Here’s something good about to happen – One could only hope. Maybe…A possible conundrum…
There’s some legislative interest in removing low-level marijuana convictions off the books, but a prior marijuana conviction could get someone as much as a 50% discount on a recreational marijuana business license.
That’s one part of the “social equity” program announced today by the state’s Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA), aimed at giving people and communities who’ve been “disproportionately impacted by marijuana prohibition and enforcement” a leg up in getting into the recreational marijuana industry.
The marijuana legalization initiative approved by voters in November 2018 featured language requiring the state to develop a plan to “promote and encourage participation in the marijuana industry by people from communities that have been disproportionately impacted by marijuana prohibition and enforcement” so as to “positively impact those communities.”
With that charge, the MRA unrolled this social equity program after working with stakeholders and gathered input online to help to set up the social equity criteria. The state begins taking applications for recreational marijuana ventures November 1.
The MRA went about developing the list of communities disproportionately impacted by marijuana prohibition by first selecting the counties where the number of pot-related convictions exceeded the average rate for the state.
From that group of counties, the MRA filtered out the communities where 30% or more of the population live below the federal poverty line. That resulted in the following cities becoming eligible under the program:
Albion, Benton Harbor, Detroit, East Lansing, Ecorse, Flint, Highland Park, Hamtramck, Inkster, Kalamazoo, Mt. Morris, Mount Pleasant, Muskegon, Muskegon Heights, Niles, Pontiac, River Rouge, Saginaw and Ypsilanti.
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Under the program, potential applicants for recreational licenses are eligible for a 25% discount on state-related fees if they’ve lived in one of those communities for at least the past five years.
Another 25% reduction in fees is in order for the majority business owner if that person has a marijuana-related conviction. And an additional 10% reduction is available on state applications if a person was registered as a primary caregiver under the state’s medical marijuana program for at least two years between 2008 and 2017.
There’s some legislative interest in extending some kind of forgiveness toward past marijuana-related offenders, said Sen. Jeff IRWIN (D-Ann Arbor), who is the sponsor of SB 0416, which would automatically expunge some 235,000 low-level marijuana convictions (See “Bill Automatically Expunges Low-Level Pot Offenses,” 7/16/19).
MRA Executive Director ANDREW BRISBO acknowledged some communities on the list — Albion and Mount Pleasant — have voted to opt-out of allowing recreational facilities in their boundaries.
But Brisbo said the state is going off of mailing address rather than municipality boundaries to determine eligibility for people living in and around those areas.
And he said MRA would still make available the resources intended under the program, even if individuals can’t get licensed to run a business in their hometown. For instance, the MRA could work to connect those folks with people who are already licensed and running a business as a way to potentially connect those people with jobs, Brisbo said.
“We of course also take care of those looking to start a marijuana business. Many people also call us to get their record or records expunged. It has become more accessible. If you don’t know if you qualify… you should call our office and find out. You can still get other records expunged also. We have had great success with many cases in the past.” said Attorney Michael Komorn when randomly asked during a break at the Planet Green Trees radio show.
