The state's new medical marijuana laws, according to Sen. Patrick Colbeck, R-Canton, an opponent of the bills, take a small home-grown industry created by a 2008 ballot proposal "and puts that cottage industry on steroids."
Indeed, under the old law, a caregiver could grow up to 12 marijuana plants for each patient and couldn't serve more than five patients. The law was vague about dispensaries, leading to a glut in some cities like Detroit and Lansing that basically turned a blind eye to the businesses in their communities and a police force in other towns that shut down businesses with impunity.
STATE BY STATE: Michigan Cannabis News
The new laws create three classes of growers: people who can grow up to 500 plants, up to 1,000 plants or up to 1,500 plants. They also create five classes of licenses — those for growers, testing facilities, transporters, the seed-to-sale tracking and dispensaries. Communities can decide whether and where they'll allow dispensaries to operate and charge an annual fee of up to $5,000 per dispensary.
