© 2024 WNMU-FM
Upper Great Lakes News, Music, and Arts & Culture
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Bill setting deadline for medical marijuana licenses crime passes state House

LANSING, MI (MPRN)--   A bill that passed in the state House Tuesday would make it a crime to operate a medical marijuana facility without a license. 

Another portion of the bill would allow people with less than a 5-percent ownership in a medical marijuana business to skip a background check.

Opponents say this could open the door to “shady characters.”

Republican Representative Klint Kesto is a bill sponsor.

“I think even now, at any percentage, if people really wanted to circumvent the system, they will – shady characters always find a way. But we rely on the board, we rely on the state police, and we rely on them to do the work after.”

If passed, medical marijuana applicants would also no longer have to report bankruptcies, expunged crimes, indictments or arrests. The bill now goes to the state Senate.

Before becoming the newest Capitol reporter for the Michigan Public Radio Network, Cheyna Roth was an attorney. She spent her days fighting it out in court as an assistant prosecuting attorney for Ionia County. Eventually, Cheyna took her investigative and interview skills and moved on to journalism. She got her masters at Michigan State University and was a documentary filmmaker, podcaster, and freelance writer before finding her home with NPR. Very soon after joining MPRN, Cheyna started covering the 2016 presidential election, chasing after Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and all their surrogates as they duked it out for Michigan. Cheyna also focuses on the Legislature and criminal justice issues for MPRN. Cheyna is obsessively curious, a passionate storyteller, and an occasional backpacker. Follow her on Twitter at @Cheyna_R