DETROIT (WWJ) – Detroit is one step closer to opening pot shops across the city after a Detroit City Council committee approved a newly-written proposal for an ordinance to bring marijuana dispensaries to the city.
In 2020 the council approved an ordinance that would have given special preference to certain residents under what was known as the “Detroit Legacy” certificate. Those applying to open marijuana businesses could qualify as a “legacy” if they had lived in Detroit for 15 of the last 30 years; had lived in Detroit for 13 of the last 30 years and were low-income; or lived in Detroit for 10 of the last 30 years and had a prior marijuana-related conviction.
That ordinance was struck down by a judge who ruled that it gave an “unfair, irrational, and likely unconstitutional advantage to long-term Detroit residents over all other applicants."
The new ordinance outlined Monday was created with similar language to the state’s Marijuana Regulatory Agency’s social equity program and opens benefits to all residents from disproportionately impacted communities, not just those from Detroit, according to a report from The Detroit News.
City Council President Pro Tem James Tate said during Monday’s hearing the goal is still to get those licenses in the hands of “legacy” Detroiters.
“Detroiters have been disproportionately impacted by marijuana arrests. We’re not certainly the outlier in the state, but when we start talking about the overwhelming, sheer numbers, it’s clear that Detroit was majorly affected,” Tate said.
He says families were torn apart by arrests for minute amounts of marijuana under the old “three strike rule” at the height of the “war on drugs,” which has since changed.
“Laws change all the time. So now because of that law changing surrounding marijuana and cannabis, now we’ve gotta make sure that we do right by the folks who were wronged in our society,” he said.
The new proposal, which increases the number of available licenses for adult-use retailers from 75 to 76, also offers separate paths for social equity applicants, as well as any other applicants, according to Tate.
Another hearing on the newly proposed ordinance likely won’t happen until next month.
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