Detroit to revisit recreational marijuana licensing process

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The Detroit City Council is poised to restructure its recreational marijuana licensing system with a new ordinance to govern the process after a U.S. district judge last year ruled that a previously approved residency requirement was “likely unconstitutional.”

The city’s entire adult-use marijuana industry has been on hold since then because there hasn’t been a path to licensure for any entrepreneurs.

But according to the Detroit Metro Times, City Council President Pro Tem James Tate has crafted a new ordinance for adult-use cannabis business licensing, and the measure has the support of the mayor.

Under Tate’s new proposal, Detroit residents would be guaranteed a path to permits, but the ordinance would also give a shot at licensure to out-of-town applicants.

Residency mandates for marijuana ownership in Michigan’s largest city were a primary sticking point last year, and the strict requirements sparked a lawsuit that is scheduled to go to trial in September, the Metro Times reported.

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Tate’s revised ordinance would authorize up to 76 recreational marijuana shops within the city limits, along with 30 consumption lounges and micro-businesses.

There would be no cap on the number of permits for cultivators, processors, transporters, safety-compliance facilities, event organizers or temporary marijuana events, the Metro Times reported.