LANSING — The Michigan Medical Marijuana Licensing Board was supposed to give out the first licenses to cannabis businesses next week.
But those businesses will have to wait another month before they can open their doors after Monday’s meeting was cancelled on Friday.
The cancellation came after one board member said they couldn’t make the meeting and another said they would have a difficult time making it there in time. David Harns, spokesman for the state Department of Licensing and Regulation, wouldn’t reveal which members weren’t able to attend.
The board was set to award licenses to four applicants that represent four large marijuana growing operations, a secure transport company, a dispensary in Ann Arbor and a processor. They also were supposed to consider pre-qualifying 10 applicants for a variety of medical marijuana businesses.
LARA Extends June 15th Deadline for Medical Marihuana License Applicants
May 30, 2018 – The Dept. of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) has issued new emergency administrative rules to continue the implementation of the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act (MMFLA). To help ensure the continued protection of medical marihuana patients, under the new rules, proposed medical marihuana facilities that would otherwise require a state operating license under the MMFLA may continue to operate with local approval until September 15, 2018 without impacting the applicant’s eligibility for licensure.
“Extending the deadline to September 15th will make sure that this law is implemented correctly and assure that potential licensees are thoroughly reviewed. It is important that we ensure that medical marihuana patients have continued access to their medicine,” said LARA Director Shelly Edgerton.
Applicants who turned in their state application by the February 15th deadline – and are making a good-faith effort to become licensed – had faced a deadline of June 15, 2018 to shut down or risk continued activity being considered an impediment to licensure by the Medical Marihuana Licensing Board (MMLB). This 92-day extension will allow the bureau and the board enough time to investigate and authorize facility operator licenses in order to make sure that access to medical marihuana is maintained.
The new emergency rules also include clarifying language regarding safety testing standards that LARA has previously disseminated through technical advisories.
Signed by Gov. Rick Snyder and effective today, these rules will remain in effect for six months.
It is important for applicants to remember that LARA’s emergency administrative rules require those operating under the temporary operation rule (number 19) to cease operation if they have not been issued a license by September 15, 2018, as any operation after that date is considered unlicensed activity.
Ultimately, licensure decisions will be made by the members of the MMLB, who may choose to consider unlicensed activity as part of the licensing criteria when deliberating on the overall application. Until a license is received from the state, the operation of a proposed medical marihuana facility should be considered a business risk by the operator. Noncompliance will be grounds for disciplinary action and referral to law enforcement for unlicensed activity.
If you are here you obviously missed it LIVE…Below is the recording of it.
Original Post
You are invited to join us for the inaugural presentation of “LARA Live” – a new feature from the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
Join us for LARA Live by navigating to LARA’s Facebook page on Thursday, May 24 at 3:00pm where David Harns and Andrew Brisbo will be discussing the recent advisory bulletin issued by BMMR regarding CBD and hemp.
This week’s guest will be Bureau of Medical Marihuana Regulation (BMMR) Director Andrew Brisbo.
Feel free to email your questions to us at LARACOM@michigan.gov and put “LARA Live” in the subject line. If you aren’t able to make it live, the broadcast will be saved on LARA’s Facebook page.
Cannabidiol (“CBD”) and Industrial Hemp (“Hemp”) Products
Michigan – Based on the statutory definitions related to “marihuana” found in the Michigan Public Health Code (Act 368 of 1978), the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act (MMMA), and the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act (MMFLA), any extracts of marihuana or extracts of the marihuana plant will continue to be treated as marihuana.
The possession, purchase, or sale of marihuana or any marihuana product – including CBD – must be done in compliance with the MMMA and MMFLA.
The cannabis plant has over 100 cannabinoids – one of which is cannabidiol (CBD). Cannabinoids are most abundant in the flowering tops, resin, and leaves of the cannabis plant and are not found in parts of the cannabis plant that are excluded from the definition of marihuana, except for trace amounts – typically, only parts per million – that may be found where small quantities of resin adhere to the surface of seeds and mature stalk, not within the seeds nor the mature stalk. If cannabidiol is found on the seeds or stalks, it is found only as a result of contact with the resin produced by the cannabis plant.
