning centers can continue to operate as attorneys try to reach an agreement with the state.

Attorneys for the medical marijuana businesses and state regulators met behind closed doors at the Hall of Justice in Lansing for a couple hours Tuesday. But the two sides could not reach an agreement that could keep 50 provisioning centers open.

A state agency has issued its first official advice to help businesses that want to get into the marijuana business.

The first bulletin from the Michigan Bureau of Marijuana Regulation deals largely with cannabis oils and lotions that have little to no THC. The bureau says it’s not going to adopt rules on marijuana products that have miniscule amounts of the compound. 

Michigan should not establish a legal limit for the amount of THC that drivers are allowed to have in their blood, according to a recent report from the Impaired Driving Safety Commission.

THC is the chemical in marijuana that can make people feel high and otherwise affect behavior and mood.

The clock is ticking on dozens of unlicensed medical marijuana provisioning centers in Michigan.

Starting April 1, the state will direct those dispensaries to shut their doors.

Advocates are concerned that could mean medical marijuana patients will have trouble getting their medicine.

“We’re going to see a reduced access for medical marijuana patients because of the shuttering of some of those provisioning centers that are in the process of the licensing,” says Rick Thompson, with the Michigan chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

The head of Michigan’s marijuana program says he intends to watch and learn as the state figures out the rules for future sales of recreational marijuana.

Andrew Brisbo testified before a legislative committee on the future of marijuana in Michigan Wednesday. That’s after voters approved recreational marijuana use last fall.