A judge is blocking yet another attempt by state officials to shut down unlicensed medical marijuana provisioning centers.

About 50 unlicensed shops were about to be shut down Monday, April 1, by regulators. Now, they can keep their doors open for at least another two weeks.

Michigan Court of Claims Judge Stephen Borrello signed a temporary restraining order Thursday, March 28, that prevents state regulators from enforcing the March 31 licensing deadline, court documents show.

“Until further order of the court, BMR (Bureau of Marijuana Regulation) will maintain the status quo and not enforce the March 31 deadline with respect to both temporary operating facilities and caregiver products,” the state bureau said in a statement issued Friday afternoon.

Medical marijuana provisioning centers had been stocking up on untested marijuana from caregivers in the past several weeks, as March 31 also marked the deadline for them to switch to buying products from licensed growers. The bureau indicated in its statement Friday that will no longer be enforced.

Officials with the Bureau of Marijuana Regulation have allowed unlicensed dispensaries to sell marijuana to card-carrying patients for the past year as they’ve added regulations to the industry.

State officials have tried to impose a deadline for licensure since September 2018 -- but it’s been pushed back multiple times due to legal challenges and official intervention.

This week, the state has been hammered by lawsuits from at least six unlicensed provisioning centers challenging the deadline. So far, two of them have been successful.

The order was issued in a case filed this week by Green Genie, an unlicensed medical marijuana provisioning center in Detroit. The attorneys for Green Genie declined to comment for this story.

Green Genie has operated without a license in Detroit since July 2017, and serves about 20,000 patients, according to the lawsuit filing. The business’ medical marijuana license application was denied by a licensing board due to a state error that inaccurately claimed it owed money on its taxes, court documents show. Green Genie has appealed the licensing board’s decision to deny their license application -- which is still pending.

Borrello’s order prevents officials from shutting down any unlicensed medical marijuana shops until the court deems it appropriate. The judge set a hearing for 2 p.m., April 9, on the case.

Borrello also signed a temporary restraining order Thursday in a similar case filed by Top Dollar Holdings, a Detroit company that owns two provisioning centers and a grow facility, according to court documents. Its applications for licensure were filed a year before they were considered by the state’s licensing board -- and then denied for invalid reasons, court documents show.

The order requires the state to let the provisioning center operate until their applications are reconsidered under the appeals process.

“It’s an arbitrary date that does not allow the system that was set up under the facilities act to work its way through,” said Byron Pitts, the lawyer representing Top Dollar Holdings, regarding the March 31 licensing deadline.

The March 31 deadline for licensure was recommended by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and approved by the licensing board in a January resolution.

The launch of the licensed, regulated medical marijuana market in Michigan has been tumultuous and will continue to change, as Whitmer is abolishing the licensing board and giving full control to state staff.

Andrew Brisbo, the current head of the Bureau of Marijuana Regulation, has been appointed by Whitmer to lead her iteration of that department -- the Marijuana Regulatory Agency -- as of April 30.

-- 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.