WHERE WEED GROWS

Last week, 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 3,006,820 yes to 1,790,889 no.

Unfortunately the proposal was so poorly written that it didn't
specify how patients are supposed to get the marijuana. It said they
can have up to 2.5 ounces in their possession, and they can grow up to
a dozen plants for their own use.

Except, there is no legal way they can get their initial supply. 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 of Community Health 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
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 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 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 pole, 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.

Jack Lessenberry, a member of Wayne State University's journalism
faculty, writes on issues and people in Michigan.