CALIFORNIA'S MEDICAL MARIJUANA BATTLES ARE A LESSON FOR MICHIGAN

LOS ANGELES - With a 13-year head start on Michigan, California's
efforts to transform marijuana from illicit to prescription drug
offers a clear lesson: It ain't easy.

The conflict has flared in recent weeks with a new Los Angeles
ordinance aimed at hundreds of marijuana dispensaries, many that
operate more like drug dens than pharmacies. Michigan prohibits
dispensaries under its 2008 voter-passed law, but communities are
struggling with limits on the medical pot business.

The Los Angeles ordinance would cap dispensaries in the city at 70
with 186 grandfathered in. All must follow tough rules such as
observing a 1,000-foot buffer from churches and schools.

Distribution isn't the only concern. In Los Angeles County, safety
concerns have risen with authorities pursuing charges against sellers
whose pot had high pesticide levels.

"It's been pretty tough since everyone's been getting shut down,"
said Bob Nelson, 58, who uses pot for back pain - one of about
300,000 Californians who find relief they don't get from other drugs.

"I don't know where to go next."

Laws Try to Weed Out Rule-Breakers

In the upscale neighborhood where Beverly Hills meets L.A., Aaron
Bullock does not enjoy having his enterprise lumped in with the "party stores."

Bullock, a nutritionist by training, started treating patients with
medicinal marijuana two years ago from the Farmacopeia Organica
dispensary that he co-owns.

Skeptical of the benefits at first, he now treats about 1,000
patients for ailments from Crohn's disease to cancer. Many of his
customers are referrals from doctor's offices next door.

He says he welcomes the city's new curbs on the business of medical marijuana.

"There are too many stores," he said. "There are too many in places
that if I were a homeowner, they would bother me."

But the city's new limits, if they take effect as written, would
force Bullock to move or close, as his business is next door to a
doctor's office and shares an alleyway with homes -- two places
dispensaries could no longer be.

California was the first state to allow medical pot in 1996, but it
didn't flourish as a business until the state Legislature clarified
the law in 2003. (That was before Michigan voters passed a new law in
2008 permitting use of marijuana for treating pain.)

In 2004, several California cities, mainly near San Francisco, began
passing laws to regulate it.

Last year, the Obama administration gave the nascent industry a boost
when it said it would not raid growers or dispensaries that comply
with state statutes, following some 200 raids during the Bush administration.

Medical Pot Expo

Welcome to HempCon!

Held last month in L.A.'s cavernous convention center, the event
billed itself as the state's largest convention ever for medicinal
marijuana users and pharmacies.

The scene was, well, far out, man.

At one paraphernalia stand, a television played Cheech & Chong's
signature pot culture flick, "Up in Smoke."

Mixed in among stands offering ornate glass bongs were lawyers and
advocacy groups collecting petitions. A few tattoo artists advertised
their work alongside guys in polos and khakis selling armored awnings
and safes typically found only at jewelers.

While show-goers could inspect a semi trailer-size lab for hydroponic
marijuana growing, organizers warned against on-site pot use with
posted signs vowing cooperation with the police.

While taking marijuana as medicine in California is legal, it's still
illegal to openly sell the stuff -- as it is in Michigan. Under the
letter of the law, patients and caregivers must take some part in
growing marijuana for their own use, typically by forming a nonprofit
cooperative. That cooperative can grow its own or buy from a supplier
- -- who follows the law by also joining the cooperative.

Regulate but Don't Ban

The blossoming industry still faces strong opposition, and 150 cities
have banned dispensaries outright. L.A. City Attorney Carmen
Trutanich and other law enforcement officials have overseen raids on
local dispensaries, saying they violated not just state laws on
medical marijuana but others, including having marijuana with high
levels of pesticides.

"If pharmacies were found to be distributing aspirin contaminated
with pesticides, how long would any bottles of that particular brand
remain on store shelves?" Trutanich wrote in an opinion piece last
week for the Daily News of Los Angeles. "Not very long because the
public would demand that the law be immediately enforced. Why should
medical marijuana be subjected to any less of a consumer safety
standard -- especially in light of the advocates' argument that it is
a medicine?"

Advocates of medical marijuana have accused Trutanich and others of
blocking the needs of thousands of patients. One group, Americans for
Safe Access, filed suit over the city ordinance last week, and
spokesman Kris Hermes said the city needs to offer a way for
dispensaries to do business.

"There are ways for local governments to regulate this activity
without establishing a de facto ban," Hermes said.

Bullock and others say without better oversight of how marijuana is
grown, street-level pot delivered by criminal enterprises without
safety standards will survive. Cities could boost their revenue by
taxing and licensing legitimate growers, he said.

"I've seen a great number of people who've done well with medicinal
cannabis," he said. "Doctors send patients because I treat them well.
The more I see, the more I believe it matters."

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MICHIGAN VERSUS CALIFORNIA ON MEDICAL POT LAWS

Similarities

Patients, doctors and caregivers must register with state officials.
Diseases qualifying for treatment include cancer, HIV/AIDS and
glaucoma. State law offers some protection for users against arrest
on marijuana possession charges.

Differences

Michigan

Access: Allows only patients and caregivers to cultivate plants for
personal use. Does not provide a way to get access to plants or seeds
and does not allow sales. Maximum amount of pot allowed per patient
is 2.5 ounces or 12 plants statewide.

Other ailments/diseases permissible for marijuana use certification:
Alzheimer's, hepatitis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

California

Access: Allows patients and practitioners to use or set up
dispensaries in addition to cultivating their own plants. Maximum
amount of pot allowed per user varies by city and county.

Other ailments/diseases permissible for marijuana use approval:
migraines, anorexia and arthritis.