Great news for our followers in Michigan! Residents will be able to legally purchase weed in a bit more than two weeks.
Any businesses seeking a recreational license to grow more than 1,000 plants, process or sell recreational cannabis must currently be licensed under the state’s medical marijuana licensing rules.
The state announced existing medically licensed businesses that are pursuing equivalent recreational licenses may transfer up to 50% of their inventory.
Any finished products currently for sale in medical dispensaries must have been in the business inventory for 30 days or more before being sold to non-medical customers.
“This approach will allow for a transition to the adult-use market as we estimate that there will be around a dozen or so licensees who would be eligible on Dec. 1,” Marijuana Regulatory Agency spokesman David Harns said. “Similar to the medical market, we expect it to be a slow build-out as the production of plants and products increases. This will create an environment where businesses can supply the market as quickly as possible.”
Harns said who the “dozen or so” eligible businesses are “yet to be determined.”
Up to half of the products currently sold in dispensaries across the state, including vaping products, edibles and buds, are likely to soon be made available for purchase for recreational cannabis users and not only medical patients.
Harns said the licensed businesses are being notified of the allowance and will be instructed on how to transfer product properly for tracking under the recreational system. Originally, state officials said it might require the recreational market to begin from scratch because they did not want to risk any shortages for the medical patients. That would have meant no recreational product would become available to the public until after one grow cycle, which would have likely taken until March or April of next year.
Since there is demand for both medical and recreational cannabis, Harns said the state wants to make it possible for both to exist in order to deter the growth of a black market.
“We continued to watch how the medical supply was looking and asked ourselves what was the best way to allow access to the adult-use market,” Harns said. “By only allowing a transfer of 50%, it will keep production and sales on the medical side moving as well.
“Businesses will make decisions to move products where the demand exists, including the non-flower products that are currently in abundance.”
The state began accepting recreational license applications on Nov. 1. Some applications had been approved by Nov. 13.
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