Candidates for Michigan governor in next month’s primary are sharply divided, along party lines, when it comes to legalizing recreational marijuana.

In November, Michigan voters will not only decide who will be the state’s next governor, but also whether to legalize recreational marijuana.

If the candidates running to be governor are any indication, marijuana legalization may come down to largely party-line vote.

The four Republican candidates for governor oppose legal marijuana. While the three Democrats and two Libertarian candidates support it.

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A joint committee of state lawmakers reluctantly approved another $13.3 million in funding for the state office regulating medical marijuana Thursday, despite being frustrated by delays in implementing the bill that broadly legalized the drug for medical use last summer.

The request from the Office of Medical Marijuana Use, made less than a month after the state's new fiscal budget went into effect, will go toward several operations including a computer tracking system for medical marijuana plants "from seed to sale," securing a vendor for patient identification card processing and paying for legal fees.

The most sizable expense — more than half of the money requested — is linked to licensing four more medical marijuana treatment centers and reviewing an expected 400 applications for the slots. The Department of Health granted an additional license last week to Nature's Way, a Miami nursery, to settle ongoing litigation and announced it was finally moving forward with awarding the additional licenses after the state patient registry exceeded 100,000 patients this spring.

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It’s a joint study that could provide groundbreaking research into the full benefits of medical cannabis.

Olds-based Sundial Growers Inc. announced this week that it would enter a collaborative research partnership with the Cumming School of Medicine’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the University of Calgary to conduct clinical studies of cannabis with an eye to future medical applications.

It’s an opportunity that researchers at one of the world’s foremost neurological research centres have not had before Canada loosened its laws around medical and recreational cannabis. The change will allow a steady supply of clean, high-quality marijuana to ensure research isn’t tainted by impurities or irregularities.

Keith Sharkey, director of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, said it’s clear there are many potential medical applications for cannabis but, given the lack of quality supply in the past, there’s not a deep track record of rigorous research into how it can be best used.

“High-quality cannabis is absolutely crucial to the integrity of the research,” he said.

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NELSONVILLE — As Hocking College prepares to start testing medical marijuana in its new laboratory, administrators plan to offer related courses to students interested in cannabis and other fields requiring laboratory research skills.

“We are getting a lot of inquiries about laboratory sciences in general, and specifically about cannabis laboratory technicians,” Hocking College President Betty Young said. “This is a new and emerging industry.”

The state recently issued a provisional license to the public two-year technical college in Athens County, about 65 miles southeast of Columbus, to test medical marijuana. Central State University near Dayton also has received a provisional license. The Ohio Department of Commerce will issue certificates of operation once inspectors have approved the labs, spokeswoman Stephanie Gostomski said.

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