Legislative Analysis
Phone: (517) 373-8080
LICENSED SPECIALTY MEDICAL GROWERS http://www.house.mi.gov/hfa
Analysis available at
House Bill 5300 as introduced http://www.legislature.mi.gov
Sponsor: Rep. TC Clements
House Bill 5301 as introduced House Bills 5319 and 5321 as introduced
Sponsor: Rep. Rep. Jim Lilly Sponsor: Rep. Ronnie D. Petersen
House Bill 5302 as introduced House Bill 5320 as introduced
Sponsor: Rep. Richard M. Steenland Sponsor: Rep. Gary Howell
Committee: Regulatory Reform
Complete to 10-5-21
BRIEF SUMMARY:
House Bills 5300 to 5302 would amend different acts that regulate the medical marijuana
market. Among other things, the bills would do all of the following:
• Regulate licensed specialty medical growers.
• Require the statewide monitoring system that tracks medical marijuana sales and
transfers between licensees and registered primary caregivers and registered qualified
patients to track certain information pertaining to licensed specialty medical growers.
• Prohibit transfers of marijuana from a licensed specialty medical grower to a licensee
in the recreational marijuana market.
• Prohibit a licensed grower, processor, secure transporter, or safety compliance facility
licensee from also being licensed as a licensed specialty medical grower.
• Reduce, from five to one, the number of registered qualified patients a registered
primary caregiver may assist.
• Eliminate provisions barring a registered qualified patient from transferring marijuana
or a marijuana-infused product to any individual and making selling marijuana to
someone who is not a registered qualifying patient a felony offense.
• No longer exclude an applicant from meeting the conditions for automatic registration
or licensure due to a felony based solely on a marijuana-related offense committed
during the ten years immediately preceding an application as a registered primary
caregiver or licensed specialty medical grower.
House Bill 5320 would revise a citation in the Public Health Code to account for changes made
to the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act by HB 5301.
House Bills 5319 and 5321 would respectively amend the Use Tax Act and the General Sales
Tax Act to exempt the sale of marijuana by a registered primary caregiver or licensed specialty
medical grower to a registered qualified patient from the use and sales taxes.
House Fiscal Agency Page 1 of 6
DETAILED SUMMARY:
House Bill 5301 would amend the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act to establish a regulatory
framework for a new category of medical marijuana licensees designated as a licensed specialty
medical grower. Many provisions that currently apply to registered primary caregivers
(“caregivers”), registered qualified patients (“patients”), or licensed state operators also would
apply to a licensed specialty medical grower, including regulatory provisions, rights and
privileges, the license application process, protection from criminal penalties if complying with
the act, and certain departmental rules. The following are some of the substantive differences
that apply to a licensed specialty medical grower, as well as other revisions proposed by the
bill:
• The bill would prescribe an application process similar to other licenses under the act.
The license would not be transferable and would expire one year after the date it is
granted.
• A patient would have to designate on his or her application form who would cultivate
his or her marijuana—the patient, a caregiver, or a licensed specialty medical grower.
A patient could be connected through the registration process either to a caregiver or
to a licensed specialty medical grower, but not to both at the same time.
• The parent of a patient who is a minor could serve as the minor patient’s caregiver or
licensed specialty medical grower or could approve a caregiver or licensed specialty
medical grower.
• Currently, a caregiver may assist up to five patients. Beginning March 21, 2022, a
caregiver could assist only one patient with his or her medical use of marijuana. The
bill does not specify how many patients a licensed specialty medical grower could
assist.
• A caregiver and a licensed specialty medical grower each would be allowed to apply
to the Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA) to designate no more than two authorized
individuals to assist them in cultivating marijuana for a patient.
• The bill would eliminate a prohibition on a patient transferring marijuana or a
marijuana-infused product to any individual.
• A licensed specialty medical grower’s license could be suspended without notice or
hearing if the safety or health of patients or members of the public were jeopardized by
the licensee’s continued operation. The bill details the process for a postsuspension
hearing or for a hearing requested by a party aggrieved by an action taken by the MRA
regarding a license sanction or fine.
• The MRA could disclose to the Department of State Police or a local law enforcement
agency the address of the location where a caregiver or licensed specialty medical
grower cultivates or manufactures marijuana.
• The conditions requiring the MRA to issue a registry ID card to an individual named
as a patient’s primary caregiver would remain the same, except that, beginning March
21, 2022, the condition that the individual not have been convicted of a felony in the
immediately preceding 10 years would not apply to a conviction based solely on a
marijuana-related offense unless the offense involved distribution of marijuana to a
minor.
• The bill would require the MRA to include the number of applications filed for
specialty medical grower licenses, as well as the number of licenses granted in each
county and the number revoked, in the annual report it must submit to the legislature.
House Fiscal Agency HBs 5300, 5301, 5302, 5319, 5320, and 5321 as introduced Page 2 of 6
 • The bill would revise the prohibition on using butane extraction to separate plant resin
from marijuana to instead prohibit using a hydrocarbon solvent or any other flammable
substance to separate plant resin from marijuana.
Eligibility for a specialty medical grower license
The bill would require the MRA to issue an initial or renewal certificate of licensure to an
individual if all of the following apply:
• A complete application is submitted and an application fee of $500 is paid.
• The individual does not have an ownership interest in a safety compliance facility or
secure transporter licensed under the act or a marijuana safety compliance facility or
marijuana secure transporter licensed under the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of
Marihuana Act, which regulates the recreational marijuana market.
• The individual has not been convicted of a felony in the immediately preceding 10
years. This would not apply to a conviction based solely on a marijuana-related offense
unless the offense involved distribution of marijuana to a minor.
• The individual has not violated the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act, the Medical
Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act, the Marihuana Tracking Act, or the Michigan
Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act in the immediately preceding five years.
Permitted conduct by a licensed specialty medical grower
A licensed specialty medical grower could do any of the following:
• Cultivate or manufacture marijuana in compliance with the act and the Marijuana
Tracking Act to assist a patient, or sell or transfer marijuana to a patient, to whom the
grower is connected through the MRA’s registration process. The sale or transfer would
have to be entered into the statewide monitoring system as required under the
Marihuana Tracking Act, the package would have to include a label with certain
information, and the marijuana would have to be tested by a licensed safety compliance
facility before the sale or transfer.
• Sell or transfer overages to a licensed grower if certain conditions were met.
• Purchase marijuana from a licensed provisioning center for the purpose of assisting a
patient or selling or transferring marijuana to the patient.
Overage would mean either an amount of marijuana cultivated by a patient in excess
of that required by the patient or an amount cultivated by a caregiver or licensed
specialty medical grower in excess of the amount transferred or sold to a caregiver’s
or licensed specialty medical grower’s patient. A caregiver could not transfer or sell
overages to any person.
The bill also would provide the conditions under which a licensed specialty medical grower
must cultivate or manufacture marijuana, provide that the location must be zoned for
agricultural or industrial use or unzoned, and allow inspections (with or without notice) by law
enforcement or the MRA.
Penalties and sanctions
Currently, a patient or caregiver who sells marijuana to someone who is not allowed the
medical use of marijuana under the act must have his or her registry ID card revoked and is
guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for up to two years or a fine of up to $2,000, or
both, in addition to any other penalties for the distribution of marijuana. The bill would
House Fiscal Agency HBs 5300, 5301, 5302, 5319, 5320, and 5321 as introduced Page 3 of 6
 eliminate the criminal penalty and instead provide that a patient or caregiver who sells or
transfers marijuana to a person not authorized to obtain marijuana under the act must have his
or her registry ID card revoked by the MRA.
Currently, a patient or caregiver who violates the act is responsible for a civil fine of up to
$250. The bill would also apply this penalty to a licensed specialty medical grower.
Finally, the MRA, local law enforcement, or the Department of State Police could confiscate
or destroy any marijuana or equipment used to cultivate or manufacture marijuana by a licensed
specialty medical grower in violation of the act, departmental rules, or the Marihuana Tracking
Act or if the grower ceased to meet certain requirements for licensure. The MRA could
suspend, revoke, or restrict the grower’s license or deny the grower’s application for licensure.
MCL 333.26423 et seq.
House Bill 5300 would amend the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act to do all of the
following:
• Define licensed specialty medical grower as that term is defined in the Michigan
Medical Marihuana Act and revise the definitions of safety compliance facility and
secure transporter to include a licensed specialty medical grower as an entity from
which the licensee may be able to receive or transport marijuana, respectively.
• Include purchasing, receiving, selling, transporting, or transferring marijuana to a
licensed specialty medical grower in the activities performed under a state operating
license for which protection is afforded from criminal and civil prosecutions or other
sanctions.
• Allow a licensed specialty medical grower to transfer marijuana to a licensed grower
only by means of a secure transporter and provide that a secure transporter license
authorizes the licensee to transport marijuana and money associated with the purchase
or sale of marijuana between a licensed specialty medical grower and a grower.
However, the bill would provide that a secure transporter license does not authorize
transport to a licensed specialty medical grower.
• Allow a licensed specialty medical grower to sell or transfer seeds, seedlings, or tissue
cultures to a grower without using a secure transporter.
• Allow the MRA to establish a limit on the amount of marijuana that a licensed specialty
medical grower may transfer to a grower.
• Prohibit the transfer of marijuana from a licensed specialty medical grower to a person
licensed under the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act.
• Prohibit a grower or processor from also being licensed, or from employing a person
who is also licensed, as a licensed specialty medical grower. Similarly, a secure
transporter or safety compliance facility licensee could not also be a licensed specialty
medical grower.
• Allow a safety compliance facility licensee to take marijuana from, test it for, and
return it to a licensed specialty medical grower. A safety compliance facility licensee
also could collect a random sample of marijuana for testing at the location where a
licensed specialty medical grower is authorized to cultivate or manufacture marijuana
under the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act.
MCL 333.27102 et seq.
House Fiscal Agency HBs 5300, 5301, 5302, 5319, 5320, and 5321 as introduced Page 4 of 6
 House Bill 5302 would amend the Marihuana Tracking Act. The bill would require that the
system created under the act to store and provide access to information regarding the validity
of registry identification cards and a record of the sale or transfer of marijuana to a registered
qualifying patient or registered primary caregiver must also allow for the verification that a
specialty medical grower license is current and valid and had not been suspended, revoked, or
denied and that a record of sales and transfers of marijuana to a licensed specialty medical
grower is retained.
The bill also would amend, to include licensed specialty medical growers, a provision that
requires the MRA to promulgate rules to govern the process incorporating certain information
that must be included and maintained in the statewide monitoring system that now applies to
information concerning registry identification card renewal, revocation, suspension, and
changes applicable to licensees, registered primary caregivers, and registered qualified
patients.
MCL 333.27902 and MCL 333.27903
House Bills 5319 and 5321 would respectively amend the Use Tax Act and the General Sales
Tax Act to provide that the sale of marijuana from a registered primary caregiver or licensed
specialty medical grower to a registered qualifying patient as authorized under the Michigan
Medical Marihuana Act is exempt from the tax imposed by the appropriate act. The terms
licensed specialty medical grower, marihuana, registered primary caregiver, and registered
qualifying patient would be defined as they are in the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act.
Proposed MCL 205.94ii (HB 5019)
Proposed MCL 205.54ii (HB 5021)
House Bill 5320 would amend the Public Health Code. That act includes marijuana as a
Schedule 2 controlled substance, but only for the purpose of treating a debilitating medical
condition as that term is defined in section 3(b) of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. The
bill would instead simply cite section 3 of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act to account for
changes to that section that would be made by HB 5301.
MCL 333.7214
Tie-bars
House Bills 5300, 5301, 5302, 5319, and 5321 are all tie-barred to one another, which means
that none of those bills could take effect unless all of them were enacted. House Bill 5320 is
tie-barred to HB 5301, which means that it could not take effect unless HB 5301 were enacted.
FISCAL IMPACT:
House Bill 5300 would not have a fiscal impact on the Marijuana Regulatory Agency within
the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs or on any other unit of state or local
government.
House Bill 5301 would have significant revenue and expenditure implications for the
Marijuana Regulatory Agency within the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
The bill would expand the scope of the agency’s regulatory activities, by necessitating the
regulation of licensed specialty medical growers and “authorized individuals,” as defined in
the bill. These activities would include processing applications and other materials, monitoring
House Fiscal Agency HBs 5300, 5301, 5302, 5319, 5320, and 5321 as introduced Page 5 of 6
 compliance, pursuing applicable disciplinary actions (including license suspensions and
revocations), and conducting administrative hearings. The volume of these activities would
depend on the expansion of the population of regulated i