Michigan law does not regulate the unlicensed market for marijuana | Where to buy Skittles Moonrock online

Learn how to buy CBD Vape online. TOP QUALITY GRADE A++

Cannabyss Inc. is the best place online to buy top quality weed, cannabis, vape, marijuana and CBD products. Get your borderless orders delivered at the pickup spot with ease. Top Grade products for client satisfaction.

👉 Click here to Visit our shop! 🛒

This story has been republished by permission. Crain’s Detroit.

Michigan’s illegal marijuana dealers now have an economic advantage, nearly a year after a landmark Michigan Court of Appeals decision.

In an opinion of 3-0, the court ruled that in October 2023, Shaaln Kejbou who was growing over 1,100 marijuana plants, without a license, and protecting these plants with a 12-gauge rifle and dogs, could not be charged with a felony due to the voters passing the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act of 2018.

Instead, black-market dealers like Kejbou would only be charged with a misdemeanor for 90 days.

The court’s ruling, which it admitted was “unjust”, has resulted in a blend of the legal and illicit weed markets within the state, with almost no repercussions on the part of large-scale unlicensed growers.

The ruling has weakened the criminal prosecution of marijuana growers and led to an explosion of illegal growers who are flooding the market with bad intentions, and bad weed which could have a negative impact on the health and safety Michiganders.

First Lieutenant Tom Kish of the Michigan State Police Marijuana & Tobacco Investigation Section said, “The dirty product is being sold to unaware consumers.” “I am very concerned about the organized crime in Michigan and the violent crimes that will follow. We’re talking about multimillion-dollar operations. When we start talking about dollar amounts, people will get shot. It’s a sad consequence of how our laws are written.”

Dealers and low pricing

Michigan’s market is already lucrative. The state is already lucrative. The company is on track to reach a sales volume of $3.3 billion In marijuana on the legal market in this year, with consumers spending an average of $110 per month. This is well above California at $37 a person.

Michigan’s extensive network of marijuana processors, retailers and distributors makes clandestine operations such as Kejbou’s or others valuable, especially if criminal charges are not possible.

In the Kejbou matter, a Tuscola County Judge ruled – and the court of appeals agreed – that the state’s laws on marijuana made severe prison sentences an impossible option. The state’s marijuana laws were intended to reduce felonies involving marijuana possession and cultivation. The harsh punishments that were part of the state’s Act 368 from 1978, which included up to 15-years in prison for possession of more than 99 pounds (or 200 marijuana plants), are no longer applicable thanks to the MRTMA.

Kish stated that “after the appeals court’s decision, there has been a reduced interest from prosecutors in marijuana cases.” “They do not believe there is a way to pursue criminal prosecution.” The court ruling is akin to putting up a sign that says, “Grow your dirty marijuana here.”

You can also find out more about the following: State’s lowest marijuana prices The legal system is likely to be affected by the influx and untraced illegal marijuana.

The average price of an automobile is approximately In August, an ounce of marijuana flower cost $80.14.According to the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency, the price has risen from $79.70, the lowest ever recorded, in July.

Since legalization in 2019, prices have decreased. In August 2022, the average price of an ounce was $116.84 and in August 2020 it was more than $400.

Oversupply is the main cause of these price drops. The market is saturated due to the increase in the number of plants grown by legal growers within the state. This number was up 47% from August last year, reaching 3.83 million.

Price compression is increasing as illegally-grown plants enter the legal market. This is forcing some legal market operators to close their doors. Dozens legal marijuana businesses have buckled due to the cost pressure.

David Morrow is the CEO of Lume Cannabis Co. in California, the state’s biggest marijuana grower. He said that the inability to stop illegal grows discourages many growers from operating legally.

“They are sending out a clear signal that being compliant and following the rules is optional,” Morrow said to Crain’s. “Last time I checked, paying licensing fees and excise tax is not optional.” “Very few cannabis operators adhere to all the rules.”

Messages sent to the prosecutors of Calhoun County, and Oakland County, were not returned.

Green without the orange jumpsuits

The Kejbou conundrum is causing law enforcement to be in a tizzy.

A raid in 2023 in Calhoun County, around the time the Kejbou ruling was handed down, involving a group Chinese nationals who were importing and exporting thousands pounds of marijuana from an Albion warehouse resulted in the dismissal of criminal charges. According to Michigan State Police records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by Crain’s, the weed was being grown and kept in “deplorable” conditions. This included mold and dog feces.

The marijuana had a street worth of more than 28 million dollars.

“We thought it was a great case. Felony possession with intent to deliver, along with safety concerns. Kish said that the conditions were appalling. This case is disappointing for us. We’ve lost a great deal of momentum. There is no disincentive for doing this, and if caught, you can do it again.”

It all began in Illinois.

A state trooper stopped a rented Chrysler Pacifica near Springfield, the state capital. According to police records, the driver, a Chinese citizen, appeared nervous. The driver told the officer that he had driven from Oklahoma to Michigan after flying from New York. Police said he didn’t have a clue who he was going to meet; he had only a cell number and an adress. Officers found black bags inside the vehicle containing 193.8 lbs of marijuana packaged into 170 vacuum-sealed bag.

The Illinois State Police coordinated with the Michigan State Police to allow the delivery to proceed. The van then made its way to an unassuming building northwest of downtown Albion.

MSP raided the premises a few days later. Officers had to ventilate the building before entering due to the smell of mold and decaying plants. According to Crain’s Freedom of Information Act reports, a dog chained in the building had defecated all over the floor.

The building, which was officially licensed by the State to grow 6,000 marijuana for medicinal use, contained 9,298 plants and 244 pounds of packaged marijuana. The street value of the cannabis would have been more than $28,3 million at the time.

According to the CRA, the operator, Hongrui Enterprises (operated by Kevin Sea, an accountant and Chinese national in New York), had never sold legal marijuana, had not yet passed a safety inspection, and its weed had never been tested for quality.

It’s believed the operation tried and failed to grow mold-free, quality marijuana for the legal markets; instead, it turned to the illicit market including importing and supplying black-market marijuana into and out of Michigan.

The Kejbou decision came in the middle a criminal investigation, and it stymied the MSP’s attempt to criminalize these operations.

Sea and a group of Chinese nationals – many of whom were unwittingly involved in the crimes – faced no prosecution following the court ruling. The Calhoun County District Attorney dismissed all charges. Sea could not be reached via email or cell phone.

The CRA, who filed a complaint last month against Hongrui in an attempt to revoke its medical grower license, refused to comment on this case or the issues raised by the Kejbou decision.

Doug Mains, partner in Detroit law firm Honigman LLP, and co-authors of the MRTMA Rules, said that the appeals court interpreted it correctly, but that eliminating the felony penalties for large-scale illegal activities, like Hongrui, in Albion was never the intention.

Mains told Crain’s, “I also think that this case illustrates the need for amendments to the MRTMA penalty provisions.” “The initiative’s overall goal was to allow adults the right to cultivate and own marijuana for personal use, and to bring commercial cannabis activities into a regulated environment. Not to allow anyone to grow or possess large amounts of cannabis without any consequences. The intent was never to create an loophole that would allow people to get off lightly for violating the law by operating large-scale commercial enterprises without a license. “I think that if such a loophole existed, it should be addressed legislatively.”

A change to MRMTA would require a three-quarters majority vote in the Michigan Legislature. As of now, it doesn’t seem like there is a groundswell in Lansing to fix the issue.

Kish said that even though Hongrui’s weed stash had been confiscated, it was not a guarantee they hadn’t acquired a new building to continue their efforts.

“We’ve seen this a few time since our section was formed; we shut them off and they move to another location and start again,” Kish said. “If we don’t address this legislation, and that is the only way to solve this, it will get worse.” It’s bad enough.”