Gift of pot? Marijuana businesses work in Michigan law’s gray area

Selling marijuana won’t be legal for another year in Michigan, but entrepreneurs are seeing green with a loophole in the new law.

Since recreational marijuana became legal Dec. 6, a few have made hundreds, even thousands, of dollars by selling overpriced inexpensive goods such as snacks, T-shirts and chocolates with a “gift” of marijuana. They agree their businesses operate in a gray area under state law, leaving law enforcement waiting for the Michigan Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Department to clarify the statute’s language.

“It’s a bit of a loophole,” said Alex Leonowicz, leader of the Cannabis Industry Group at Royal Oak law firm Howard & Howard. “If you look at form over substance, it’s right. Legally, can they do it? Yeah, but I think it flies in the face of the actual purpose of the law.”

The law that legalized recreational marijuana, which voters approved with nearly 56 percent support in November, says a person is within the confines of the law “who…delivers without receiving any remuneration to a person who is at least 21 years of age not more than” 2½ ounces of cannabis, roughly equivalent to 140 half-gram joints. [Read more at The Detroit News]