LANSING, MI — For the first time ever, Michigan marijuana regulators have banned a former business owner from the industry.
“The Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) has permanently excluded Youssef Barakat from being employed by or being a supplemental applicant of any medical or adult-use marijuana business in Michigan,” the CRA said in a statement issued Tuesday, May 6.
The CRA served Barakat notice that he was being excluded from the marijuana industry on April 9, according to the CRA’s notice to exclude. By law, he had 21 days to contest the decision.
Bakarat held 50% ownership in two marijuana retail shops: Big Rapids Tree House Club, licensed in July 2022, and Bay City Tree House Club, licensed in March 2023.
The businesses were operated by Kzoo420, which Bakarat dissolved in August 2024, according to online business records.
CRA records indicate Bakarat’s Big Rapids store sold 1.5 ounces of marijuana in an unmarked sandwich bag to a 20-year-old state police trainee during a 2023, sting.
CRA inspectors were also present and during the investigation that followed identified multiple employees working without required approval of the CRA, doors that were unsecure and surveillance cameras obstructed by strategically placed pieces of toilet paper.
Bakarat told inspectors products were sold without required tracking labels because the store didn’t have a printer, the CRA said.
Big Rapids officials revoked the business license on March 10, 2023.
The Bay City Tree House Club received its marijuana retailer license 20 days later.
In June 2023, CRA staff met the landlord of the building at 215 S. Linn Street in Bay City and found the marijuana store was unlocked with no employees inside, according to CRA reports. CRA employees said there was no alarm system engaged and unsecured marijuana and unmarked marijuana was found inside.
State licensing records list the Bay City Tree House license as “void” with an expiration date of July 13, 2024.
MLive was unable to reach Bakarat for comment.
In a 2022 interview with the Big Rapids Pioneer, Bakarat said he learned about the medicinal benefits of marijuana use for pain while playing football at Eastern Michigan University.
The EMU Eastern Athletics website lists Bakarat, who graduated from Salem High School in Canton, as a defensive back and member of the team’s practice squad in 2013. No game stats are listed.
While Bakarat is the first to be placed on the CRA’s “involuntary exclusion list,” at least nine other marijuana entrepreneurs have agreed to no longer participate in the industry as a result of CRA investigations.
“Individuals may voluntarily exclude themselves from employment at, or participating in a marijuana business, by signing a consent order and stipulation to resolve disciplinary action the CRA has initiated against them,” the CRA said.
A full list of people banned from the marijuana industry is available on the CRA website.
While Youssef Bakarat is the first to be placed on the Cannabis Regulatory Agency’s “involuntary exclusion list,” at least nine other marijuana entrepreneurs have agreed to no longer participate in the industry. Read More
