By Bob Hendricks In the past decade, Michigan has made real progress in beginning to roll back state law marijuana prohibition. In 2008, the voters approved the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act (MMMA), which created limited rights for patients and caregivers to produce, transfer and use marijuana for medical purposes free from the risk of prosecution. […]
Michigan
Michigan Dispensary Regulations and Edibles Bills to Reach Governor
A set of bills to legalize edible forms of medical marijuana and regulate the sale of medical marijuana through dispensaries are on their way to Gov. Rick Snyder after a final approval by the Michigan House of Representatives on Wednesday. The bills work in concert to address the effects of court rulings that have left […]
Marijuana Won’t Be On The Ballot In Michigan This Fall After Supreme Court Denies Appeal
The Michigan Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal Wednesday to attorneys for the MI Legalize group, making it all but certain that November ballots in Michigan won’t include a marijuana question. The state Supreme Court refused to accept the emergency appeal by Lansing lawyer Jeff Hank, in effect affirming rulings by lower courts that blocked the […]
Detroit Plans to Shut Down Noncompliant Medical Dispensaries By Year’s End
Detroit Corporate Counsel Melvin “Butch” Hollowell said he expects to complete in December the process of shutting down the city’s medical marijuana dispensaries that do not comply with the zoning ordinance. “I do believe we’ll get through the entire process by the end of the year,” he said. Of the city’s 211 dispensaries that were […]
Pro Marijuana Group Sues Michigan Over Rejected Ballot Initiative
A Michigan group seeking to put a marijuana legalization question on the November ballot is taking its fight to court. MI Legalize on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the state in the Michigan Court of Claims, challenging a law and policy that effectively invalidated its petition signatures collected outside of a customary 180-day window. Attorneys […]
Number of Signatures May Be Insufficient for Marijuana Ballot Measure in Michigan
A group seeking to legalize marijuana in Michigan submitted an “insufficient” number of valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot after collecting outside of a traditional 180-day window, state elections officials said Tuesday. In a staff report, the Bureau of Elections recommended the Board of State Canvassers reject the MI Legalize petition at its […]
Will 354,000 Signatures Be Enough for Legalization Petition in Michigan?
Leaders of a statewide group who want recreational marijuana legalized in Michigan turned in 354,000 signatures Wednesday on petitions aimed at putting a question before voters on November ballots. As with nearly every step in the controversial, year-long effort of fund-raising and petition passing, the next stage in the battle to be on the ballot is fraught with […]
What’s the Magic Number? Michigan Lawmakers Debate How Much Pot Is Too Much to Drive
How much marijuana makes someone too impaired to drive a vehicle? The answer isn’t easy to find, but it’s one more than 100 lawmakers are set on finding. The Michigan House are seeking a study to find the “magic number” of how much marijuana in a driver’s blood means the person is impaired, a decision […]
Poll Finds That Michigan Voters Are Ready to OK Legal Marijuana
A new survey of state residents likely to vote this fall found that a clear 53% majority of Michiganders would just say yes to legalizing and taxing marijuana. The survey’s result was no surprise to groups hoping to gather 253,000 signatures in Michigan to get a marijuana measure on November ballots. “Support for legalizing marijuana […]
More Than 80 Apply to Operate Marijuana Dispensaries in Detroit
Companies like Dank House, Motown Meds and Your Grass Station were among 82 businesses that applied to operate medical marijuana shops in Detroit on Tuesday, when the city’s new marijuana regulations went into effect. Of the first 79 businesses that applied for zoning approval, 23 were from Detroit, 11 were from Howell, six were from Bloomfield Hills […]
MIchigan Could See Up to $63 Million Annually From Medical Marijuana
LANSING, Mich. — Sales from medical marijuana could generate up to $63 million a year in new revenue for the state under proposed regulatory reforms, according to an economist’s findings published Monday. The economic impact analysis by Hillsdale College economist Dr. Gary Wolfram, commissioned by the Michigan Cannabis Development Association, estimates Michigan could rake in between $44.3 […]
Detroit Council Passes Zoning Ordinance to Regulate Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
After more than four hours of legal and council discussion and dozens of city resident comments, the Detroit City Council on Thursday evening approved by a vote of 6-1 a zoning ordinance that experts say could close up to half of the city’s medical marijuana dispensaries. The ordinance is effective March 1. Detroit City Councilman […]
Michigan Medical Dispensary Bills Not Dead, but Not Moving Ahead in 2015
An evolving proposal to allow regulated medical marijuana dispensaries and related businesses is unlikely to move this year in the Michigan Senate despite an ongoing push from supporters. Sen. Rick Jones, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, does not have the votes to advance the bills from committee and is instead asking Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof to […]
Pastors Are Lobbying to Close All Detroit Marijuana Dispensaries
Some Detroit pastors are on a mission to wipe out weed dispensaries in the city. They say they have had enough of the smell, the addition crime and what it’s doing to Detroit’s youth. That is why the Detroit Coalition of Concerned Pastors is pushing the city council to shut down the nearly 200 medical […]
Michigan Looking to Structure Medical Marijuana System Like it Handles Alcohol
LANSING, MI — Michigan would create a tiered system for medical marijuana growers, distributors and retailers under evolving legislation up for a likely vote Tuesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, said Monday medical pot bills approved by the House earlier this year will be amended in his committee to prevent […]
Detroit May Crack Down on Booming Medical Marijuana Businesses
The Detroit City Council is expected take up a second ordinance to regulate the city’s booming medical marijuana industry on Tuesday, although final approval of the measure may not come until January. The council’s planning and economic development committee on Thursday approved the latest version of ordinances designating where dispensaries can locate. Without those regulations, […]
Michigan High Court: Fired Medical Marijuana Users Can Still Get Unemployment
The Michigan Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from the Unemployment Insurance Agency in a case involving benefits for people fired from jobs over medical marijuana use. The denial means people with medical marijuana cards who lost work after failing drug tests will continue to be eligible for unemployment benefits, based on an […]
Detroit Residents Turn Out to Call For Crackdown on Marijuana Dispensaries
Concerned Detroiters spoke out against medical marijuana shops at a public hearing Thursday night and pleaded with city officials to implement new regulations to stifle the industry’s growth. “There’s some way we have to control it because this is like an invasion,” longtime Detroit resident Nancy Bitzarakis said at the hearing. Bitzarakis was among several residents who […]
