Detroit awards first 33 recreational marijuana retail licenses after court ruling
After four years after Detroit voters overwhelmingly approved recreational marijuana sales, the city on Thursday awarded its first batches of licenses.
The first 33 recipients of recreational adult-use marijuana retail licenses were announced by a group of people.
The announcement was made after a federal court ruling against the city's marijuana law. The first attempt how to award recreational marijuana licenses to "legacy Detroiters" in 2020 was likely unconstitutional. The city has rewritten the law to be inclusive, but still, prioritizes equity applicants in order to give Detroiters a chance in the marijuana industry.
There is a tax on top of the sales tax for marijuana. There will be no more taxes beyond that.
Kim James, director of the city's Marijuana Ventures & Entrepreneurship, expects the revenue sharing from marijuana to be millions of dollars for the city. Michigan's recreational cannabis revenue is expected to hit a new high of over $1 billion this year and is expected to reach $3 billion in revenue by the year's end.
Christmas came early for Detroiters, according to Bettison. Bettison thanked Tate for making sure the process was fair and the team and several others for overcoming several core challenges. Marijuana interest has the potential to generate wealth for our city as well as for those who participate.
A primary resident of Detroit who has been disproportionately impacted by marijuana enforcement where 20% of residents live below the federal poverty level and the marijuana conviction rate is higher than the state median is an equity application. An equity advocate is someone who owns at least 51% of the business.
The city got 90 applications. The city is giving 13 non-equity retail licenses. The city has 33 equity license applications. Four equity microbusiness applications were not awarded. There were no non-equity applicants for consumption lounges.
It has been a fight to make sure the lucrative marijuana industry was possible for those who are disproportionately impacted, said Tate, who led the initiative over the last few years.
Tate said that he was thankful for the wisdom of Judge Friedman not allowing a temporary restraining order to be issued. The journey to this point has been very difficult. There's criticism of people who say that you're trying to make marijuana something that can't be perfect. We fight because we want to make sure that this industry doesn't have a glass ceiling for those who have been through the same thing.
One of the awardees, Chronic City, was founded by the founder of the Black Cannabis Licensed Business Owners Association of Detroit.
Black people and marijuana in the city of Detroit could benefit from this industry. Scott, who was overcome with emotion, said that he wanted to see people like him, where he could benefit from being able to purchase cannabis in his own neighborhood. I am so happy. I hope that all of us will continue to grow the cannabis industry in Detroit.
After her sister's life was cut short by a marijuana conviction, Najanava Harvey-Quinn decided to help expunge records. The next expungement fair is in January. She said that the store would be on Groesbeck and Eight Mile.
She called on the governor to pardon offenses related to cannabis.
One of the first people I knew who had a cannabis charge was my sister. She said that they are going to continue to fight. Many people in the marijuana industry will continue to give back. We will promote brands in Detroit based on people who have been impacted by the war on drugs.
Marijuana and hallucinogen use is high among young adults.
Next up. A total of 160 licenses are being distributed by the city. There are 100 licenses for retail, 30 for micro-businesses, and 30 for consumption lounges.
The second round of applications will begin at the end of January. This is what's left.
Round 2 will take place on a date that is still undecided.
There are up to 30 retail stores.
There are up to 10 small businesses.
There are up to ten consumption lounges.
Round 3 of marijuana will take place on a date that is not yet known.
There are up to 30 retail stores.
There are up to 10 small businesses.
There are up to ten consumption lounges.
There is a full listing of the applicants and their scores at www.homegrowndetroit.org
There are no new licenses for medical marijuana centers. To renew, click here.
The city will not be intimidated by any more lawsuits.
He said that frivolous causes of action do nothing but create an unpleasant atmosphere for the person who does it. We're going to keep fighting as long as it's necessary. We won't be intimidated by the number of lawsuits. The people of Detroit will be represented rigorously and successfully by the lawyers in the city.
Keywords: city, Pro Tem James, marijuana, Mayor Todd Bettison
Source: www.detroitnews.com
Marijuana advocates and executives are up in arms after opposition from Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) resulted in Congress failing to pass a key cannabis banking bill, dealing a massive blow to the industry.
The $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill unveiled Tuesday includes all kinds of expenditures, but it does not include the SAFE Banking Act, a bipartisan measure that would undo federal restrictions that make it difficult for legal cannabis businesses to access financial services.
“The fact that there was speech after speech and tweet after tweet about how cannabis policy was a priority and we know they were very certain that the votes are there, but it just was never brought to the floor, is of course disappointing,” said Kim Rivers, CEO of Florida-based Trulieve Cannabis Corp.
The measure has a ton of political support.
It passed the House seven times — receiving a whopping 321 votes last year — and had enough GOP support to reach 60 votes in the Senate.
But it did not have the support of McConnell, whose opposition kept it out of the spending bill.
McConnell first blocked the SAFE Banking Act’s inclusion in the defense bill earlier this month, arguing that it would make the U.S. financial system “more sympathetic to illegal drugs.”
It now faces an even steeper climb to become law in the next Congress, with Republicans taking over the House for marijuana.