Michigan medical marijuana facilities given temporary licenses following shortage

More than 70 Michigan dispensaries operating under temporary licenses were forced to shut their doors at the beginning of 2019. In compliance with a set of bills passed in 2016, reforming the way the state regulates the production and sale of medical marijuana. The result was a shortage in medical marijuana, plaguing many areas in Michigan including much of Ann Arbor.

Ann Arbor is home to 20 dispensaries, only seven of which have official licenses. Kinesiology junior L.J. Horowitz, a member of Green Wolverine’s founding executive board, estimated Ann Arbor has one of the highest densities of official and total medical marijuana provisioning centers in the state. Green Wolverine is a student organization focusing on the cannabis industry.

“It’s great for students and great for people who live in Ann Arbor, but that’s by far the most besides Detroit in any city in Michigan,” Horowitz said.

When the shortage hit, Ann Arbor residents and business owners were disproportionately affected. Lisa Conine, community outreach coordinator at provisioning center Om of Medicine, described the scarcity as frustrating, saying patients were ridden with fear over what was to come. [Read more at The Michigan Daily]