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.