by Rick Thompson/April 12, 2018
NOTE: This article has been updated to include reference to the April 2nd advisory bulletin from BMMR. ~RT
LANSING- Meeting minutes from the Medical Marihuana Licensing Board session on March 22 are now available for review. The Board was created by the language of the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act (MMFLA), which was passed by the legislature and signed into law by the governor in 2016.
The Board is responsible for approving applications for all licenses issued to new medical marijuana businesses in five industries: cultivation, transport, processing, testing and retail sale of medicinal cannabis.
The meeting was somewhat controversial for the dismissal of the first two applications to the new Michigan medical marijuana business program, the MMFLA.
Both applications were rejected by the Board on 2-2 votes but both were preserved for reconsideration once the fifth member of the Board was in attendance, which is expected to be at the next meeting on April 19. The rejections centered around the applicants’ failure to disclose minor criminal events in their past, omissions which both applicants corrected upon request by the Bureau of Medical Marihuana Regulation (BMMR).
Questions arose regarding one of the applications during the Board debate. The applicant was present in the audience and asked to speak and clarify the confusion, but the format chosen by the Board does not allow citizen input during deliberations and his request was denied.
On April 2 the BMMR released a new advisory bulletin titled, Criminal History Disclosure, which further defined which criminal acts were required to be disclosed by applicants, including all arrests and indictments, even if those records had been expunged or the charges were later dropped.
Present at the meeting was BMMR Director Andrew Brisbo; State Departmental Manager of the MMFLA applications process, Kris Jordan; Director of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Shelly Edgerton; and two assistants from the Attorney General’s office.
The meeting minutes are unofficial until they are approved by the Board, which will happen via a vote on April 19. The meeting takes place at 9:00 a.m. at the Michigan Library and Historical Center.
Read the minutes from March 22nd on the official Michigan website at the link below:
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/lara/3.22.2018_Unapproved_Minutes_619275_7.pdf