When Michigan officially consolidates pot business oversight into the Marijuana Regulatory Agency on Tuesday, state officials will be expected to tackle tough issues that are roiling the medical and recreational marijuana markets. 

There are lingering fears among Michigan’s marijuana businesses about the viability of a fully licensed market that has yet to produce a steady, tested supply that can meet the needs of dozens of provisioning centers across the state. 

Among the issues the new agency will take over from the Bureau of Marijuana Regulation: Dealing with unlicensed medical pot shops that a judge may continue to let operate; considering and approving medical marijuana license applications, and creating new licensing rules for Michigan’s nearly five-month-old recreational adult use law.

After its launch, the Marijuana Regulatory Agency is expected to issue emergency rules for recreational licenses and begin accepting license applications by the fall. It’s an operation that potential applicants are hoping runs more smoothly than the litigation-plagued process for medical shops. [Read more at The Detroit News]