EAST LANSING, MI – Medical marijuana dispensaries would need to cease operation by a date certain if they wanted to be eligible for licensure in the future, the chair of the Medical Marijuana Licensing Board signaled at a meeting on Monday.

“If we don’t do this today we’re going to do it somewhere in the future. Because it needs to be done,” said Rick Johnson, who chairs the board.

The board ultimately postponed the motion, which came from board member Donald Bailey. He proposed that if dispensaries did not close by Sept. 15, they would not be eligible for licensure under the new dispensary licensing system that will be put in place on Dec. 15.

He pointed to a 2013 Michigan Supreme Court decision that pegged dispensaries as operating illegally.

“Every dispensary that’s out there right now is open in violation of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act,” Bailey said.

The action was strongly opposed by medical marijuana patients.

Sue Molff, a patient from Traverse City, said she didn’t appreciate the board talking about shutting down dispensaries. She said she depended on the concentrates she was only able to get at medical marijuana shops.

“What am I supposed to do during that time? Am I supposed to go back on the black market and get what I need?” She asked.  [Read more at MichiganLive]