After September 15, Can I Still be a Caregiver?

The Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation is standing firm on their stance that all marijuana facilities that are not licensed by the State under the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act, will need to close down, and will receive a cease and desist letter at that time. While the centers are not mandated to shut down, the State Bureau of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs has explained that any facility that continues to run after receipt of the cease and desist will most likely not be given a license. Additionally, the State has stated suggested Final Rules regarding Medical Marihuana Facilities licensing, which is going to enable or registered qualifying clients to get house shipments from provisioning centers (with constraint, obviously) as well as will certainly likewise allow online ordering. So, where does that leave registered caregivers, that were expecting to be able to stay relevant to their clients until 2021?

Traditional

The old for registered caregivers was pretty straightforward. You were allowed to grow up to twelve plants for each patient. You could have 5 clients, aside from yourself. If the caregiver was also a patient, they could also grow twelve plants for individual usage too. So, a caregiver could grow an overall of seventy-two marihuana plants. Many caregivers produced far more usable marihuana from those plants than they could make use of for clients and individual use. The caregivers would then sell their excess product to medical marihuana dispensaries.

Under the emergency rules, marihuana dispensaries that were operating with municipal approval, but that had not received a State license were allowed to proceed operating as well as buying from registered caregivers. Those centers were allowed to purchase caregiver overages for thirty days after obtaining their State license for supply. That meant considerable earnings for caregivers and substantial supply for dispensaries.

After September 15, 2018

The problems for registered caregivers only starts on September 15, 2018. All State licensed facilities that will continue to be open and operating can not buy any product from caregivers. State Licensed Provisioning Centers, but statute and administrative rules are strictly prohibited from buying or selling any type of product that is not produced by a State Licensed Cultivator or Processor that has actually had their product tested and certified by a State Licensed Safety Compliance Facility. Any State Licensed Provisioning Center that is found to have product up for sale that is not from a State Licensed Grower or Processor is subject to State sanctions on their license, consisting of temporary or permanent abrogation of the license. Given the risk, licensed facilities are extremely unlikely to run the risk of buying from a caregiver, provided the prospective repercussions.

Even more, the unlicensed centers to whom caregivers have been continuing to offer to, even during the licensing procedure, will certainly be closing down. Some may continue to run, but given the State's stance on centers that do not comply with their cease and desist letters being looked at very adversely in the licensing process, the market will be badly lessened, if not eliminated. As a result, caregivers will not have much recourse for marketing their excess, and also will be restricted only to their present clients.

New Administrative Rules

A hearing will be held on September 17, 2018 concerning the new proposed final administrative rules for the regulation of medical marihuana facilities, which will become effective in November, when the emergency rules discontinue being effective. Those final suggested administrative rules allow for house delivery by a provisioning center, and will likewise permit controlled online ordering. Those 2 things eliminate much of the role contemplated by caregivers under the new guidelines. Clients would still need them to head to the provisioning facility to pick up and deliver marijuana to clients that were too sick or who were disabled and can not reach those licensed facilities to obtain their medical marijuana. With this adjustment to the administrative rules, such patients will no longer require a caregiver. They will be able to place an order online and have the provisioning center deliver it to them, basically getting rid of the necessity of a caregiver.

Final thought

For better or worse, the State is doing everything it can to remove caregivers under the brand-new administrative plan, even prior to the prepared removal in 2021 contemplated by the mmfla. There are a great deal of reasons the State could be doing it, but that is of little comfort to caregivers. The bottom line is, the State is doing away with the caregiver model, and they are moving that process along with celerity. The State is sending the message that they desire caregivers out of the industry asap, and they are developing regulations to make certain that takes place sooner rather than later. The caregiver model, while useful and needed under the old Michigan Medical Marihuana Act structure, are currently going the way of the Dodo. Like everything else, the Marihuana regulations are evolving, and some things that have prospered in the past, will not make it to see the brand-new legalized era.