Leader of MI Legalize Chuck Ream had this to say:
“Here are some requirements in the new Michigan dispensary laws which would be unlikely to be necessary under the Mi Legalize system of local regulation:
NEW POLICE AND REGULATORS – 34 new police officers are projected to be hired “for criminal enforcement activity related to medical marijuana”. LARA needs 113 new bureaucrats for marijuana regulation.
TRACKING – With software bought from out-of-state companies, any cannabis business would have to track, “linked to unique identification numbers”, all plants “from seed to sale”, inventory, test results, transportation details, conversion records, production facility info., name of product, batch number, package number, sales (with all details), returns, waste disposal, recalls; and more.
Police are provided with real time access to all transactions and records, and can come into any marijuana business at any time, without any notice. Applicants for a medical marijuana business license must sign a paper to relinquish their rights.
SECURE TRANSPORT (would be funny – except it is true.) It is mandated that all cannabis and money be moved by armored cars or “secure transport”, from grower to processor and from processor to retail…even seeds and cuttings. (Some lobbyist got a big bonus)
THE REGULATORY ASSESSMENT - Near the end of 4209 there is a “Regulatory Assessment” on marijuana businesses to pay for all the layers of enforcement – which can be as high as $10,000 for a Class A grower (500 plants), or $30,000 for a Class C grower (1500 plants)
UNWORKABLY EXPENSIVE- The HOUSE FISCAL OFFICE notes: “there is a possibility that the medical marijuana market envisioned under this bill would not bear the regulatory costs as estimated by LARA”. The Fiscal Office says that the annual enforcement costs will be over $21 million, and that we now have 96,408 registered Michigan patients. They compute that if all patients went to dispensaries for their medicine there would be a $227 per patient annual cost for the necessary enforcement system. (However, most patients don’t go to dispensaries…if a quarter of patients go to dispensaries the cost of enforcement could reach $1000 per patient annually.)
MORE ARRESTS AND JAIL TIME – The Fiscal Office makes clear that the tracking law “House Bill 4827 adds new misdemeanors and civil infractions” and will increase costs related “to jails and local misdemeanor probation supervision”.
IS THIS WHAT 63% OF MICHIGAN VOTERS WANTED?, OR WHAT WE WANT?, OR WHAT MICHIGAN VOTERS WANT RIGHT NOW? NO! IF WE GIVE VOTERS AN ALTERNATIVE WITH MI LEGALIZE THEY WILL CHOOSE IT!
BUT WE NEED $200,000 RIGHT NOW TO CLOSE IT, AND OUR LARGE AND STRONG MICHIGAN CANNABIS COMMUNITY CAN AFFORD THAT. Our only “window of opportunity” is right now.
PLEASE BE AT THE FUNDRAISERS/ CONTRIBUTE BIG-TIME /DISTRIBUTE PETITIONS
FIGHT TO WIN! MILegalize!”
