LANSING, MI -- Marijuana’s journey from “reefer madness” to a mainstream product on store shelves is taking another historic step in Michigan this week.

The state licensing office, called the Marijuana Regulatory Agency, is set to begin accepting recreational marijuana business applications at 12:01 a.m. on Nov. 1. Hand-delivered applications may be dropped off at the agency’s counter in Lansing beginning at 8 a.m. Friday.

Some of the first legal recreation marijuana shops, delivery companies, grow operations, processors, testing facilities, event planners and smoking lounges could open to the public in as few as four months, industry experts say.

The Marijuana Regulatory Agency expects to issue the first recreational licenses to businesses that are already approved to grow, sell, process, test or transport medical marijuana by late November, agency spokesman David Harns said.

However, the public likely won’t will be able to walk into a store and buy a joint or other marijuana products until months later, since there is currently zero supply of legal recreational marijuana— as growers first need a license for that. And a grow cycle takes at least a few months, Harns said.

If businesses don’t abide to the rules, perhaps by acquiring and selling marijuana grown in the black market or prior to becoming licensed, they’re going to have “bigger problems” than a supply shortage, Harns said.

License types include:

Microbusiness , a smaller, self-contained business allowed to grow, process and sell the products from a maximum of 150 plants, $8,000 license fee.

Class A grower , allowed up to 100 plants, $4,000 license fee.

Class B grower , allowed up to 500 plants, $8,000 license fee.

Class C grower , up to 2,000 plants, $40,000 license fee.

Processor , converts marijuana from growers for sale in retail locations, $40,000 licenses fee

Retailer , operated stores for purchase of processed marijuana, $25,000 license fee

Secure transporter , handles the transportation of marijuana between growers, processors, testing facilities and retailers, $25,000 license fee.

Safety compliance facility , tests marijuana for contaminants, $25,000 license fee.

Event organizer , plans and organizes marijuana-related events, such as trade shows, $1,000 license fee

Temporary event license , allows for consumption and sale of marijuana at a location for a limited length of time, license fee based on number of vendors and other factors.

Consumption establishment, operates a business designated for marijuana consumption, $1,000 license fee.

Joe Neller, a former health care lobbyist, opened Windsor Township-based Green Peak Innovations with CEO Jeff Radway in 2018 and began applying for medical marijuana grow, processing and dispensary licenses.

Now able to grow and process 18,000 plants, and able to sell finished product at four dispensaries, Green Peak Innovations is one of the largest players in Michigan’s marijuana industry.

Neller said his 250-employee company is prepping the paperwork with plans to submit recreational marijuana applications online early Friday morning.

“If the state takes all of the 90 days afforded to them by law to review our application and grant us a license, then we could start producing that adult-use product,” Neller said. “It does appear the state is going to make us begin those plants basically from seed or clone, so that would take another six months to grow the product, harvest it, past testing, package it up and get it into market, so anywhere from six to nine month from Nov. 1 is how we’re modeling it."

No matter how long it takes, Neller said the legalization of marijuana in Michigan is a “once-in-a-lifetime event.”

“Prohibition is ending,” he said. "It happened with alcohol 100 years ago and it’s happening now with cannabis. It’s a privilege to be part of this moment in time ... "

The cost to submit an application for a recreational marijuana business -- with no guarantee a license will ultimately be issued -- is $6,000. Once a business is approved, the licensing and renewal fees range from $1,000 for a marijuana event organizer to $40,000-plus per year for large-scale processors and growers.

Applicants must also have a $100,000 liability and bodily injury insurance policy.

Robin Schneider is the executive director for the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association, which represents the interests of nearly 200 established medical marijuana businesses, the large majority of which she expects to apply for recreational licenses.

While businesses are likely to begin operating in 2020, the industry is likely to be stifled by numerous factors. Shops won’t be on every corner.

The first businesses to be qualified will be those already operating in the medical marijuana industry, meaning they’ve already been vetted under that program and much of information required by the state is already on file, Harns said.

He didn’t provide a timeline for how much longer it might take the first businesses not currently qualified under the medical marijuana rules to be approved.

The only people allowed to apply for some of the larger licenses, including to become a retailer, processor, class B or C grower or secure transporter, are those who already hold a license to operate a medical marijuana business in the state. That prerequisite expires in December 2021.

Schneider, who helped craft the ballot proposal that 56% of voters supported, said the intent is to give licensed medical marijuana businesses that are already heavily invested in the industry a “head start.”

“We knew that we needed to have the support of the medical licensees as we were moving into election day, and so that was done on purpose to ensure that their investments were protected," she said.

Harns admits it’s “hard to tell” how many businesses might apply when the process begins this week, but said if it mirrors the process when the state began licensing medical marijuana facilities in 2017, there won’t be a massive influx of businesses clamoring for licenses.

“We were anticipating a big turn out when medical started and it was more a trickle, but we’re preparing for all possibilities,” he said.

The agency uses 15 analysts to vet applications. If there are issues with the application or missing information, the business is given five days to provide the information correct the issue. Otherwise, it’s possible the application may be thrown out and the $6,000 fee not reimbursed.

More than 1,000 municipalities have notified the licensing agency they have enacted bans or limited marijuana business in their communities, according to Harns. The figure was estimated to be about 600 as of June.

List of known municipalities that have opted in to recreational sales

The Michigan Regulatory Agency expects to release preliminary data regarding first-day applications Friday evening.

-- Gus Burns is the marijuana beat reporter for MLive. Contact him with questions, tips or comments at fburns@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter, @GusBurns. Read more from MLive about medical and recreational marijuana.

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