Law-enforcement agencies across Michigan are using excess state revenue from medical marijuana patient and caregiver fees to boost enforcement efforts as the state prepares to license dispensaries and cannabis businesses in certain communities under a new regulatory system.
Michigan’s 2008 medical marijuana law allows patients and caregivers to grow a limited amount of the plant.
The law didn’t anticipate the influx of marijuana businesses that surfaced.
The state will begin licensing and regulating those operations this year.
A new legislative report says agencies in more than 50 counties received a combined $1.8 million in MMJ enforcement grants from the state in 2017, more than twice the amount that was given out the previous year, The Detroit News reported.
The money was used to pay overtime, fund house raids and purchase vehicles, surveillance equipment, firearms, stun guns and tactical gear.
The marijuana registry fund has more than $34 million, according to David Harns, spokesman for the Bureau of Medical Marijuana Licensing. Most patients are charged a $60 fee for a two-year license.
– Associated Press
