DETAILS OF MEDICAL MARIJUNA LAW STILL HAZY AS APRIL IMPLEMENTATION APPROACHES

Come April 4, Michigan residents suffering from certain illnesses
will be allowed to use marijuana for medicinal purposes, but one big,
lingering question remains: How do they get the drug without breaking
state and federal criminal laws?

The answer appears to be as hazy as Cheech and Chong's van.

A statewide ballot referendum approved by voters in November allows
registered patients in Michigan's marijuana program to grow and
possess it. But police say buying the seeds can get them arrested.
It's against the law to purchase it off the street. And doctors
aren't allowed to prescribe it.

"There will be a major problem with getting the marijuana," admitted
Charles Ream of Scio Township, who has advocated for the legalization
of medicinal marijuana for years.

Statutory law doesn't always jibe with reality, say some marijuana advocates.

Legal hurdles aside, the Michigan law will be effective, said Bruce
Mirken, spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-pot advocacy group, The
Marijuana Policy Project.

Getting the drug isn't that tough, Mirken said. He pointed to a 2008
University of Michigan study that showed 42.6 percent of high school
seniors reported using pot in their lifetime, and 83.9 percent said
it was easy to get.

In December, the state came up with draft rules for its medicinal
marijuana program and held a public hearing Jan. 5. A state spokesman
said officials are reviewing some suggested revisions.

Yet, federal law still makes it illegal to possess marijuana - which
makes many doctors leery of discussing the new law.

Three local doctors contacted by The News said they didn't want to
comment - one said he didn't know enough about the law, and another
said he didn't vote for the measure and believes other treatments
better serve patients.

Bruce Spiher, a spokesman for the University of Michigan Hospital,
said he could find no doctors willing to go on the record about it.

David Fox, a spokesman for the Michigan State Medical Society, said
Thursday that the group opposed the medical marijuana proposal last
fall because of the harmful effects of smoking and the fact that
there's no uniformity or standard in marijuana manufacturing.

But Fox also said the group supports more research on the active
ingredient in marijuana to determine its efficacy, as well as other
possible ways to use the drug aside from smoking it.

"We were involved in the public hearings a couple weeks ago and
agreed that the rules they're developing are in line with the ballot
proposal," Fox said.

Fox said doctors who are willing to enroll patients in the medicinal
marijuana program simply need to complete the necessary paperwork.

"That's where the gap is," Fox said. "The rules they developed have
fairly clear paperwork, and they can obtain a permit. But obtaining
seeds or marijuana are both illegal. There's a missing link."

Although reports have surfaced of federal agents raiding medicinal
marijuana distributors in California, patients with only personal
needs generally don't have to worry, authorities say.

Rich Isaacson, a special agent with the Drug Enforcement
Administration, said small-time medicinal marijuana users aren't on
their radar.

"We typically don't target people who have small amounts of drugs,"
he said. Ann Arbor Police Chief Barnett Jones said most legitimate
medicinal marijuana users won't have to worry about an FBI or DEA crackdown.

"Realistically, to draw the attention of those agencies, you are
doing something wrong," he said.

In 1974, Ann Arbor voters decriminalized the use of marijuana, but
not its sale. Possession of a small amount of marijuana is a civil
infraction punishable by a $50 fine for the first offense.

Under Michigan law - which also covers University of Michigan
property - marijuana possession is a misdemeanor punishable by up to
one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.

Even in states where medicinal marijuana is legal, there can be
repercussions for users.

Last year, the California Supreme Court ruled an employer can fire
someone who tests positive for cannabis, even if the person is an
approved medical marijuana patient.

Similar issues could arise in Michigan - although first, the more
basic question of how patients can legally obtain marijuana will need
to be answered.

"We don't know," said James McCurtis, a spokesman for the Michigan
Department of Health, which authorizes who could be admitted into the
state's medicinal marijuana program. "The law doesn't provide any
type of guidance."

California has shops that sell marijuana to authorized users, which
are called dispensaries and don't involve doctors.

"It's really the way to go," said Nathan Sands, a spokesman for
California Compassionate Coalition. "How do you have a law where you
have the right to possess marijuana but not obtain it?"

But few states have adopted that system.

Talk about people selling marijuana and "people get up in arms," Sands said.

That's one reason why the Michigan law had to tiptoe around it, Ream
said. The goal wasn't to address every issue, he said. It was to get
the law on the books.

"The law was written to get it passed," Ream said. "It's a stop-gap measure."

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HERE ARE DETAILS OF MICHIGAN'S MEDICINAL MARIJUANA PROGRAM

Patients who qualify for the program must register with the Michigan
Department of Community Health.

Registered caregivers must be 18 or older. Patients under 18 must
have the consent of a parent or guardian.

There's a $100 annual fee.

Patients must suffer from a debilitating medical condition: Cancer,
glaucoma, HIV positive, AIDS, hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis, Chrohn's disease, agitation of Alzehimer's disease or nail patella.

A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its
treatment that produces one or more of the following - cachexia or
wasting syndrome, severe or chronic pain, severe nausea or seizures.

A physician must state in writing that the patient has a qualifying
debilitating medical condition. Medical doctors and doctors of
osteopathic medicine are the only physicians qualified to sign the paperwork.