MEDICAL POT LEGAL TODAY ... BUT NOT REALLY

Is medical marijuana legal in Michigan today?

Well, kinda ... but kinda not. Don't light up just yet.

While the law approved by voters Nov. 4 took effect today
((Thursday)), no one can start smoking -- at least legally -- until
spring, the deadline for the Michigan Department of Community Health
to develop administrative rules. Even then, patients with a
qualifying illness would need a doctor's permission and certification
by the state to partake.

In November, voters overwhelmingly approved the question of whether
seriously ill patients should be able to possess marijuana. Michigan
became the 13th state to legalize medical marijuana.

But it has raised questions for patients, police and prosecutors --
with courts possibly asked to provide the answers. It was one of the
concerns when area police chiefs announced strong opposition just
before the vote.

"We're just not sure how it's going to shake out," said Muskegon
County Sheriff Dean Roesler. "The proposal was pretty unclear in
terms of how and what can be used.

"Everybody's in limbo, hoping the Department of Community Health will
come up with rules." Roesler said statewide law-enforcement groups
such as the Michigan Sheriffs Association are expected to develop
some kind of enforcement policy that gibes with the health department's rules.

"I think there's going to be a lot of confusion on the part of people
thinking that marijuana is now legal," Roesler said.

It isn't, at least in the eyes of law enforcement, the sheriff said.

"It's going to be business as usual until we're told different on how
to handle it," Roesler said. "It's going to be a learning curve for everybody."

For instance, lawmakers previously outlawed drivers having any level
of illegal drugs in their systems. What happens if a legal marijuana
user drives and gets in a crash a couple of days after smoking the drug?

"If it's determined people have marijuana in their system, criminal
law now says zero (is the only acceptable level), no exceptions,"
Roesler said. "So the Legislature has a lot of work to do."

Another issue for sheriffs is jail policy.

"One of the dilemmas I have is, what if a person gets booked into the
jail that's on medical marijuana?" Roesler said. "That's a smoke-free
facility to start with, and certainly we have rules about contraband
in the facility."

Other issues the sheriff sees: Under Michigan law, there's still no
legal way to acquire marijuana, or even seeds to grow your own.
"Who's going to be the authorized suppliers? Who's going to monitor
them?" Roesler said.

Muskegon Police Chief Tony Kleibecker also said his department is
continuing drug enforcement as it always has. "All the chiefs across
the state are waiting for more information," Kleibecker said. "From
our standpoint, nothing changes (today)."

Allegan County Prosecutor Fred Anderson said: "There's a conflict
there, and we're not sure how it's going to be sorted out."

Anderson said prosecutors statewide -- along with the Prosecuting
Attorneys Coordinating Council -- are studying the issue. They expect
to hold training sessions before people legally can light up.

"I don't know if anyone has any expectations as to how this is going
to go," Anderson said.

Muskegon's hospital network, Mercy Health Partners, also is waiting
to see what happens next spring. "It's not like somebody can use at
this point," said Mercy spokeswoman Anita Varela. "Anyway, it looks
like a bugaboo from the standpoint of where the patient's going to get it."

Some have questioned the referendum's wording, and McCurtis said
legal fights are expected.

"We don't know what's going to happen. It will be up to law
enforcement to charge a person, up to county and state prosecutors to
charge the person, and try it in court, to answer the unanswered
questions the law has."

Despite her support for legalized medical marijuana, Debra
Negen-Brink, a cancer survivor and registered nurse in Grand Rapids,
has concerns about the new law.

Where would a senior citizen get the drug? How could a debilitated
person be expected to cultivate his own plants or obtain seeds just
to get started?

Brink, 50, with children in high school and college, wouldn't think
of asking them to score her weed. She doubted the elderly would turn
to adult children or grandchildren, either.

"It should have been dispensed in little joints in a jar," Brink, who
does not use marijuana, said Tuesday.

"So we would know what the quality is, and have some regulation. You
have to obtain it illegally. Once you get it, it's fine."

Brink used marijuana in 1979 while undergoing chemotherapy for
leukemia. It proved a godsend, she said. Nothing else worked to stop
her from vomiting every 15 minutes for hours on end.

She publicly backed the effort by Michigan Coalition for
Compassionate Care to allow medical marijuana.