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LARA Issues Guidance For Businesses Serving Michigan Medical Marijuana Industry


bobandtorey

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On May 19 the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) and the Michigan Board of Accountancy released a joint statement regarding the legality of businesses interacting with the companies providing “services provided by licensees to the medical marihuana industry.”

NOTE: the legislature and the state of Michigan have adopted the use of the archaic spelling of the cannabis plant as “marihuana.” The Michigan Supreme Court, newspapers and this publication use the correct modern spelling, “marijuana.” Both versions are used here. 

Fear of the Trump administration and Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ attitude toward the use of cannabis was featured in the letter.  The letter discusses “the dichotomy between state law and federal law” and offers advice to Michigan businesspersons while “taking into account the uncertainty of a new presidential administration and how it may affect federal marihuana enforcement policies.”

LARA and the Board of Accountancy determined that “a licensee will not face any action by the Department or the Board based solely on the fact that the individual licensee or licensed firm provides professional services to a client engaged in the medical marihuana industry.”

The government agencies were quick to point out that this letter did not make any businesses participating in the medical marijuana marketplace immune from federal prosecution for noncompliance with the Controlled Substances Act. The letter also spells out the need for adherence to the state rules of operation within the MMFLA, the MMMA and the other Acts covering general business operations.

The full text of the letter is available at the government’s website HERE.

https://www.weednews.co/lara-issues-guidance-for-businesses-serving-michigan-medical-marijuana-industry/

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DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS –

BUREAU OF PROFESSIONAL LICENSING AND MICHIGAN STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTANCY

GUIDANCE FOR LICENSEES PROVIDING SERVICES TO THE MEDICAL MARIHUANA INDUSTRY

Adopted and published May 19, 2017

Since the passage of Michigan’s Medical Marihuana Act in December 2008, questions have arisen regarding the dichotomy between state law and federal law and how the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs – Bureau of Professional Licensing (Department) and the Michigan State Board of Accountancy (Board) will address services provided by licensees to the medical marihuana industry.

Taking into account the uncertainty of a new presidential administration and how it may affect federal marihuana enforcement policies, the Department and the Board offer the following guidance to licensees: The decision to provide professional services to the medical marihuana industry is a personal business decision for individual licensees and licensed firms.

The Department and Board caution that those individual licensees or licensed firms that choose to provide services of any kind to persons or entities engaged in the medical marihuana industry should diligently consider the inherent risks and uncertainties involved, including, but not limited to, the political uncertainty of federal enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act and provisions of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.

Federal law notwithstanding, it is the Department and Board’s position that a licensee offering to perform professional services for clients engaged in the medical marihuana industry who are otherwise in compliance with Michigan’s Medical Marihuana Act, Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act, and associated administrative rules, or any other state where medical marihuana is legalized, is not in itself specifically prohibited by the provisions of Michigan’s Occupational Code (Act 299 of 1980, Article 7).

Therefore, a licensee will not face any action by the Department or the Board based solely on the fact that the individual licensee or licensed firm provides professional services to a client engaged in the medical marihuana industry. Licensees that choose to provide professional services to the medical marihuana industry will be held to the professional standards, laws, and rules applicable to all licensees for the services provided by them.

This guidance should in no way be construed: ∙ as an endorsement for licensees to provide professional services to the medical marihuana industry; ∙

as a statement regarding the feasibility of meeting applicable professional standards in providing services to the medical marihuana industry;

or ∙ as a statement about the enforcement of any law involving marihuana in any jurisdiction by any local, state, or federal authority.

 

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