Zoned Out? Marijuana Dispensaries Worry About Legal Future

[bobandtorey]

Joe Brennan faces a lot of the same worries as all businesspeople — sourcing inventory, regulatory headaches, competitors popping up like weeds. 

But those weeds give Brennan a whole new set of worries. His business? Mindright, a medical marijuana dispensary in Detroit. 

Brennan said he has tried to do everything legitimately. But he is in an industry that is known for angering neighbors, accused of promoting drug abuse and inviting heavy scrutiny as dispensaries proliferate in the city. 

Before opening earlier this year, he obtained a city license for a retail-medical sales business, bought insurance, hired a security guard and made sure his marijuana products were tested for purity. "We want to be completely professional," he said. 

PROPOSED MARIJUANA DISPENSARY RULES

The proposed Detroit zoning ordinance, created by Detroit City Councilman James Tate earlier this year, has specific dispensary requirements and regulations that would:

• Dictate that a dispensary be 1,000 feet from any zoning lot occupied by a park, play lot, playfield, playground, recreation center or youth activity center.

• Be defined as a medical marijuana caregiver center.

• Require a dispensary be 2,000 feet from another dispensary or 2,000 feet from a controlled use space such as an arcade, pool hall or party store.

• Require a dispensary be 1,000 feet from a religious institution identified as exempt by the city assessor.

Additionally, under the ordinance, background checks for the applicant and all proposed employees of a dispensary would be conducted upon application for a required business license. 

Law enforcement would conduct inspections to ensure that those providing medical marijuana are registered caregivers and the recipients are registered through the state. 

The ordinance allows dispensaries to be in local and general business and light industrial districts.

Expand MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILLS

LANSING — The state Senate is considering a series of bills that would regulate medical marijuana production and sale in Michigan. 

Three bills — House Bills 4209, 4210 and 4827 — cleared the state House last month by wide margins and are now pending in the Senate's judiciary committee. 

Here's what they'd do: 

House Bill 4209: Sponsored by Rep. Mike Callton, R-Nashville, the bill would require medical marijuana growers, processors, provisioning centers (sometimes called dispensaries), transporters and safety testing sites to have state licenses to operate. That licensing process would require written approval from the municipality in which it wants to operate. Municipalities also would be allowed to adopt local ordinances to authorize or limit the number or marijuana businesses in their jurisdictions and charge local licensing fees. The bill also would charge a 3 percent excise fee on medical marijuana facilities. 

House Bill 4210: Sponsored by Rep. Lisa Posthumus Lyons, R-Alto, the bill would include marijuana products, known as "edibles," as an allowed form of medical marijuana. 

House Bill 4827: Sponsored by Rep. Klint Kesto, R-Commerce Township, the bill would establish a "seed-to-sale" medical marijuana tracking system. If adopted, medical marijuana plants, products, sales, returns and other transactions all would be tracked. Also tracked would be lot and batch numbers, transportation and destruction of marijuana and marijuana products and lab test results to ensure product safety. 

— Lindsay VanHulle

Expand NUMBER OF REGISTERED MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS GROWS

The current number of Michigan's active, registered medical marijuana patients is up more than 18,000 people from three years ago, according to the Michigan Medical Marijuana Registry Program, part of Michigan Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) in Lansing. Read story.

Now the U.S. Marines veteran fears his dispensary, across from the Grosse Pointe border, might be shuttered because of a proposed Detroit zoning ordinance that would impose specific regulations on the city's more than 150 medical marijuana dispensaries.

One of the restrictions is that a dispensary cannot be within 1,000 feet of a liquor store; Mindright is next door to one. 

"We're finding we might get zoned out," he said. "My employees left their jobs to work for me. People like me who are (running their business) right should get a fair shake." 

Michigan is among 23 states that have legalized medical marijuana. Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia also legalized recreational marijuana. 

That could be in Michigan's future as well. Marijuana activists are confident legalization of small amounts of recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older will be on the ballot for voters next fall. 

It may not be a shoo-in. Ohio voters rejected legalization of recreational marijuana by a 2-to-1 ratio in the Nov. 3 election. 

For now, the issue of dispensaries, their lack of regulation and the effects on nearby neighborhoods are hot issues in Detroit and many of its suburbs. 

The Detroit City Planning Commission recently held two public hearings to get citizen feedback on the proposed ordinance. The first hearing, in late October, drew more than 300 people and resulted in 70 people sharing their opinions with the commission; a second hearing, in early November, resulted in about 35 residents commenting. 

While many favored the zoning ordinance because it could close down some of the dispensaries in their neighborhoods, dispensary owners and cancer patients defended them. 

Written submissions included 60 letters in favor and 100 letters in opposition. Two petitions with 130 signatures in support of the ordinance were also received, according to planning commission minutes. 

 

At that meeting, the Planning Commission recommended approval of the zoning ordinance to the Detroit City Council. It went to the Planning and Economic Development Standing Committee of the council for review. Another meeting has been scheduled for this week. That committee meets every Thursday. 

There is no timetable yet on when the City Council will begin its review of the ordinance, said DeAndree Watson, policy analyst for Councilman James Tate's office, in an email.

 

Selling in a legal gray area

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visits to dispensaries around the city show similar setups. 

Customers are buzzed in and greeted by a security guard. The subtle smell of marijuana wafts out the front door when it's opened. The odor lingers in the lounge/waiting room, but no marijuana products are visible. They are shelved in a closed-door room. 

Proprietors consistently ask for a medical marijuana card and, without one, say they do not allow visitors beyond the waiting room. (Despite repeated requests, this reporter could not gain entry for research purposes.) 

Dispensary façades are often in garish shades of green, and they sport pointedly slang names such as The House of Dank, The Reef, the Grass Station and The Green Mile. 

Nick*, manager of Starbuds, a dispensary on Eight Mile Road in Detroit that is part of a franchise out of Colorado, said dispensaries operate like any specialty retailer. (*Many of those who work in Detroit dispensaries did not want their last names used in the story.)

He said his center does not sell edibles (food such as brownies made with marijuana or its oils) or concentrates (pressed water hash or CO2 oil that is ingested). He believes there is a degree of risk with edibles and concentrates because they are ingested. However, Starbuds does carry cannabis oil cartridges, which contain THC and are smoked like e-cigarettes. 

"I hate how they (the anti-marijuana faction) portray people who smoke weed. We're nonviolent, good people," he said. 

Nick and other dispensary manager/owners interviewed accused banks of discriminating. "They find out and just close down your bank accounts," Nick said. "They consider us high risk." 

But banks are federally regulated institutions, so they must follow federal law, which says marijuana is illegal. 

"Federal law says we can't have anything to do with a transaction of controlled substances," said a major U.S. bank spokesperson who asked not to be identified. "So it's a bit of a pickle." 

Jon, manager of the Detroit Strain Station in southwest Detroit, knows all about the industry's conundrums. He is looking forward to the day when the industry is regulated "because now it is out of control."

 

 

 

read more here

 

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20151114/NEWS/311159955/zoned-out-marijuana-dispensaries-worry-about-legal-future

[t-pain]

maybe they should just make pickles.

[+Malamute]

Mmmm,... pickles.

[Wild Bill]

Taxed and regulated, isn't that what they've wanted all this time?

[semicaregiver]

Joe Brennan faces a lot of the same worries as all businesspeople — sourcing inventory, regulatory headaches, competitors popping up like weeds. 

But those weeds give Brennan a whole new set of worries. His business? Mindright, a medical marijuana dispensary in Detroit. 

Brennan said he has tried to do everything legitimately. But he is in an industry that is known for angering neighbors, accused of promoting drug abuse and inviting heavy scrutiny as dispensaries proliferate in the city. 

Before opening earlier this year, he obtained a city license for a retail-medical sales business, bought insurance, hired a security guard and made sure his marijuana products were tested for purity. "We want to be completely professional," he said.

PROPOSED MARIJUANA DISPENSARY RULES

The proposed Detroit zoning ordinance, created by Detroit City Councilman James Tate earlier this year, has specific dispensary requirements and regulations that would:

• Dictate that a dispensary be 1,000 feet from any zoning lot occupied by a park, play lot, playfield, playground, recreation center or youth activity center.

• Be defined as a medical marijuana caregiver center.

• Require a dispensary be 2,000 feet from another dispensary or 2,000 feet from a controlled use space such as an arcade, pool hall or party store.

• Require a dispensary be 1,000 feet from a religious institution identified as exempt by the city assessor.

Additionally, under the ordinance, background checks for the applicant and all proposed employees of a dispensary would be conducted upon application for a required business license. 

 

Law enforcement would conduct inspections to ensure that those providing medical marijuana are registered caregivers and the recipients are registered through the state. 

 

The ordinance allows dispensaries to be in local and general business and light industrial districts.

.......Now the U.S. Marines veteran fears his dispensary, across from the Grosse Pointe border, might be shuttered because of a proposed Detroit zoning ordinance that would impose specific regulations on the city's more than 150 medical marijuana dispensaries.

One of the restrictions is that a dispensary cannot be within 1,000 feet of a liquor store; Mindright is next door to one. 

"We're finding we might get zoned out," he said. "My employees left their jobs to work for me. People like me who are (running their business) right should get a fair shake." ......

 

 

 

Interesting news story.  MindRight seemed to skip the part that they are two storefronts down from a daycare facility and within 1000 feet of two other dispensaries. 

Edited November 15, 2015 by semicaregiver

[bobandtorey]

Detroit City Council's public hearing

The coalition’s chairman, Winfred Blackmon, told attendees that their voices need to be heard at the public hearing at 1 p.m. Dec. 17 at City Hall. The council could decide at the meeting to set a special session to vote on the companion ordinance, which would significantly reduce the number of dispensaries across the city. Blackmon said organizers also plan to target council members who vote against the ordinance in upcoming elections.

Supporters also expressed concern about the city’s ability to have the enforcement up and running quickly if it’s passed. Blackmon also told leaders of various community organizations to contact council members to seeks answers to those concerns.

A few members expressed frustration that the city is even allowing any of the dispensaries in the city, noting that many suburban governments don’t allow them.

“We want Detroit to be a city of hope, not a city of dope,” said Pastor Robert Dixon of Rivers of Life International Ministries on the city’s east side.

But councilman James Tate and other city officials say they’ve crafted a legally defensible ordinance that will weed out unscrupulous operators and end the unchecked proliferation of dispensaries while also preserving safe access to the drug for medical marijuana patients.

Nearly 20 members of a group that supports the Detroit city government’s crackdown on a booming, unregulated medical marijuana industry met Monday night to encourage supporters to flock to a City Council public hearing on Dec. 17.

The council has set a public hearing on an ordinance that would restrict where medical pot dispensaries can locate in the city, including not allowing them within 1,000 feet of a drug-free school zone, churches and liquor stores or other dispensaries. The ordinance is a companion to a licensing and criminal background check ordinance the city previously passed.

 

The Metropolitan Detroit Community Action Coalition held a meeting Monday night to rally more support for the ordinance at New Prospect Missionary Baptist Church on the northwest side. The coalition is a loose affiliation of about 60 community and neighborhood organizations in the city formed as the number of dispensaries blossomed to more than 150 in recent years.

 

Charles Harvey, a community leader in the west-side McDowell neighborhood, noted that medical marijuana has been approved by state voters, and recreational marijuana could follow suit if advocates are successful.

“What we have to do is control it,” Harvey said. “That’s what were trying to do.”

Pam Weinstein, a resident of Rosedale Park, said the ordinance won’t please everybody, but she believes it will significantly clamp down on dispensaries.

“It’s not a perfect ordinance, but it is a good ordinance, and I think it addresses most of the concerns residents have,” she said.

 

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2015/12/07/medical-pot-law-supporters-urge-support-ordinance/76955942/

[Timmahh]

Abrogate Prohibition Michigan 2016 and Actually Repeal Prohibition in Michigan then you wont have the worry as you do today or be concerned of being shut out/down under more state regulated and taxed legalized recreational pot legislation.

When you let someone else get 'that' for you, remember, they got 'it' and you don't!  Get Yours and Repeal Cannabis Prohibition and Support Abrogate Prohibition Michigan.
The only Ballot Question Committee that is geared to actually Repeal Prohibition across the board in Michigan.

[shishka]

Dumb or greedy? You make the call:

How about smart and greedy.

 

I get this from looking at the way Ann Arbor went. Those that jumped in and dared LEO to shut them down won that battle and now have the funds and storefronts ready to go and be licensed.

 

As is often said, it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission...

[beourbud]

How about smart and greedy.

 

I get this from looking at the way Ann Arbor went. Those that jumped in and dared LEO to shut them down won that battle and now have the funds and storefronts ready to go and be licensed.

 

As is often said, it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission...

A lot of people have funds and available store fronts. The problem is only a few jurisdictions support We the People

 

The law We the People voted for is being interpreted differently across the state.

Edited December 11, 2015 by beourbud

[Restorium2]

How about smart and greedy.

 

I get this from looking at the way Ann Arbor went. Those that jumped in and dared LEO to shut them down won that battle and now have the funds and storefronts ready to go and be licensed.

 

As is often said, it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission...

 

 You think they did that? And law enforcement caved? Interesting view. I think that 'they' have been working with law enforcement all along.

 

I think it's a little 'out there' to think that 'they' bullied law enforcement. I'm sure it's what 'they' would want you to think though ....

[Restorium2]

I know that the dispensaries in the Flint didn't 'bully' their way on the scene because we have statements from the prosecutor telling us why they are open.