LANSING — The doors at the state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs will open at 8 a.m. Friday to begin accepting applications and fees from people who want to get a license for the lucrative medical marijuana business.
The department also will accept license applicationsonline, beginning at 12:01 a.m. Friday, accompanied with the $6,000 application fee that can be paid via credit card or electronic check.
And potential medical marijuana entrepreneurs can also use the old-fashioned, snail mail option and send their applications and fee to the Department of Licensing & Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation, Marijuana Facility Licensing, PO Box 30205, Lansing MI 48909.
But if the applications are postmarked before Dec. 15, they will be rejected by the state and sent back.
For people who want to turn in their applications in person on Friday at the state Licensing and Regulatory Affairs office at 611 Ottawa in Lansing, the state will accept cash, check, money orders or credit cards to pay the $6,000 application fee. While banks may balk at dealing with marijuana businesses down the line because that could jeopardize their standing with the federal government, which still views marijuana as an illegal drug, checks for the initial application fees won’t be a problem.
Applicants can either turn in their application for pre-qualification purposes, if they haven’t secured approval from a local municipality, which is required in order to get a license, or they haven’t identified a location for their facility. The state will be able to begin doing background checks on the owners of the businesses and then complete the application review once the additional information is secured.
Elected officials in many communities haven’t decided yet whether they will allow medical marijuana businesses into their towns or opt out of the pot business entirely.
The state is prepared for a big rush of applicants on Friday morning, said David Harns, spokesman for the Bureau of Medical Marijuana Licensing, but officials aren’t sure how many people will opt for the online application or show up in person to hand their 48-page document to a state employee.
The medical marijuana business in Michigan will become fully regulated next year and is expected to generate $711 million in sales and $21 million in tax revenues for the state. A group supporting the full legalization of marijuana for adult recreational use has turned in petition signatures to the Secretary of State in the hopes of getting the issue on the November 2018 ballot.
If that passes, the business is expected to exceed $1 billion in sales a year.
The state held classes last month on the medical marijuana licensing process and nearly 2,000 people attended and 450 more watched the live stream on the state’s website.
credit:freep.com
