Michigan Medical Marijuana Applications Face Growing Delays

A dramatic increase in the applications received by the Department of Health in Michigan has caused delays in the approval process for Medical Marijuana applicants.

As national acceptance of Medical Marijuana appears to continue, the amount of qualified Michigan residents who choose to utilize Medical Marijuana legally has been steadily increasing. So much so, that the Department of Health--the administrative body that reviews and issues registration paperwork for qualified patients--has become bogged down by the influx of applications.

In the past year and a half, over 54,000 applications have been received by the Michigan Medical Marijuana registry. Written in Michigan Medical Marijuana law, approval paperwork is to be issued within 15 days of receipt by the Department of Health. Now, with the overflow of applications received, the department has conceded this time line is no longer possible. Representatives from the Department of Health have given no certain estimate as to how much longer the approval paperwork will take. To provide some interim relief to waiting patients, Michigan Medical Marijuana now allows patients with proper paperwork to present those materials to law enforcement as sufficient evidence of their protection under the law.

The delays seen in Michigan have the makings of those present in Colorado, where applicants must now wait over 10 months for registration cards to arrive in the mail. In these situations, however, there is some silver lining to the delays: most registration paperwork is good for one year, and then patients must submit another application confirming the continuance of their need as well as the submission of another fee. Once patients finally receive the registration card, it is valid for one year from the issue date. In most instances, patients will be protected from more than 12 months, and makes their dollars go a little further.