On November 6, 2018, the voters of the state of Michigan approved Proposal 1, which initiated new legislation known as the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act. Among other things the Act:

1. Authorizes and legalizes the recreational possession, use and cultivation of marihuana products by individuals who are at least 21 years old.
2. Creates state-licensed “marihuana establishments” that include retailers, growers, safety compliance facilities, processors, secure transporters and micro businesses and any other type of marihuana-related business licensed by the state of Michigan, for the commercial sale of recreational marihuana.
3. Reserves the right of each municipality to determine whether to allow or prohibit marihuana establishments within its boundaries.

The Michigan Department of Regulatory Affairs is charged with promulgating rules necessary to implement, administer and enforce the Act. If the department does not timely promulgate the required rules or accept or process applications for a license to operate a marihuana establishment beginning one year after the effective date of the Act, licensure will by default fall to local municipalities.

The State may also promulgate rules before the one-year deadline; as the Act reads, once the State begins accepting applications for these facilities, the City will be bound by the local rules and infrastructure in place at the moment of application. This proposed ordinance provides for some short-term stability and gives the City the time necessary to establish local procedures consistent with the desires of the Commission.

Many municipalities have enacted an opt out ordinance to allow time for the Department of Regulatory Affairs to establish rules, and then evaluate whether to allow some or all of the types of marihuana businesses to operate in the City. City Administration recommends this same approach by adopting the attached ordinance to prohibit marihuana establishments in the City at this time.