The state licensing office, called the Marijuana Regulatory Agency, is set to begin accepting recreational marijuana business applications at 12:01 a.m. on Nov. 1. Hand-delivered applications may be dropped off at the agency’s counter in Lansing beginning at 8 a.m. Friday.
Some of the first legal recreation marijuana shops, delivery companies, grow operations, processors, testing facilities, event planners and smoking lounges could open to the public in as few as four months, industry experts say.
The Marijuana Regulatory Agency expects to issue the first recreational licenses to businesses that are already approved to grow, sell, process, test or transport medical marijuana by late November, agency spokesman David Harns said.
However, the public likely won’t will be able to walk into a store and buy a joint or other marijuana products until months later, since there is currently zero supply of legal recreational marijuana— as growers first need a license for that. And a grow cycle takes at least a few months, Harns said.
If businesses don’t abide to the rules, perhaps by acquiring and selling marijuana grown in the black market or prior to becoming licensed, they’re going to have “bigger problems” than a supply shortage, Harns said.