Michigan Bills Would Restrict Cannabis Licenses; Regulate Intoxicating Hemp Products

Senate Democrats in Michigan are proposing a combination of bills aimed at
alleviating challenges for the state’s cannabis businesses.

A pair of measures would prohibit the Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) from
issuing a retailer or medical dispensary license if doing so would result
in more than one retailer for every 5,000 residents in the applicant’s
municipality. The fiscal impact included on the bills warn that the license
restrictions “would create regional monopolies or oligopolies preventing
new businesses from entering” the state’s adult-use and medical cannabis
markets and that small cities and villages would likely see their cannabis
tax revenues reduced.

In a statement, state Sen. Sam Singh (D), sponsor of the bill to restrict
cannabis retailer licenses (SB.597), said the proposal “offers a lifeline
to existing businesses and a common-sense approach to addressing the
growing threats faced by our retailers.”

“Michigan’s burgeoning cannabis industry has been a boon to our economy,
supporting nearly 50,000 jobs while providing additional, critical ways for
residents to manage a wide range of mental and physical health issues.” —
Singh in a press release

Robin Schneider, executive director of the Michigan Cannabis Industry
Association, backed the license restriction plan.

“Addressing unlimited and overcrowding licenses will create better market
stability for our members,” she said in a statement.

Another two-bill package would extend the state’s cannabis regulatory
framework to consumable hemp processors, establishing an application
process for consumable hemp manufacturing, creating allowable activities
for hemp processors, defining responsibilities of the CRA related to hemp,
and creating penalties for violations. The proposals would also ban the
importation of untested, unregulated, untaxed, and
unrestricted-by-age intoxicating hemp-derived products.

In a statement, state Sen. Dayna Polehanki (D), sponsor of the bills
seeking to create the new regulations for consumable hemp products (SB.599
and SB.602), said that while the state’s cannabis industry “has become an
important pillar” of Michigan’s economy, “with that growth comes an
obligation” to ensure the safety and responsible marketing of intoxicating
hemp-derived products.

Schneider added that “Requiring all hemp-derived consumable products to be
regulated will stop the proliferation of out-of-state, unregulated THC
products that create a danger to public health and safety.”

“These intoxicating products must not be allowed to bypass our regulatory
structure while avoiding our state excise taxes and putting our industry at
an unfair financial disadvantage,” she said.

All of the proposals have been referred to the Senate Committee on
Regulatory Affairs.