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MICHIGAN IS CLOSER TO HAVING RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA BUSINESSES.

Jul 10, 2019 | Blog

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

Here are some FAQs

Can one buy recreational marijuana in Michigan now?

Recreational Retail Sales are still months away but you can still grow and gift your own. You cannot sell it.

On November 1, 2019, the Marijuana Regulatory Agency will start accepting business license applications and are required to start approving business licenses by December 6, 2019.

Can I buy marijuana once businesses are approved?

Licensed businesses will allow adults 21 years of age and older to buy or consume marijuana products on the premises depending on the license type. The sale of food or alcohol at those businesses will not be permitted.

Adult-use home delivery will also be an option

Will I be able to buy Marijuana in my area?

It all depends if your municipality has opted in or out of the program. Municipalities are required to opt in or out by November to allow or not allow businesses in their communities and zone areas for specific use.

Many communities have already opted out.

What if I’m already a medical cardholder but want to have an adult-use license?

You can apply for an adult-use license. And better yet, your application may be expedited if there are not any changes in ownership.

All adult-use applicants are required to submit a social equity plan. This will detail a strategy to promote and encourage participation in the marijuana industry by people from communities that have been disproportionately impacted by marijuana prohibition and enforcement and to positively impact those communities.

Are there benefits to having an adult-use license over being a medical cardholder?

With an adult-use license, it’s easier to start a recreational-use marijuana business than a medical marijuana business. There are no capitalization requirements for adult-use licenses and fewer financial documents are requested from applicants. Additionally, the cost difference in licensing fees for recreational businesses is significantly lower of that for medical businesses.

20 FAQs About Adult Recreation Use of Marijuana

Adult Recreational Use Laws

Michigan Adult Recreational Penalty Chart

Michigan Regulatory Agency Emergency Rules For Adult Recreational

How Did Your County Vote To Legalize Marijuana in 2018?

Interactive Map of Medical Marijuana Businesses in Michigan

Communities Already Opting Out of Rec Marijuana Business Opportunities

House Votes To Block Feds From Enforcing Marijuana Laws

Jul 2, 2019 | Blog, News

July 2019

The House of Representatives approved a measure to prevent the DOJ from interfering with individual state marijuana laws, including those allowing recreational use, cultivation and sales.

The amendment, would also shield cannabis laws in Washington, D.C. and U.S. territories, is attached to a large-scale appropriations bill to fund parts of the federal government for Fiscal Year 2020.

The inclusion of adult-use programs represents a significant expansion of an existing policy that protects only local medical cannabis laws from federal intervention which was first enacted in 2014.

The expansive attachment was approved in a floor vote of 267 to 165. The tally is considered by legalization supporters to be an signal of the depth of support there is in Congress for a more comprehensive change to federal marijuana policies.

“This is the most significant vote on marijuana reform policy that the House of Representatives has ever taken,” said NORML Political Director Justin Strekal. “Today’s action by Congress highlights the growing power of the marijuana law reform movement and the increasing awareness by political leaders that the policy of prohibition and criminalization has failed.”
“The historic nature of this vote cannot be overstated,” he said. “For the first time, a chamber of Congress has declared that the federal government should defer to state cannabis laws.”

The measure, sponsored by Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Tom McClintock (R-CA), would bar the Department of Justice from spending money to prevent states and territories from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of marijuana.

“We’re watching the growth of this industry, a multibillion-dollar industry. We’re watching state after state move forward,” Blumenauer said in a floor debate on the state protection amendment on Wednesday evening. “Every one of us on the floor of the House who are here now represent areas that have taken action. We have had embedded in our legislation protections for medical marijuana. And this would simply extend that same protection to prevent the Department of Justice interfering with adult use. I strongly, strongly urge that we build on the legacy that we’ve had in the past, that we move this forward to allow the federal government to start catching up to where the rest of the states are.”

House Democratic leadership urged their conference to support the measure in a whip email on Thursday, and only eight members of the party voted against it.

Lobbying For The Whole Pie

The passage of the state protection amendment comes despite congressional offices receiving an 11th-hour email saying Greenwich Biosciences, maker of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved CBD-based medication Epidiolex, wanted lawmakers to defeat it.

Earlier on Thursday, the House approved an amendment from Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA) that directs the Food and Drug Administration to establish a process for regulating CBD in foods and dietary supplements.

Yes/No

Another measure passed in a voice vote, from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), shifts $5 million away from the Drug Enforcement Administration toward an opioid treatment program.

Another Ocasio-Cortez amendment aimed at removing barriers to research on psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin and MDMA (ecstasy) was soundly defeated on the House floor last week.

The House is set to consider another amendment on the spending legislation in the coming days that would allow military veterans to receive medical marijuana recommendations from Department of Veterans Affairs doctors.

Make Laws-Make Money

Another bill maneuvering through the House contains language to protect banks working with state-legal cannabis businesses and removes a longstanding rider that has prevented Washington, D.C. from spending its own local tax dollars to legalize and regulate marijuana sales.

A safe marijuana banking bill was cleared by the Financial Services Committee and is expected to receive a floor vote.

The Veterans’ Affairs Committee held a hearing on four separate pieces of legislation concerning cannabis and military veterans on Thursday. And the Small Business Committee hosted a Wednesday hearing on issues facing cannabis firms, with the panel’s chairwoman announcing she would soon file a bill on the issue.

Summary: H.R.3055 — 116th Congress (2019-2020)

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/3055

West Bloomfield doctor sentenced for diverting thousands of oxycodone pills

Jun 25, 2019 | News

June 19, 2019

DETROIT – A Detroit-area doctor was sentenced to 60 months in prison today for his role in a scheme to unlawfully distribute more than 23,000 pills of oxycodone.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider of the Eastern District of Michigan, Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. Plancon of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Detroit Division, Special Agent in Charge Timothy R. Slater of the FBI’s Detroit Division and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s Chicago Regional Office made the announcement.

Alex Kafi, M.D., 70, of West Bloomfield, Mich., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Victoria A. Roberts of the Eastern District of Michigan. Kafi pleaded guilty in August 2018 to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

“Betraying his duties as a licensed physician, Alex Kafi, accepted cash in exchange for writing medically unnecessary prescriptions for addictive opioids as part of a scheme that flooded Michigan with thousands of doses of oxycodone,” said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski. “Holding corrupt doctors accountable is critical to our ongoing efforts to combat the opioid epidemic nationwide and the Department of Justice will continue to aggressively pursue medical professionals like Alex Kafi.”

“Today’s opioid epidemic is fueled, in part, by the greed of certain doctors who knowingly prescribe legitimate pain medications to individuals for no legitimate medical purpose,” said U.S. Attorney Schneider. “Dr. Kafi’s action contributed to Michigan’s opioid crisis for the sole purpose of lining his pockets. We will continue to use every means available to investigate and prosecute these cases.”

“Today’s sentencing is a reminder of DEA’s determination to bring medical professionals who betray the trust of their community to justice,” said Special Agent in Charge Plancon. “The DEA, through regulation and enforcement, will continue to partner with other law enforcement agencies to identify, investigate and prosecute licensed physicians, like Dr. Kafi, who use their medical profession and position to conceal the unlawful diversion and distribution of prescription drugs.”

As part of his guilty plea, Kafi admitted that from 2013 through May 2017, he engaged in a scheme in which he wrote medically unnecessary prescriptions for oxycodone in exchange for cash. Kafi wrote these fraudulent prescriptions often without ever meeting or communicating with the patient. Instead, Kafi conspired with patient recruiters who provided him with lists of patients, along with $300 per prescription of oxycodone, he admitted. Kafi admitted the scheme involved approximately 693,000 milligrams of oxycodone. He agreed to forfeit $617,208.00, representing proceeds of his criminal activity.

Kafi’s co-defendant, Danielle Smith, was sentenced by Judge Roberts to serve 32 months in prison on Feb. 7, 2019. Additional co-defendant Cheryl Ozoh awaits sentencing. Smith and Ozoh each also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

The DEA, HHS-OIG and FBI investigated the case. Trial Attorney Steven Scott of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is prosecuting the case.

The Fraud Section leads the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which is part of a joint initiative between the Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country. Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which maintains 14 strike forces operating in 23 districts, has charged nearly 4,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $14 billion. In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

USDA To Release Hemp Regulations In Time For 2020

May 20, 2019 | Hemp, News

The 2018 Farm Bill includes new guidelines for growing hemp. It moves hemp under the Title 1 commodity program. Early this year, USDA issued a Notice to Trade, stating they are in the process of gathering information to initiate rule making necessary to implement this program.

The USDA’s goal is to issue regulations in fall 2019 to accommodate the 2020 planting season, the agency said in a recent release.

“During the 2019 planting season, the 2018 Farm Bill directs that states, tribes and institutions of higher education may continue operating under authorities of the 2014 Farm Bill until 12 months after USDA establishes the plan and regulations required under the 2018 Farm Bill,” they said in the release.

READ THIS – https://michiganhempindustries.com/mdard-industrial-hemp-ag-pilot-program-for-2019-planting-season/

Michigan State Police raid home of Macomb County prosecutor

May 15, 2019 | News

MACOMB TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Michigan State Police executed a raid at the home of Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith in Macomb Township, sources confirm to 7 Action News.

7 Investigator Jim Kiertnzer was on the scene and said agents removed surveillance cameras from Smith’s home.

The raid is in connection to state police’s investigation into the office’s use of forfeiture funds. State police confirmed to 7 Action News last month that they were launching the investigation.

“This morning, as you know, members of the Michigan State Police appeared at my home as part of their investigation into the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Forfeiture Fund,” Smith said in a statement. “My family and I complied with their requests and cooperated fully, as I have promised to do from the beginning of this process. I will continue to cooperate fully and supply the State Police with any information they need to conclude their investigation.”

“The investigation is unfolding and ongoing, and it led them here. They drafted a search warrant, a judge signed it to further the investigation into his usage of the Macomb County forfeiture fund,” is all Michigan State police would tell us.

MSP and the FBI are investigating four off-book bank accounts held by the prosecutor with almost $2 million, asking where did all the money go?

Read the Full Report and Watch the Video here

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