One-hitters

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The Veteran Compassion Care program plans to use the state’s cannabis surplus to treat PTSD

SHUTTERSTOCK

Program aims to help Michigan military vets with free pot

By Lee D eV ito

A NEW PROJECT has a plan for Michigan’s cannabis surplus: donate it to U.S. military veterans to help them treat conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder.

Michigan’s recently approved V eteran Compassion Care program, a partnership between the Hero Project USA and the Canna Social Equity Foundation, is modeled after a similar program launched in California.

Due to the federal prohibition of cannabis, the U.S. Dept. of V eteran Affairs frowns upon its use by vets. But Canna Social Equity Foundation executive director Connie MaximSparrow says many vets who have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries say they would rather use cannabis to help treat their conditions than other drugs.

“Some of the feedback that we receive out of the Hero Project is that [vets] don’t want to be on pharmaceuticals, they don’t want to be on opiates,” she says. “And they just feel like once they get home from active duty and they’ve been diagnosed with a TBI or PTSD, the VA just starts handing them fistfuls of drugs, and they don’t want to be on them.”

Maxim-Sparrow says the conditions were right for such a program in Michigan. It could also help manage Michigan’s cannabis surplus, caused by an overabundance of licenses which has led to a drop in the price of cannabis, hurting local growers and dispensaries.

“It would be helpful, I think, that if we had this donation stream, we would be able to combat this oversaturation of products,” she says.

Maxim-Sparrow says she was first approached with the idea in 2021 by California-based cannabis delivery company Eaze, which helped launch a similar program there, to bring it to Michigan. “Well, unfortunately, Eaze is not operating in Michigan anymore,” Maxim-Sparrow says. “And so they kind of pulled away from working with us on this project. But what was beautiful about it was they gave us all of their guidance documents that they have in California.”

Maxim-Sparrow says she and her partner Anton Harb tried for months to get the state’s previous Cannabis Regulatory Agency executive director Andrew Brisbo to move forward with the project, to no avail. Acting director Brian Hanna was appointed to replace Brisbo earlier this year, and MaximSparrow says he immediately greenlit the project. Hanna is also a military vet, having served as a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve.

“In a matter of seconds, he said, ‘Yeah, go ahead and move it forward,’” Maxim-Sparrow says. “We were kind of shocked.”

Maxim-Sparrow says she hopes to launch the project in 2023 with a pilot featuring 25 Michigan veterans diagnosed with PTSD or TBI that also are approved for medical marijuana cards. Cannabis retailers, cultivators, and processors will have the opportunity to legally donate commercially tested products to designated retail locations for distribution to vets, who will get the donated products free of charge.

Several cannabis businesses have already expressed interest in the program, including JARS Cannabis, Michigrown, and Premier Grow. Maxim-Sparrow says interested licensees should contact Samantha Perysian at samantha hatchaplanmi.com to find out how they can participate.

The goal is to expand the project even further in Michigan in 2024, Maxim-Sparrow says. She hopes to also bring it to Missouri, where voters recently approved adult-use cannabis.

CRA waives additional fees for social equity applicants

APPLICANTS FOR THE social equity program in Michigan’s cannabis industry no longer have to pay an additional application fee if their prequalification status has expired.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the change to the Cannabis Regulatory Agency on Tuesday.

“Removing this barrier to entry for social equity program participants in the cannabis industry will lower the cost of doing business and promote sustainable small business growth in Michigan,” Whitmer said in a statement. “This essential update will directly benefit business owners who have been most impacted by unfair laws and practices and ensure that Michigan continues leading the way in building an equitable, just, and prosperous cannabis industry.”

The social equity program was designed to help people from communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the racist war on drugs to get a leg up in the new legal industry. It offers reduced application fees for people from communities impacted by cannabis prohibition, including a 25% fee reduction for residents who have lived in an impacted community for at least 5 years, a 25% fee reduction for applicants with misdemeanor cannabis-related crime convictions, and 40% for cannabis-related felonies.

The non-refundable application fee for prequalification is $3,000. Additional fees range from $1,000 for cannabis event organizers and consumption establishments and $24,000 for growers and processors.

Social equity applicants will be required to submit a new prequalification application, but they will not be charged an additional application fee.

“Listening to stakeholders is very important to the success of this industry and is one of my top objectives,” acting CRA executive director Brian Hanna said in a statement. “I am proud that my team has found a way to make this improvement to our processes a reality for our social equity participants.”

—Lee DeVito

M ore inform ation is available at m ichigan.gov/cra.