While Michigan has allowed marijuana by prescription for medicinal purposes for nearly eight years, Michigan law still lists weed as a Schedule 1 controlled substance (see NORML for details on existing restrictions and possession penalty details). This year, a package of bills proposed to expand previous state approved legislature and further regulate the state’s marijuana supply chain is attracting a lot of attention.

In many ways Michigan’s marijuana reform current legislative efforts seem to be preparing residents and law enforcement for further decriminalization and the inevitable legalization of recreational marijuana use.

Michigan’s Marijuana Reform

It seems that, in Michigan, “…even conservative Republicans recognize that marijuana is on the threshold of becoming a legitimate and lucrative industry,” according to Jeff Hank, an East Lansing attorney intimately involved with marijuana initiatives his organization is working to put in front of Michigan voters in November 2016.

Cultivation and marijuana retail are very, very hot topics. But many marijuana patient advocates are angry that the proposed and long overdue “fixes” will seemingly overregulate the supply process in a way that impedes marijuana access.

“Now it’s just a matter of how, and who’s going to control the process,” Hank said recently.

For more on the topic, we also recommend reading:

• Battle is on for control of Michigan’s marijuana market, editorial post, Detroit Free Press
• Could retail medical marijuana thrive in West Michigan?, MIBiz.com
• Letter to the Editor:  Support medical marijuana safeguards for state, Crain’s Detroit Business