Sec. 7.

1. The department is responsible for implementing this act and has the powers and duties necessary to control the commercial production and distribution of marihuana. The department shall employ personnel and may contract with advisors and consultants as necessary to adequately perform its duties. No person who is pecuniarily interested, directly or indirectly, in any marihuana establishment may be an employee, advisor, or consultant involved in the implementation, administration, or enforcement of this act. An employee, advisor, or consultant of the department may not be personally liable for any action at law for damages sustained by a person because of an action performed or done in the performance of their duties in the implementation, administration, or enforcement of this act. The department of state police shall cooperate and assist the department in conducting background investigations of applicants. Responsibilities of the department include:

(a) promulgating rules pursuant to section 8 of this act that are necessary to implement, administer, and enforce this act;

(b) granting or denying each application for licensure and investigating each applicant to determine eligibility for licensure, including conducting a background investigation on each person holding an ownership interest in the applicant;

(c) ensuring compliance with this act and the rules promulgated thereunder by marihuana establishments by performing investigations of compliance and regular inspections of marihuana establishments and by taking appropriate disciplinary action against a licensee, including prescribing civil fines for violations of this act or rules and suspending, restricting, or revoking a state license;

(d) holding at least 4 public meetings each calendar year for the purpose of hearing complaints and receiving the views of the public with respect to administration of this act;

(e) collecting fees for licensure and fines for violations of this act or rules promulgated thereunder, depositing all fees collected in the marihuana regulation fund established by section 14 of this act, and remitting all fines collected to be deposited in the general fund; and

(f) submitting an annual report to the governor covering the previous year, which report shall include the number of state licenses of each class issued, demographic information on licensees, a description of enforcement and disciplinary actions taken against licensees, and a statement of revenues and expenses of the department related to the implementation, administration, and enforcement of this act.

History: 2018, Initiated Law 1, Eff. Dec. 6, 2018 Compiler's Notes: This new act was proposed by initiative petition pursuant to Const. 1963, art 2, section 9. The proposed language was certified to the legislature on April 26, 2018 with the 40-day consideration period lapsing on June 5, 2018. The initiative petition was submitted to the voters as proposal 18-1 at the November 6, 2018 general election where it was approved 2,356,422 for and 1,859,675 against.For the transfer of powers and duties of the department of licensing and regulatory affairs, including its bureau of marijuana regulation, to the marijuana regulatory agency, and abolishment of the bureau of marijuana regulation, see E.R.O. No. 2019-2, compiled at MCL 333.27001.