Michigan (finally) legalizes medical cannabis dispensaries

The Michigan legislature has given its final approval to regulate the medical cannabis by dispensaries, eight years after medical cannabis was legalized. At the time, the law was written in such a bizarre way that dispensaries operated in a gray area of the law, under threat of DEA raids and prosecution.

Current legalization establishes a state license system to grow, process, sell, transport or test cannabis, and will now tax sales at 3%. Revenues generated by this tax will be distributed between the state, county, city, law enforcement and cannabis regulatory bodies.

Each municipality will also have the right to restrict the number of licenses distributed within its territory, and will not be able to request more than 5000$ per license. Cannabis businesses will therefore be able to obtain their state license if, and only if, their local government allows them to receive it.

The new law will also require the installation of a «seed-to-sale» tracking system to monitor sales and detect excessive purchases. Dispensaries will now be authorized to sell edibles (cannabis-infused food) and topicals (creams, ointments and other beauty products with CBD and THC).

Under current law, 211,000 patients registered with the state grow their own cannabis or buy from 37,000 dispensaries, which can only serve a limited number of customers. This system will continue to operate in the same way, but without the risk of having your dispensary closed down. The law will allow certain businesses that were previously barred from opening by the state to start up, if their town allows it.

The law will take effect 90 days after signing, which is now in the hands of Republican Governor Rick Snyder. Companies won't be able to apply for the new system until 360 days after signing, in early 2018. Michigan will also have to tender the seed-to-sale software, with a 180-day delivery deadline once the company has been chosen.

Michigan was on course for a vote on cannabis legalization, with enough signatures to put the issue on the November ballot (354,000 of the 252,000 needed). However, the project was rejected on the grounds that a certain number of signatures had been collected beyond the 180 days allowed before the bill was introduced.