Michigan lawmakers are moving to curb unlicensed medical marijuana shops by threatening their ability to get licensed if they stay open after June 1.
A bill approved 102-4 by the House on Thursday will next be considered by the Senate. The measure would prevent unlicensed marijuana facilities that remain open from becoming licensed for a year.
State regulators let many provisioning centers reopen temporarily through March without it being a risk to their licensure. But a judge last month blocked enforcement of the March 31 deadline.
The sponsor, Republican Rep. Jim Lilly of Ottawa County's Park Township, says his bill clarifies "that there's a point in time at which we have to move from an unregulated market to regulated, from unlicensed operators to licensed operators."
