Marijuana entrepreneurs are watching expectantly as Michigan officials start to write rules for the new adult-use industry.

The Bureau of Marijuana Regulation has begun drafting rules and arranging staff internally to process license applications, said Andrew Brisbo, director of the Bureau of Marijuana Regulation.

The state’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs must start accepting applications for marijuana businesses by this December -- under the law that voters passed in 2018 legalizing marijuana. That’s an issue because although marijuana is legal for adults 21 and over to possess and consume, there are no stores for consumers to buy from yet.

Without a license system, “gray market” businesses have sprung up in Michigan, promising to deliver “gifts” of marijuana with the purchase of goods like used books or chocolates.

Will the rules be written before the December deadline?

“I think we’ll need to,” Brisbo said. “I think ultimately the decision on whether it will be emergency rules or permanent rules will be the timing.”

Brisbo said the department plans to start holding work groups in March to garner input on certain topics.

“Some of the administrative aspects of the adult-use regulatory program we can pull from what we already know on the medical side,” Brisbo said of what the work groups need to discuss. “I think we’ll be looking at more high-level policy issues -- what the stakeholders feel works on the medical side what should be different on the adult-use side.”

Brisbo said topics could address testing standards in the medical program and if they should differ for the adult-use market, as well as the standards that microbusinesses should meet.

Launching the adult-use market should be speedier than the process medical marijuana businesses have undergone, partly because license applications will be reviewed by regulatory staff instead of the appointed Medical Marihuana Licensing Board.

For the first year that the department issues licenses to adult-use marijuana businesses, only businesses that already have a license for a medical marijuana can apply.

“I think that should allow us to streamline that process because we’ve done that due diligence,” Brisbo said Feb. 19 to the House of Representatives appropriations subcommittee.

Additionally, the new law encourages co-locating medical and adult-use marijuana businesses, Brisbo said.

“I anticipate that our regulation of these facilities will be somewhat holistic to their approach, whether it’s on the medical side or the adult-use side,” Brisbo said.

Additionally, the new law has a provision to encourage participation in communities that were disproportionally impacted by the prohibition of marijuana. How that should be done would benefit from public input, Brisbo said.

During the subcommittee meeting State Rep. Abdullah Hammoud (D-Dearborn) criticized the hefty amount of funding that medical marijuana business owners have to prove they have in order to gain a license.

"We're essentially allowing only the elite to come in and dominate the whole business," Hammoud said.

He requested the department include civil rights organizations -- specifically African American voices -- in its rule-making process.

-- 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 recreational marijuana.