LEONI TWP., MI - Jon Bozung realized Friday morning that a few eager entrepreneurs had begun to line up outside the Leoni Township Hall.

In the time it took him to gather a few items to join them for what would be a days-long campout, the coveted first six positions were gone.

Bozung, of Michigan Center, arrived a little after 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 27, to claim position seven in the race to acquire licenses to dispense medical marijuana.

"He beat me by six minutes," Bozung said of the man just in front of him.

In September, the township board passed a medical marijuana licensing and regulation ordinance, inspiring and drawing the would-be marijuana moguls. The township will begin accepting applications Wednesday, Nov. 1.

There is no cap on the number of growing, processing and marijuana testing facilities, but it will only authorize six "provisioning centers," the commercial entity that sells or supplies marijuana to patients.

These conditional licenses are being issued on a first-come, first-served basis to candidates who have paid the $5,000 per-facility fee and meet the long list of qualifications, including proof of $250,000 in liquid, available funds. Applicants also must pass a criminal background check and submit staffing and business plans.

No other municipality in Jackson County has done the same. Most have taken no action in response to a new state law regulating what could be an $837-million industry.

The Medical Marihuana Facilities Act, approved by the legislature in 2016, gives an appointed state board the power to license growers, transporters, sellers and safety compliance facilities. Board members, however, can consider whether local governments have approved ordinances or permits, and facilities cannot begin operation without local authorization.

Some see municipal licensure as the first step in acquiring the necessary state license.

The state application period begins Dec. 15, but administrative rules governing industry operations are yet to be set.

"We are really kind of guessing," said lawyer Eric White, who represents Leoni Township and helped draft the ordinance, likely to be amended.

White said township leaders, in deciding to put together the local law, acknowledged the industry's permanency and growth potential. They were trying to get ahead of what is inevitable, and be responsive to community interest, evident by the campers in the grass near the hall on Fifth Street.

Men and women have been enduring near freezing temperatures and rain since Thursday. To leave is to lose, and there were a dozen or more of them on Sunday, huddled in trailers - and one luxury bus.

They see great potential in a burgeoning business. It is said a license could be worth millions in the next decade.

"Well, the money," Bozung said when asked why it is worth leaving home for days.

He and his partner, Brenda Lutz, calling themselves JC3, hope to have a growing facility with about 500 plants, and a dispensary to serve thousands of patients once aided by the Jackson County Compassion Club, forced to close its E. Michigan Avenue location last month.

Lutz has been in the business since 2009. Her stepmother was suffering with fibromyalgia and other chronic pain and Lutz's father suggested they put together classes on the medical marijuana law. They later formed the club. "It was just crazy how big we got."

She said the club served cancer patients for free. It's been heartbreaking to stop such work. "I'm really hoping something good happens out of all this."

Bozung, once in the construction and automotive fields, is a caregiver who went to the club. A severe illness, a form of wasting disease, altered his course and taxed his resources. Marijuana helped him recover.

He and Lutz say they have more experience than others and would prefer a more selective process.

White said township wanted to avoid a subjective procedure. Leaders hope to avoid any accusations or appearances of favoritism.

Those in line ahead of Lutz and Bozung had less criticisms.

"I'm very happy to be No. 5," said David Zanon of Better by Nature.

He lives in Stockbridge and spent the first couple nights in his truck. Friends eventually brought him a rented camper.

"This is a huge opportunity," said Zanon, who has a property off Race Road and has been part of the marijuana industry for years. He is a patient, to manage pain associated with the building trade, and became a caregiver six years ago. He found the product works and the business interesting - and profitable.

Involved in agricultural consulting, he is really a grower, but he sees the dispensary as vital to the most cost-effective, vertically integrated model.

Zanon recognizes the township is trailblazing. He calls it organizing chaos.

As has been expressed elsewhere, he is worried about smaller, local groups being excluded or impeded by the new regulation, which could favor larger organizations with more capital.

Meanwhile, people like him have paved the way, taken risk, Zanon said. They know the industry.

"I just want to get my foot in the door."