Lawsuit: Detroit pot ordinance gives unfair preference to longtime city residents
A prospective Detroit marijuana business owner and a cannabis company with several medical marijuana dispensaries in Detroit have filed a lawsuit against the city over its recreational marijuana ordinance.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, said the ordinance gives an unfair preference to longtime Detroiters, and is asking the court to invalidate the ordinance and stop the city from accepting applications for the limited licenses, which includes dispensaries, microbusinesses and consumption lounges.
The plaintiffs say that Detroit's revised ordinance — created after a federal judge called the city's first attempt at an ordinance "likely unconstitutional" — has the same issues as the original one.
"While Detroit alleges that its new cannabis ordinance cures the constitutional deficiencies found by Judge Friedman, the ... (ordinance) remains 'far more protectionist than it is equitable,' " the lawsuit said, quoting U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman's June 2021 opinion on Detroit's first ordinance.
John Roach, a spokesperson for the city of Detroit, declined to comment on litigation.
Detroit's second attempt at a recreational marijuana ordinance sets aside half of the coveted limited licenses for "equity applicants," which include longtime Detroiters and people who live in communities where marijuana-related convictions are greater than the state of Michigan average and where 20% or more of the population is living below the federal poverty level. The first ordinance set aside at least half of the licenses for "legacy Detroiters," people who currently live in Detroit and have lived in the city for a certain period of time and met additional criteria.
This isn't the only challenge the city has faced over its revised ordinance. Two lawsuits against Detroit's marijuana ordinance were filed earlier this year in Wayne County Circuit Court but both of those were dismissed in August.
The day after those lawsuits were dismissed, the city announced it would begin accepting applications for the first round of the limited licenses.
This lawsuit is asking the court to stop the city from accepting those applications until there's a new ordinance.
They say while it may appear that the city of Detroit has revised its ordinance to comply with Friedman's opinion, the impact is the same.
"... Detroit has essentially rebranded the 'legacy’ program' as a 'social equity' program," the lawsuit said.
For example, one of the plaintiffs, Arden Kassab, lived in Pontiac for many years, which is recognized by the state of Michigan as a disproportionately impacted community and has a marijuana-related felony conviction. However, because Kassab's primary residence is no longer Pontiac, he doesn't qualify as an "equity applicant."
The other plaintiff, PharmaCo, a wholly owned subsidiary of the multistate cannabis operator Red White & Bloom, is effectively prevented from obtaining a recreational license, the lawsuit said, because in order to get a license, it must divest itself of substantial real property or business ownership interests in order to obtain social-equity points needed to compete.
The application period for the first round of the limited licenses closes at 8 a.m. Saturday. Kim James, director of Detroit's office of marijuana ventures and entrepreneurship, said the city has selected an independent consultant who will score the applications. The vendor needs to be approved by City Council, and is expected to be introduced Tuesday and sent to committee.
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Contact Adrienne Roberts: amroberts@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit faces new lawsuit over adult-use marijuana ordinance
