With the passage of the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act (MRTMA), previously called Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (RMLA), the Marijuana Microbusiness License is officially coming to Michigan!
A Microbusiness License allows Michigan residents to grow up to 150 marijuana plants, as well as process the cannabis into oils, extracts and other cannabis products. As a Marijuana Microbusiness, you can then sell the flower and processed products direct to the consumer all under one license!
The introduction of the Microbusiness License allows for a more diverse array of businesses and people to enter the Michigan Marijuana Industry. Looking to other states such as California and Oregon, we have seen the cannabis industry consolidating. Smaller grow facilities and players are being gobbled up by bigger competitors or are simply driven out of business by falling wholesale prices and increased competition. The effect of this is that those without deep pockets or the willingness to invest in large, multimillion dollar grow facilities struggle to carve out a long-term, sustainable niche in the industry.
A Michigan Marijuana Microbusiness License allows smaller players to enter Michigan’s recreational cannabis market and carve out a profitable and sustainable business in the recreational marijuana industry. This is especially true for those serving as caregivers, who are no longer able to sell to dispensaries and thus have almost no legal way to profit from their cannabis products.
What kinds of business opportunities will be available to Michigan Microbusiness Licensees?
The opportunities are endless! A Marijuana Microbusiness License could allow you to open a cannabis lounge with direct-to-consumer sales, utilize the microbrewery model that has spread like wildfire throughout the State of Michigan, or even experiment with other, more imaginative ideas like marijuana-themed restaurants with cannabis-infused food. You can even explore simply adding cannabis sales to an already existing business model, such as movie theaters, arcades, escape rooms, and more!
While the recreational marijuana law allowing for microbusinesses has been passed, there is still much that is as of yet unknown about the microbusiness license. The biggest unknown is whether the State of Michigan will require the licensee to have its facilities all under one roof, or if a microbusiness licensee will be allowed to sell from a different location from where they grow and process.
In addition to waiting on the rules regulating microbusinesses to be issued by the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), we will also need to see which municipalities allow marijuana microbusinesses and which ones don’t. Before you start worrying too much about whether your municipality will allow them, know that each municipalities’ cut of the state’s excise tax on recreational marijuana is determined by how many dispensaries and microbusinesses operate in the municipality. Since many municipalities are not keen on having numerous dispensary storefronts within their boundaries, we expect many cities and townships to jump on the microbusiness concept since it will allow them to obtain a greater share of the recreational marijuana tax revenue without the nuisance of numerous dispensaries.
In sum, the Marijuana Microbusiness License is the perfect opportunity to enter into Michigan’s recreational marijuana market. While other recreational marijuana license types require the licensee to first hold a medical marijuana license, which are expensive and involve an intense vetting process that can take up to a year, microbusinesses are exempt from this requirement. They are also protected from larger cannabis companies since holders of any other marijuana license type are forbidden from also holding a microbusiness license. Accordingly, they are the perfect avenue for Michigan entrepreneurs looking to break into the state’s legal cannabis market.
Interested in starting your own Marijuana Microbusiness here in Michigan?
Get started by scheduling a consultation with the leading expert in Marijuana Microbusinesses, Scott F. Roberts!
Mr. Roberts is a tried and true business lawyer with experience representing businesses both within and outside the cannabis industry. Mr. Roberts spoke on Marijuana Microbusinesses at October’s CannabisAid conference in Detroit and again at the Cannabis Industrial Marketplace Expo in Frankenmuth, Michigan in February 2019. Continuing in 2019, Mr. Roberts will be speaking at the 420 Canna Expo and June’s CannaCon in Detroit.
Mr. Roberts has represented small to medium-sized businesses and start-ups throughout his entire career, including representing many of the ancillary businesses in which a microbusiness would make a perfect addition—e.g. event venues, escape rooms, and more! Put simply, Mr. Roberts has represented marijuana businesses since the passage of the MMFLA. His combination of small business, real estate, and cannabis law experience makes him the perfect cannabis business lawyer for your Marijuana Microbusiness start-up. Get started by scheduling a consultation with Michigan’s leading experts in Marijuana Microbusinesses.