Jackson County marijuana dispensary license seekers camp out a week early to snag one

[bobandtorey]

David Zanon is spending the next five days in his white 2017 Ford F-350 truck, waiting to turn in his application for six coveted medical marijuana dispensary licenses in Leoni Township, near Jackson.

“I just got here about 9:30 (Friday morning) and I did not realize people were going to be lining up this early," said Zanon, 30, of Stockbridge. "I work in the area and I was just going to drive by every day to see if anybody was out here. I definitely wasn’t planning on being out here for five days. I’m not leaving until I get my application turned in.’’

On Wednesday at 7:30 a.m., the township will begin accepting applications. Thursday night, brave souls who already had lined up before Zanon were braving 28-degree temperatures to be first in line.

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"It's worth it," said Ryan Basore of Michigan Marijuana Law Experts, who is in line on behalf of one of his firm's clients. "Just because you are applying for a license doesn't mean you're going to get it. That's why people are lining up.''

 

The payoff for a few days of cold: a possible license to dispense medicinal marijuana to the state's 262,000-plus registered patients, a contract potentially worth millions of dollars over the next 10 years.

Michigan's new regulated medical marijuana business program, MMFLA, will begin accepting applications on Dec. 15 for five business types, including distribution centers, called dispensaries or provisioning centers. In advance of that deadline, many communities and business groups across the state are lining up to be the first to qualify under the new laws.

David Harns of the Licensing and Regulatory Affairs office said the local license is the first step toward being licensed at the state level.

 

"Once they get that approval, then they can ask the state to approve them,'' said Harns. "First things first. The locals get to do what they want. When somebody applies at the state level, they need to show proof they've been given authorization at the local level. There's a whole document checklist on our website as to what you need to do.''

Zanon, an agricultural consultant, said he has a passion for the business.

“For me," he said, "it’s more than about the money; that’s just an added benefit. I really truly believe in everything about this industry. I want to be a part of it.’’

Leoni Township imposed a first-come, first-served dispensary license application process. Potential applicants started showing up at 4:20 p.m., on Thursday to submit their applications on Wednesday.

Campers, an RV and passenger cars all housed prospective applicants and their in-line teams as temperatures were below freezing. 

Basore said that while atmosphere is cordial, the reality is not.

"Get out of line, lose your spot," Basore said, summarizing the rules for those who choose to wait. 

His MMLE associate, Jamie Lowell, recalled that Ypsilanti had a similar endurance test in 2011, forcing dispensary hopefuls to wait on the sidewalk for days to submit applications. 

“We worked with the city (Ypsilanti) transparently from the beginning,’’ said Lowell. “Third Coast (a dispensary) started there in the summer of 2009 for all intents and purposes. It took a while, but they eventually got the licensing procedures in place. They had grandfathered us in (2011) and made the rest of the process first-come, first serve. That resulted in the other potential operators having to camp out on the sidewalk. It was a few nights.

“I just remember seeing that process unfold and seeing the people on the sidewalk and thinking that there have to be a better way of doing this.’’

Lowell hailed Ypsilanti brave and aggressive at the time.

“There was no statewide direction in how to do it,’’ he said. “Now we have that kind of statewide direction. In Ypsilanti it was just a case of the locals saying this is how we want it to be. In Leoni we’re talking via the new MMFLA program.’’

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2017/10/27/medical-marijuana-license-seekers/806872001/