February 8, 2018 – The Dept. of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) reminds prospective medical marihuana license applicants that the deadline for applicants currently operating with local approval is February 15th.
For these prospective licensees to avoid facing an impediment to licensure, the applicant must be operating a proposed medical marihuana facility within the boundaries of a municipality that had adopted an authorizing ordinance, and must submit a complete prequalification application byFebruary 15, 2018
, with an attestation that affirms local approval of their temporary operation.
On November 1, 2017, LARA announced its intention to allow proposed medical marihuana facilities to continue to operate with local approval without impacting the applicant’s eligibility for licensure under the MMFLA. In December, LARA issued emergency administrative rules, which set forth regulations for the temporary operation of these medical marihuana facilities, in limited circumstances.
Per the emergency rules, proposed medical marihuana facilities that have continued to operate with local approval must cease operations if any of the following are true, or risk denial of licensure:
- A completed prequalification application – including the local attestation form – is not turned into LARA by February 15, 2018.
- The applicant has been denied state licensure.
- The applicant has not been issued a state license by June 15, 2018.
Noncompliance is grounds for disciplinary action and referral to law enforcement for unlicensed activity. Until a license is received from the state, the operation of a proposed medical marihuana facility should be considered a business risk by the operator. Unlicensed activity may be forwarded to the Michigan State Police and the Attorney General. LARA and the Medical Marihuana Licensing Board expect to begin issuing state operating licenses in April.