New lawsuit challenges Detroit adult use ordinance

A lawsuit filed Sept. 28 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan alleges that the city’s adult cannabis ordinance is unfair to longtime city residents. The lawsuit stems from plaintiffs Arden Kassab, who owns multiple medical cannabis dispensaries in Detroit, and PharmaCo.

In June 2021, a lawsuit ended with an opinion by U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman, who said the City of Detroit’s process for obtaining an adult cannabis license was “unconstitutional” and “confers an unfair, irrational, and likely unconstitutional advantage over the long term to residents.” Detroit above all other applicants.” The latest lawsuit alleges that “…Detroit essentially rebranded the ‘legacy’ program to a ‘social equity’ program.”

The outcome of this case caused a delay in processing recreational cannabis applications, and the city revised the rules later that same year, in November 2021.

However, the latest lawsuit claims that the revised regulation did not solve the problems. “While Detroit claims that its new cannabis ordinance will remedy the constitutional deficiencies found by Judge Friedman, the … (ordinance) remains ‘far more protectionist than just,'” read the new lawsuit, which cites Judge Friedman’s original 2021 testimony .

According to the Detroit Free Press, an example was provided to illustrate the problems with the regulation in its current form. Plaintiff Arden Kassab lived “many years” in Pontiac, an area negatively impacted by both the War on Drugs and a cannabis convict. However, Kassab no longer lives in Pontiac and no longer qualifies under current rules.

Similarly, plaintiff PharmaCo (a subsidiary of Red White & Bloom) is currently unable to obtain a recreational license because “it must divest significant real estate or business interests in order to obtain social points needed to compete,” according to the Detroit Free Press it.

The revised regulation stipulated that half of the licenses should be reserved for “equity applicants” such as B. those currently residing in the city as well as those residing in certain areas of Michigan that have higher cannabis convictions and also where 20% of the population lives below the poverty line by federal standards. Previously, the ordinance reserved half of the licenses for “legacy Detroiters,” or individuals who were residents of Detroit for a period of time.

Although Michigan legalized recreational cannabis in November 2018, the city of Detroit did not authorize its sale to adults until November 2020. The first lawsuit came less than a year later in June, followed by revision clearance in November 2021. The ordinance went into effect in April 2022, but a new lawsuit (from House of Dank) surfaced in May to address concerns about conflicts with state law. Another lawsuit (from JARS Cannabis) came in June, alleging the regulation violated state law.

By August, both lawsuits were dismissed. On Aug. 30, Wayne County Judge Leslie Kim Smith wrote in an opinion that the ordinance was fair. “While the city’s 2022 marijuana ordinance is a complicated scheme, it is clear and provides a fair licensing process consistent with the mandates of the MRTMA [Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act]’ Smith wrote.

Applications for adult use licenses opened on September 1, 2022 and will expire on October 8. In a statement, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan expressed his confidence in the ordinance. “We will ensure that there is justice for Detroiters in this process.”

Likewise, City Council President Pro Tem James Tate told CBS News Detroit in early September that the process had been lengthy but the ordinance was fair. “Getting to this point has been an overly lengthy process, dating back to 2020 when the first ordinance was unanimously approved by the Detroit City Council,” Tate said. “Now that the lawsuits and failed ballot initiatives aimed at overturning our ordinance are behind us, Detroiters and other claimants have a fair opportunity to compete in a city that welcomes all to the multi-million dollar tournament.” is to compete for licenses for adult use cannabis industry for adult use.”