The Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation is persevering on their stance that all cannabis centers that are not licensed by the State under the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act, will have to shut down, and will receive a cease and desist letter at that time. While the facilities are not mandated to close down, the State Bureau of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs has explained that any facility that continues to run after receipt of the cease and desist will very likely not be granted a license. Additionally, the State has set forth suggested Final Rules relating to Medical Marihuana Facilities licensing, which is going to enable or registered qualifying patients to get house shipments from provisioning centers (with limitation, of course) and will also permit online buying. So, where does that leave registered caregivers, who were anticipating to be able to continue to be relevant to their patients until 2021?
Traditional Model
The old for registered caregivers was rather simple. You were enabled to grow up to twelve plants for each client. You could have five clients, besides yourself. If the caregiver was also a patient, they could also grow twelve plants for personal usage also. So, a caregiver could cultivate an overall of seventy-two marihuana plants. A lot of caregivers produced far more usable marihuana from those plants than they could make use of for patients and individual usage. The caregivers would then sell their excess product to medical marihuana dispensaries.
Under the emergency rules, marihuana dispensaries that were running with municipal approval, but that had not obtained a State license were allowed to continue operating and buying from registered caregivers. Those facilities were permitted to purchase caregiver excess for thirty days after obtaining their State license for stock. That suggested significant earnings for caregivers and also considerable supply for dispensaries.
After September 15, 2018
The troubles for registered caregivers only starts on September 15, 2018. All State licensed facilities that will remain open and operating can not buy any product from caregivers. State Licensed Provisioning Centers, but statute and administrative rules are strictly forbidden from acquiring or selling any kind of item that is not produced by a State Licensed Cultivator or Processor that has actually had their item tested and certified by a State Licensed Safety Compliance Facility. Any State Licensed Provisioning Center that is discovered to have product available for sale that is not from a State Licensed Grower or Processor is subject to State sanctions on their license, consisting of short-term or permanent revocation of the license. Given the threat, licensed facilities are really unlikely to risk buying from a caregiver, offered the possible effects.
Further, the unlicensed facilities to whom caregivers have been continuing to offer to, even throughout the licensing procedure, will be closing down. Some might continue to run, but given the State's stance on facilities that do not follow their cease and desist letters being looked at very unfavorably in the licensing process, the market will certainly be drastically reduced, if not eliminated. Therefore, caregivers will certainly not have much recourse for offering their overages, and also will be limited only to their present clients.
New Administrative Rules
A hearing will be held on September 17, 2018 regarding the brand-new proposed final administrative rules for the regulation of medical marihuana facilities, which will become effective in November, when the emergency rules stop being effective. Those final recommended administrative rules allow for house delivery by a provisioning center, and will additionally allow managed online ordering. Those 2 things eliminate much of the role contemplated by caregivers under the brand-new rules. Patients would certainly still need them to visit the provisioning center to grab and deliver marijuana to clients that were too sick or that were disabled and could not reach those licensed centers to get their medicinal marijuana. With this change to the administrative rules, such clients will no longer need a caregiver. They will be able to place an order online and have the provisioning facility deliver it to them, essentially eliminating the requirement of a caregiver.
Final thought
For better or worse, the State is doing everything it can to get rid of caregivers under the brand-new administrative scheme, even before the intended removal in 2021 contemplated by the MMFLA. There are a lot of reasons the State could be doing it, but that is of little comfort to caregivers. The bottom line is, the State is getting rid of the caregiver , and they are moving that process along with celerity. The State is sending the message that they want caregivers out of the industry as soon as possible, and they are developing guidelines to make sure that happens sooner rather than later. The caregiver model, while useful and essential under the old Michigan Medical Marihuana Act structure, are now going the way of the Dodo. Like everything else, the Marihuana regulations are evolving, and some things that have flourished in the past, will not make it to see the brand-new legalized era.
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