Just hours after Governor Whitmer signed the budget bills into law on Tuesday, our attorneys at Dykema and Honigman filed a suit in the Michigan Court of Claims asking the court to strike down the wholesale tax we are now facing, wrote Robin Schneider, Executive Director of the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association.
“In addition to the damage this tax could cause our industry, the suit makes the case that lawmakers passed an unconstitutional law,” she said.
Here is a summary of the lawsuit that we shared with media last night, resulting in news across the state:
“Michigan Cannabis Industry Association Files Suit Over Unconstitutional Tax Scheme
The 24% wholesale tax on cannabis passed by the Michigan Legislature and signed into law by Governor Whitmer is unconstitutional in multiple respects, according to a lawsuit filed today in the Michigan Court of Claims by the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association, the leading voice for the state’s legal cannabis businesses.
The lawsuit details multiple ways in which the legislators acted unconstitutionally in the passage of this tax. Notably, Article 2 Section 9 of the Michigan Constitution requires a three-quarters vote, rather than a simple majority vote, to amend any law enacted by citizen initiative, as was the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act, which passed on the 2018 election ballot. The lawsuit details how the last-minute, late-night process occurred in violation of a range of other constitutional provisions. The Association is asking the Court to strike the tax in its entirety.”
Please read the full article on The Detroit News HERE.
Read the Lawsuit HERE
