Michigan Continues to Respond to Cannabis Industry Needs

Over the last week, as states continue to react to the COVID-19 crisis, we have reported on regulatory changes and “stay at home” orders in Michigan and Illinois, and their impacts on the cannabis industry. At Dykema’s COVID-19 Resource Center, we have compiled and are updating on a daily basis a Quick Reference Guide to State-Level Shelter-in-Place Orders and Essential Services Provisions. Read More ›

Michigan and Illinois Impose Stay-at-Home Orders – Implications for Cannabis Businesses

Michigan

On March 23, 2020, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer joined several other states in addressing the coronavirus outbreak by issuing an executive order (the “Michigan Order”) ordering individuals to stay at home, subject to certain exceptions. To this end, the Michigan Order requires all businesses to temporarily suspend all operations to the extent the business requires “workers to leave their homes or places of residence, except to the extent that those workers are necessary to sustain or protect life or to conduct minimum basic operations.” Minimum basic operations include the protection of inventory, and products, obviously a significant concern for growers. Read More ›

Illinois and Michigan Adjust Rules for Marijuana Businesses During Coronavirus Outbreak

The coronavirus pandemic is having a significant impact on retail businesses throughout the county, including medical and adult-use cannabis businesses. To address the health and safety concerns of customers, employees, and businesses during the coronavirus outbreak, Michigan and Illinois announced temporary rules for their marijuana businesses. Read More ›

FDA Work Related Cannabidiol Products Update

On March 5, 2020 the FDA sent out a notice about work being done on Cannabidiol products. The announcement seeks information from the public in the form of research about the effects of Cannabidiol products. The FDA is reopening the public docket established in May 2019 for the submission of data related to the efficacy and safety of Cannabidiol. The docket includes a mechanism for stakeholders to submit data and information that is confidential.  Read More ›

Environmental, Health & Safety Regulations in the Cannabis Industry

Blog Post is Co-Authored by Grant Gilezan and Jerry Hincka from EHS Support

Just because cannabis is federally illegal, doesn’t mean Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations aren’t applicable to your cannabis-related business. Federal employee and environmental protection regulations do apply and you should be aware of the inherent risks and regulatory fines associated with operating in the cannabis industry. Read More ›

Prohibiting Recourse to Receivership or Bankruptcy for Cannabis Industry Can Perversely Assist Bad Actor’s Continuation of Bad Acts—A Real Life Analogy

Currently there are no clear laws specifically addressing the means for addressing insolvency issues for debtors and creditors involved in the Cannabis industry. Like the industry itself, the laws are evolving. Using a Cannabis grower business as an example, at this time the Federal Court system is not available to address such entities insolvency issues. Even if state courts are theoretically willing to consider a receivership proceeding, without statutory protections or clarity addressing the licensing issues, it would be a challenge to find a person with sufficient expertise in addressing financially troubled companies willing to undertake the risks associated with acting as the receiver and operating the highly regulated company.   Read More ›

More FDA Warning Letters for CBD Sellers

On November 25, 2019 the FDA sent 15 more warning letters to CBD product manufacturers and sellers regarding the content and labeling of their products. For the most part, the warnings relate to claims made about the products which the FDA concludes make the products new drugs because they claim to cure or prevent a disease. Some of the claims include: Read More ›

Michigan to Beat Illinois!

With the simple release of an Advisory Bulletin, Michigan’s Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA) has assured that Michigan will be the first Midwest state to allow adult-use sales, commencing December 1, 2019!

As we have previously reported, Michigan’s Emergency Rules for Adult-Use Marijuana provide for companies that hold equivalent medical marijuana business licenses to transfer medical marijuana and medical marijuana products to their equivalent adult-use licenses. In other words, a dual-licensed grower can transfer inventory from medical to adult-use—and so can a provisioning center/retailer (in non-Michigan parlance, a dispensary).  Read More ›

New Information on the Use Transfers to Feed the New Adult Use Cannabis Market

As we have reported in the past (9/27/19 and 10/7/19) Michigan’s Emergency Rules for adult-use marijuana provide for medical products to be transferred to the adult-use market as long as the transfer takes place between equivalent licenses under common ownership. In other words, an adult-use grower can transfer in plants from a medical grower operated by the same entity; a co-located adult-use retailer/medical provisioning center can transfer medical products to the adult-use retail operation. But the Rules also provide that MRA will set a defined start date and end date and may announce other requirements for such transfers. We have been working for some time to get clarity from MRA as to how this rule will work. As recently as last week, MRA had no guidance to offer. Read More ›

Annual Financial Statements Are Due by December 31, 2019: Here’s What You Need to Know

Authored by Shaun Sullivan-Towler

In an advisory bulletin published on October 3, 2019, the Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA) outlined the requirements for filing annual financial statements. Only facilities licensed as of August 1, 2018 must file for the reporting period beginning on August 1, 2018 and ending on July 31, 2019. The annual financial statement must be filed by December 31, 2019, follow specific procedures, and contain specific schedules. Read More ›