Former Detroit Lions Calvin Johnson and Rob Sims are trying to enter Michigan’s medical marijuana industry -- but a state board has blocked them.

Johnson and Sims are two of the business partners behind CRJJA Ventures, a group trying to grow, process and sell medical marijuana in Michigan, according to state records. They had applied for a total of four business licenses, and were up for preliminary approval by the state’s Medical Marihuana Licensing Board Friday, Dec. 7.

But Johnson’s traffic violations caused the board to deny all four license applications -- two were for large-scale grows, one was for processing and one was for a retail provisioning center.

“I don’t think that’s the type of person we can rely on to successfully operate in the regulated market,” said board member Don Bailey, a retired Michigan State Police sergeant.

Gaining a license to sell or commercially grow medical marijuana in Michigan ultimately requires the approval of the board after a grueling series review of the finances and criminal history of the applicants. The information reviewed by the board is not made public.

Bailey said a couple “very minor traffic violations” were an issue.

“There are warrants out,” Bailey said. “When confronted by LARA with these issues the response was they may take steps in the future to take care of the problems.”

The board did not release details of the violations.

Johnson’s spokesman, John Truscott, said he was “perplexed” as to why the license applications got denied. The traffic violations were speeding tickets that occurred when Johnson was in training camp in Atlanta -- and they have been resolved, Truscott said.

“When it was brought up, he (Johnson) flew to Atlanta in early October,” Truscott said to MLive. “They’re resolved; the board has the documentation from the court in Atlanta.”

City of Atlanta Municipal Court records confirm Truscott’s account: Johnson did appear Oct. 9 to resolve two open traffic violations from 2009 and 2014. There are four traffic violations on file -- all of which are listed as “closed” in the court system -- for driving without a license, failure to maintain a lane and for seat belt violations.

Board member Vivian Pickard said the lack of attention to the traffic violations showed a “disrespect for the law.”

“There was a history, there was a continuous pattern or history; not just one,” Pickard said, before voting to deny preliminary approval for the license applications.

Bailey also took issue with Sims, but did not disclose what violations or problems he was regarding.

Truscott said to MLive the issue regarded a house Sims own in Dearborn that had building citations that weren’t fixed fast enough. Now, the property has a certificate of occupancy and the issue has been resolved. Truscott said the board has the documents on file.

Truscott said the group CRJJA Ventures plans to appeal immediately.

“This also shows that these decisions are to an extent arbitrary,” Truscott said. “The board isn’t following the law.”

Michigan’s marijuana market has drawn high interest.The state launched the commercial industry this year for medical marijuana as recreational marijuana became legal this week.

Already, a billion-dollar company has announced it is making real estate investments and rapper Snoop Dogg has promised to bring his self-branded business to Michigan.

-- Amy Biolchini is the marijuana beat reporter for MLive. Contact her with questions, tips or comments at abiolch1@mlive.com. Read more from MLive about medical marijuana.