An appeals panel affirmed Friday the dismissal of Bear Creek Township’s lawsuit challenging a retail cannabis facility on leased Indian land held in trust by the United States.
In a published Friday opinion authored by Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Thomas C. CAMERON, the court held 3-0 that federal law “prohibits states and their political subdivisions from regulating or controlling” the use of leased Indian property held in trust by the United States.
“Plaintiff seeks to control the use of such land through its ordinance; it may not do so,” Cameron noted.
The panel, including Appeals Judges Daniel S. KOROBKIN and Mariam S. BAZZI, did not address the township’s argument regarding the impact of Indian sovereignty, holding the federal preemption alone was “sufficient to preclude” application of the township’s ordinance prohibiting marijuana facilities.
Bear Creek Township challenged the Cannabis Regulatory Agency’s (CRA) licensing approval allowing Green Sunrise Products, who does business as Lume Cannabis Co., to construct and open a retail cannabis facility on land it leased from the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians.
The tribe had successfully asked the U.S. Department of the Interior to accept the parcels of land in trust prior to the effective date of the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act (MRTMA).
Voters approved the MRTMA, which took effect Dec. 6, 2018, in November 2018 (See “Voters Light Up Prop 1, Pass Measure Legalizing Recreational Marijuana,” 11/6/18).
The MRTMA allows municipalities to “opt out” of allowing marijuana establishments within their borders by adopting an ordinance prohibiting the conduct.
The township argued the CRA lacked authority to issue the license, but the CRA argued federal law preempts the township’s attempt to regulate or control the land.
The trial court agreed and dismissed the lawsuit.
Follow this link to the lawsuit.
