MEDICAL MARIJUANA MESS CONFRONTS MICHIGANDERS

ANN ARBOR - Yesterday, medical marijuana officially became legal in
Michigan, except, well, it isn't.

That is, you can use it legally, as long as you don't ever try to
obtain any of it.

And all this has bewildered state bureaucrats scratching their heads,
trying to figure out what to do.

Here's what happened: Michigan voters on Nov. 4 overwhelmingly
approved allowing the use of marijuana to help the symptoms of those
suffering from illnesses such as glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, and cancer. The
vote was 3 million yes to 1.8 million no.

Unfortunately the proposal was so poorly written that it didn't
specify how patients are supposed to get the marijuana.

It said patients can have up to 2.5 ounces in their possession, and
that they can grow up to a dozen plants for their own use.

Except there is no legal way they can get their initial supply, or,
er, stash. And the state doesn't seem to have a clue what to do.

"We are going to have a series of meetings and try to work out some
rules," said James McCurtis, a spokesman for the Michigan Department
of Community Health, which seems to have gotten stuck with the job of
both administering and figuring out the medical marijuana mess.

Eventually, the department intends to issue some ID cards to approved
patients and, where needed, their caregivers, saying they are allowed
to possess marijuana.

But nobody has any idea how they should get it in the first place,
and Mr. McCurtis reminded me that use of it is still illegal under federal law.

How about buying some in one of the dozen other states where medical
marijuana is legal, and bringing it here?

Alas, bringing a restricted drug across state lines is even more
illegal. What the state could do, perhaps, is negotiate some sort of
"don't ask, don't tell" policy with law enforcement officials.

But a number of county sheriffs and state police spokesmen indicated
that as far as they were concerned, marijuana is still illegal, and
they intended to arrest people who have it.

How this will all be resolved is far from clear, though Mr. McCurtis
said he hoped something could be worked out by spring.

Logically, of course, the state ought to be growing and selling any
legally approved marijuana. For that matter, it would be a good idea
to have some sort of clinics where patients could go smoke marijuana
under approved supervision. That would make sense.

But that's not going to happen, even though cash-poor Michigan could
probably structure this whole program to make money for the state.

That's because our legislators don't want to touch anything to do
with medical marijuana with a 10-foot weed, lest opponents tag them
as "friendly to the drug culture."

So any glaucoma sufferers who rejoiced on election night may have
celebrated too soon.

There is, however, intense pressure on state officials to work
something out. Stay tuned.