After September 15, Can I Still be a Caregiver?

The Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation is persevering on their stance that all marijuana centers that are not licensed by the State under the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act, will have to shut down, and will receive a cease and desist letter at that time. While the centers are not mandated to close down, the State Bureau of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs has explained that any facility that continues to operate after receipt of the cease and desist will most likely not be given a license. Further, the State has set forth suggested Final Rules pertaining to Medical Marihuana Facilities licensing, which is going to permit or registered qualifying patients to obtain house shipments from provisioning centers (with restriction, certainly) and also will certainly also allow online buying. So, where does that leave registered caregivers, that were expecting to be able to remain relevant to their clients until 2021?

Traditional

The old model for registered caregivers was pretty basic. You were allowed to grow up to twelve plants for each patient. You could have 5 patients, besides yourself. If the caregiver was also a patient, they could additionally cultivate twelve plants for personal usage also. So, a caregiver could grow a total of seventy-two marihuana plants. Many caregivers produced far more usable marihuana from those plants than they could utilize for patients and individual use. The caregivers would then sell their excess product to medical marihuana dispensaries.

Under the emergency rules, marihuana dispensaries that were operating with municipal approval, but that had actually not received a State license were permitted to continue operating as well as buying from registered caregivers. Those centers were allowed to buy caregiver excess for thirty days after obtaining their State license for stock. That indicated significant earnings for caregivers and considerable supply for dispensaries.

After September 15, 2018

The troubles for registered caregivers only begins on September 15, 2018. All State licensed facilities that will stay open and operating can not buy any kind of product from caregivers. State Licensed Provisioning Centers, but statute and administrative rules are strictly banned from buying or selling any kind of product that is not generated by a State Licensed Grower or Processor that has actually had their product tested and certified by a State Licensed Safety Compliance Facility. Any State Licensed Provisioning Center that is found to have product up for sale that is not from a State Licensed Grower or Processor is subject to State sanctions on their license, consisting of short-term or permanent cancellation of the license. Given the risk, licensed facilities are very unlikely to run the risk of buying from a caregiver, offered the prospective consequences.

Better, the unlicensed centers to whom caregivers have been continuing to offer to, even during the licensing process, will be closing down. Some may continue to run, but given the State's position on centers that do not abide by their cease and desist letters being looked at very adversely in the licensing process, the market will be badly lessened, if not eliminated. Consequently, caregivers will not have much recourse for selling their overages, and also will be restricted only to their current patients.

New Administrative Rules

A hearing will be held on September 17, 2018 relating to the brand-new recommended final administrative rules for the regulation of medical marihuana facilities, which will become effective in November, when the emergency rules stop being effective. Those final suggested administrative rules allow for house delivery by a provisioning center, and will additionally permit regulated online buying. Those 2 things take away much of the role contemplated by caregivers under the new regulations. Patients would still need them to head to the provisioning center to pick up and deliver cannabis to clients that were too sick or who were disabled and could not get to those licensed centers to obtain their medical marijuana. With this adjustment to the administrative rules, such patients will no longer require a caregiver. They will be able to place an order online and have the provisioning facility deliver it to them, basically getting rid of the need of a caregiver.

Conclusion

For better or worse, the State is doing everything it can to remove caregivers under the brand-new administrative scheme, even before the intended elimination in 2021 contemplated by the MMFLA. There are a lot of reasons the State could be doing it, but that is of little comfort to caregivers. The bottom line is, the State is eliminating the caregiver model, and they are moving that process along with celerity. The State is sending the message that they desire caregivers out of the market as soon as possible, and they are developing policies to guarantee that happens sooner rather than later. The caregiver model, while valuable and needed under the old Michigan Medical Marihuana Act structure, are now going the way of the Dodo. Like everything else, the Marihuana legislations are evolving, and some things that have flourished in the past, won't make it to see the new legalized era.