The second time was the charm for former Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson to get preliminary approval for a license to open a Michigan medical marijuana dispensary.

Johnson, along with his wife, Brittney, were approved for pre-qualification status on a 4-0 vote Thursday. The location for the dispensary hasn't been determined yet.

Johnson and business partner Robert Sims were denied licenses in December for a medical marijuana dispensary, grow operation and processing facility in Webberville.

The reason at the time, in part, was some unpaid traffic tickets issued in Atlanta to Johnson that were more than 10 years old.

When Johnson learned of the tickets and the warrant that had been issued because they remained unpaid, he flew from Detroit to Atlanta to take care of the matter. That was enough to get the board to approve his pre-qualification application for a dispensary, operating under the name of Michigan Community Collective. His partner in this venture is his wife, Brittney Johnson, not Sims.

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Michael Stein, an attorney for Johnson, said the football legend was thankful for the approval.

"Calvin is grateful and looks forward to operating with his brand Primitive in this new venture," he said. "He's hoping to have a big presence in the state."

Michigan Medical Marijuana Licensing Board member Donald Bailey voted against the applications in December, but approved Johnson's request this week.

"Information contained in the new application explained some of the issues that were presented in the December applications," Bailey said. "We didn't have that information then, but it got taken care of."

Johnson and Sims are appealing the December denials and a hearing on that is scheduled for April 11. Bailey wouldn't speculate on whether there might be a different outcome when those other applications come back before the board.

Pre-qualification status generally is given when a person applying for a license has gone through a background check, but doesn’t yet have approval from the community where the business will be located. The board made no mention of the previous denials before unanimously giving Johnson approval.

Football players are increasingly turning to marijuana to help with the pain they live with as a result of the crushing hits they sustain during their careers. One player — tight end Martellus Bennett, who retired last year from the New England Patriots after 10 years in the NFL — said in a podcast earlier this year that more than 80 percent of football players indulge in pot to help with the aches.

Also applying for licenses for a large marijuana grow operation, processing facility and dispensary was former Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca, who was part of a business group called Silverback Investments in Troy that also includes Steven Gormley, Robert Pomroy and William Walsh.

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He actively fought the legalization of medical marijuana in Oakland County communities and statewide when he was the prosecutor. In 2005, before voters approved legalizing medical marijuana in 2008, he said that he saw no legitimate reports that marijuana had medicinal benefits.

In an email to the Free Press on Thursday, Gorcyca said he had no comment on the medical marijuana applications that were given preliminary approval on a 3-1 vote.

The two approvals were among 84 applications that were considered for pre-qualification status and 17 people who were considered for state licenses. Approved for licenses were grow operations in Warren, Au Gres, Kalaska, Bangor Township, Saginaw and Jackson; dispensaries in Flint, Reading, Battle Creek, Detroit and Jackson; a secure transport company in Grass Lake and a processing facility in Dimondale.

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal.