Sterling Heights, MI Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

Section 35-70, adopted by Ordinance No. 460 just four weeks after Michigan voters approved recreational marijuana, reads in full: "The Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act was initiated by the voters of the State of Michigan pursuant to Proposal 1, the Marijuana Legalization Initiative, on November 6, 2018. The Act authorizes cities, villages, and townships to completely prohibit marihuana establishments within their boundaries. " The city council enacted the opt-out on December 4, 2018, before any state licensing applications could reach Sterling Heights, so the prohibition applies to every zoning district, not a subset.

The ban covers commercial establishments only. Personal medical marijuana use is regulated separately: § 35-67 lets a registered qualifying patient or caregiver grow and process marijuana in an "enclosed, locked facility," and § 35-68 requires anyone growing, cultivating or harvesting medical marijuana at a location within the city to first register that location with the City Clerk, submit a copy of their state caregiver card, a floor plan of the locked growing area, and pay a registration fee set by the annual appropriations ordinance, unless the location is the patient's own homestead.

Article IV also warns that opting into the Act's narrow immunity does not clear federal law: § 35-69 states that outside the Act's protection, "the possession and use of marijuana in the State of Michigan remains a misdemeanor offense," and that marijuana "is also classified federally as a Schedule I Drug" that remains illegal to possess, manufacture, distribute or dispense under federal law.