GRAY AREAS CLOUD LAWS AS APPLICATION DATE LOOMS

Perhaps it's fitting that a 37-year celebration advocating marijuana
reform will usher in a new era of medicinal marijuana use in Michigan.

This Saturday, the 37th annual Hash Bash will take place at the
University of Michigan - simultaneously marking the first day
medicinal use of marijuana in Michigan becomes legitimate after 62.6
percent of citizens voted 'yes' on Proposal 1 in November.

"I think people are coming to realize that everything in life has
risks and benefits and this black-and-white way of thinking about
marijuana has gone out the window," said Greg Francisco, executive
director of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association.

Francisco and advocates like him have been waiting for the Michigan
Department of Community Health to finalize the administrative process
for citizens to apply for the official state registry.

Applying for the Registry

"What we've been doing is basically building the medical marijuana
program," said MDCH Spokesman James McCurtis Jr. "We had to put
together the rules."

The MDCH had 120 days from Dec. 4 to implement the program once
Proposal 1 was approved.

"Since the bill was passed, we have received a lot of interest into
the program, as you can only imagine," he said. "A lot of people have
been calling our offices asking when the program is going to be
implemented and where they can get their marijuana - all kinds of questions."

McCurtis said on Tuesday the application forms became available at
www.michigan.gov/mmp

However, no applications sent in will officially be reviewed until
April 6, because April 4 falls on a Saturday.

To be eligible for the registry ID card, applicants most complete the
form and procedures on the MDCH's Web site, have a physician certify
them as a "qualifying patient" and pay an application fee between $35 and $100.

Under the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act, a qualifying patient is "a
person who has been diagnosed by a physician as having a debilitating
medical condition."

After the application has been completed and submitted, the MDCH will
verify the information within 15 days and, if approve,d send the card
to the patient.

Once the patient receives the card they will "not be subject to
arrest, prosecution, or penalty in any manner, or denied any right of
privilege," as long as they possess 2.5 ounces or less and they or
their caregiver do not have more than 12 plants per patient in "an
enclosed locked facility."

Hazy Hindrance

However, even if applicants are approved and patients then receive
their cards, there is still some confusion about how to legally
acquire the plants and seeds.

"The law says that patients may acquire the seeds in the marijuana,
the problem is whoever sells it to them is still at risk," Francisco
said. "Patients can legally buy seeds for clones, there's just no one
that can legally sell them to them."

Attorney Matthew Abel has built a reputation for himself as an
advocate for medicinal marijuana and said legality questions over how
to acquire the seeds for the first time have been plaguing his office.

"I get calls everyday from people asking me 'can I just buy (the
seeds) through the mail? What's going to happen?,'" the Central
Michigan University alumnus said. "Until we have some court cases
that have resolved some of these things I can't give people a
definitive answer."

Police Enforcement

Police officials say enforcement will be on a case-by-case basis
working with the prosecutor's office.

"As a qualified caregiver or primary caregiver they are going to be -
for lack of a better term - they are going to be carded," said
Inspector Chuck Allen, assistant district commander for the Michigan
State Police Department 3rd district. "They are going to have the
rights to grow, although whoever wrote the law forgot to include
seeds. Reason is going to have to rule."

Allen said the process is going to take a little bit of time to iron
out and he does not want his department being overzealous.

"Because this is a new law, as always with new laws there is always
going to be a gray area," he said. "What we've instructed our people
to do is basically work with their local prosecutors to make sure to
put in place a (reasonable) protocol."

Bay Area Narcotics Enforcement Team Lt. Amado Arceo said he and
Isabella County Prosecutor Larry Burdick will be meeting sometime
this week to go over the county's protocol.

But, both have said it will most likely have to be on a case-by-case
basis until case law is set.

"It's a tough call because certainly you're going to have to go
case-by-case. We're going to follow the law is the bottom line,"
Arceo said. "If somebody is not following the law, then we'll have to
deal with that."

Burdick said that for the first year, everyone will have to get used
to adjustments in the system.

"There's going to be cases and there's going to be factual disputes
and court rulings and ultimately the court of appeals is going to
flush out the law," Burdick said. "They are going to fill in the gray
areas, and that process is probably going be in the next couple of years."