State approves two more pot shops in Lansing

THURSDAY, May 9 — Lansing will be home to two additional licensed medical pot shops following a recent nod from Michigan’s newly minted Marijuana Regulatory Agency. And they’re already back open for business.

State officials this morning announced that three provisioning centers were approved this month for licensure — including two shops located in the city of Lansing. Pure Options, at 5815 S. Pennsylvania Ave., and Old 27 Wellness at 2905 N. East St. now mark the third and fourth to be approved for licensing in the capital city.

“It took a lot of hurdles to get here and a lot of hard work from the staff, but it’s nice to finally be able to exhale and know that we made it to this point,” said Jayme Reeves, general manager at Old 27 Wellness. “We’re exciting about the outcome and we’re just working to figure out the next steps to continue moving the process forward.”

Cannaisseur, 3200 N. East St., and HomeGrown Lansing, at its new location at 5025 S. Pennsylvania Ave were the only state-approved dispensaries in the city  until now. After Old 27 Wellness and Pure Options pay their regulatory fees, they’ll also receive physical copies of their licenses, according to state officials.

The state’s new, in-house regulatory agency took over the licensing process for medical marijuana shops this month after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in March moved to abolish the prior, appointed Medical Marijuana Licensing Board. The goal: Streamline the licensure process and avoid long-standing application delays.

Licensed provisioning centers — under state mandate — can only obtain fully tested products from other licensed growers or processors. After a recent ruling in the state’s Court of Claims, the ability for those shops to directly resupply from caregivers and sell that untested bud with a patient-signed waiver has since ended.

State officials estimate there could still be as many as 50 unlicensed dispensaries across the state that are legally able to continue operations while they await a licensing decision from the state. Sources indicate none of those are in Lansing. But after those decisions are made, only fully licensed shops will be able to continue business.

Regulators also issued licensure for Lion Labs Ltd., a medical marijuana processing facility at 4800 N. Grand River Ave. It marks the only licensed processing facility in the city of Lansing. Prequalification (a preliminary step to licensure) was also issued to Rehbel Industries LLC.,  a processor and grower on Kalamazoo Street.

Additional prequalification approvals for two growing facilities and two dispensaries were also given to MM Lansing LLC. and MM Bay City LLC. Those companies are registered to an office at the Boji Tower in Lansing and they list Boji Group President Ron Boji, among others, as the primary investors behind those operations.

Capital Transport on Rensen Street still remains the only licensed pot transporter in Lansing. Three licensed growing facilities are also registered to addresses in Lansing, including a Green Peak facility on Jolly Road.

Visit lansingcitypulse.com for previous and continued coverage on statewide medical marijuana regulation.