Judge Kenneth King on July 31 dismissed the criminal charges against six Viola Extracts employees arrested during a police raid on the Detroit cannabis cultivation business.
Detroit police executed a search warrant May 29 and arrested six workers inside the facility, located just southwest of downtown. Police officers, in conjunction with U.S. Border Patrol agents, confiscated more than 100 lbs. of cannabis. The workers were charged with controlled substance violations “involving the delivery or manufacture of 45 kilograms or more of marijuana or 200 or more plants.”
But Viola Brands investor Al Harrington told Cannabis Business Times that the company had done its due diligence in acquiring local zoning approval and a temporary operations permit. A spokesperson at the city’s Law Department confirmed as much to CBT last month.
The company’s legal attorney, Barton Morris, argued that Detroit police did not do the legwork to confirm the business’s permits and records prior to conducting the May 29 raid.
“[The employees] were charged with having an unlawful cultivation operation—basically, having too many plants,” Morris told CBT. “These guys have done everything that they could possibly have been expected to do in order to be able to operate in the manner in which did. [That] basically means: Get all the required permits and licensing from the city of Detroit and then also apply for the state license.”
The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) approved its first medical marijuana licenses July 12. All license applicants must first obtain local approval before submitting documents to the state. (LARA’s Medical Marihuana Licensing Board will meet again Aug. 9 to review the next batch of applications.)
Hundreds of medical marijuana businesses submitted applications to the state by the Feb 15., 2018, deadline. Until they receive a license from the state, they are caught in a gray area of the market—where local city councils may grant a temporary permit, but where the state has not yet extended formal approval and protection.
“The issue here really is: What is the definition of ‘temporary operation’?” Morris said.
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