After September 15, Can I Still be a Caregiver?

The Bureau of Medical marijuana Regulation is persevering on their position that all cannabis facilities that are not licensed by the State under the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act, will have 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 likely not be given a license. Further, the State has set forth proposed Final Rules relating to Medical Marihuana Facilities licensing, which is going to enable or registered qualifying clients to get home deliveries from provisioning centers (with restriction, obviously) as well as will certainly additionally permit online ordering. So, where does that leave registered caregivers, that were expecting to be able to remain relevant to their clients till 2021?

Traditional

The old model for registered caregivers was pretty easy. You were allowed to grow up to twelve plants for each patient. You could have 5 patients, besides yourself. If the caregiver was also a client, they could additionally grow twelve plants for individual usage also. So, a caregiver could cultivate a total amount of seventy-two marihuana plants. Many caregivers generated far more usable marihuana from those plants than they could make use of for clients and personal use. The caregivers would then sell their excess product to medical marihuana dispensaries.

Under the emergency rules, marihuana dispensaries that were operating with municipal authorization, but that had not received a State license were allowed to proceed running and also purchasing from registered caregivers. Those facilities were permitted to get caregiver overages for thirty days after receiving their State license for stock. That implied significant revenues for caregivers as well as significant supply for dispensaries.

After September 15, 2018

The troubles for registered caregivers only begins on September 15, 2018. All State licensed centers that will continue to be open and operating can not buy any type of 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 Grower or Processor that has actually had their item 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 Cultivator or Processor is subject to State sanctions on their license, including temporary or permanent revocation of the license. Given the threat, licensed facilities are very unlikely to take the chance of purchasing from a caregiver, given the prospective repercussions.

Even more, the unlicensed centers to whom caregivers have been continuing to market to, even throughout the licensing procedure, will be closing down. Some might continue to operate, but given the State's stance on facilities that do not follow their cease and desist letters being looked at very unfavorably in the licensing process, the market will be badly diminished, if not eliminated. Consequently, caregivers will not have much choice for marketing their excess, and also will certainly be restricted only to their present clients.

New Administrative Rules

A hearing will be held on September 17, 2018 relating to the brand-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 recommended administrative rules enable house delivery by a provisioning center, and will additionally permit managed online ordering. Those two things take away much of the function contemplated by caregivers under the brand-new policies. Patients would certainly still require them to visit the provisioning facility to grab and deliver marijuana to patients that were too sick or who were impaired and could not reach those licensed facilities to get their medicinal cannabis. With this change to the administrative rules, such clients will no longer need a caregiver. They will be able to place an order online and have the provisioning facility 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 eliminate caregivers under the brand-new administrative scheme, even before the intended elimination 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 getting rid of the caregiver , and they are moving that process along with celerity. The State is sending the message that they desire caregivers out of the marketplace as soon as possible, and they are developing guidelines to make sure 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 thrived in the past, won't make it to see the new legalized era.