Michigan marijuana regulators would no longer be allowed to deny a person a medical cannabis license based on their “moral character and reputation” or prior marijuana convictions under a newly filed Senate bill. Sen. Jeff Irwin (D) introduced the legislation—as well as a separate measure to legalize the possession and cultivation of certain psychedelics—last week. The purpose of the cannabis bill is to align licensing policy for the state’s medical and recreational market. Under the adult-use legalization law, there’s no exclusionary language about moral character or previous marijuana convictions for license applicants, but the restriction does exist in the medical cannabis law.SB 619 would strike statutory language allowing the Marijuana Regulatory Agency to deny an applicant based on “integrity, moral character, and reputation.” And it adds lines clarifying that people with marijuana felony or misdemeanor convictions are not automatically disqualified from participating in the program.Irwin told Marijuana Moment in a phone interview on Monday that the subjective nature of the moral character clause “invites unequal application of the law, it invites favoritism, it invites corruption.”
Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 09/06/2021 14:27:00