JUDGE CALLS FOR CLARITY IN MICHIGAN'S MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW

Lawmakers Urged to Act Against Backdrop of Recent Clinic Raids

A Michigan Court of Appeals judge urged lawmakers Wednesday to
clarify the state's medical marijuana law, saying the "inartfully
drafted" measure has resulted in confusion and arrests.

Judge Peter O'Connell issued his call Wednesday in a 30-page opinion
on an Oakland County case in which the court upheld marijuana
possession charges against two Madison Heights residents. The judge
said the law is so confusing that users "who proceed without due
caution" could "lose both their property and their liberty."

The appeals court decision comes as Metro Detroit leaders struggle to
interpret the law, which was intended to allow marijuana
prescriptions for medical purposes. But O'Connell argued in his
separate, concurring opinion that sections of the law contradict
Public Health Codes that make possession and manufacture of the drug illegal.

Raids last month on clinics in Ferndale and Waterford Township
resulted in arrests and the seizure of marijuana and medical records.
A week later, Lapeer County Sheriff's deputies searched a medical
marijuana dispensary in Dryden, confiscating marijuana and cash.

"To me, our dilemma is magnified by the events of the last few
weeks," said Berkley Mayor Marilyn Stephan, who is faced with the
expiration in November of a 180-day municipal moratorium on the
medical marijuana law.

Stephan said the law is so full of holes that it has become an
enforcement nightmare.

"The bottom line is: Are we going to legalize marijuana or not? If we
can, then it has to be a controlled product," she said.

'Safe Place' To Medicate

In the Madison Heights case, Robert Lee Redden and Torey Alison Clark
provided authorities with documents they contend authorized them to
use marijuana for medical purposes. A district court judge dismissed
manufacturing charges in 2009 after 21 plants were found growing in their home.

An Oakland County Circuit judge reinstated the charges, and the Court
of Appeals affirmed that decision Wednesday.

Redden, who has said he qualified to use marijuana because he suffers
from otherwise uncontrolled pain, told The Detroit News, "All we want
is a safe place to get our medication."

O'Connell wrote he agreed with reinstating charges against Redden and
Clark, but insisted the rules must be redefined for citizens who want
to use marijuana, as well as for doctors and clinics that want to
dispense it. O'Connell warned if legislators don't act, more arrests
and prosecutions will result. He said the state's Supreme Court also
could step in.

"I have no doubt that in the minds of some voters in this state,
legalizing marijuana would be good public policy. Others who approved
this act were under the impression that the act's specific purpose
was limited to permitting the use of medical marijuana by registered
patients with debilitating medical conditions," O'Connell wrote.

The judge said he suspects confusion over protection from arrest and
conviction has resulted from the way the medical marijuana law was
written, using language from a group he said favors outright
legalization. O'Connell suggested conflicting public health
regulations or the medical marijuana law need to be revised so they
agree on what is allowed.

"At issue is the loss of liberty or property suffered by individuals,
who honestly believe they are in compliance with the (medical
marijuana law), at the hands of prosecutors and law enforcement
officials who honestly believe that they are properly enforcing the
clear provisions of the Public Health Code," O'Connell wrote.

Interpretations Vary

Communities that have adopted moratoriums to study the issue include
Southfield, Auburn Hills, Bloomfield Township, Rochester Hills and
Royal Oak. Communities regulating medical marijuana through zoning
ordinances or permits include Ferndale, Roseville, Niles, Garden City
and Huntington Woods. Livonia, Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills have
enacted bans.

Leaders in Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills met Tuesday to discuss
where dispensaries should be located.

Bloomfield Township plans an Oct. 4 hearing on its proposed
ordinance, which allows patient use but bans local dispensaries.
"There isn't one source for dispensing. It leaves too much room for
problems," township Supervisor David Payne said.

Last month, officials in Oakland County issued a 63-page document to
guide local authorities as they enact regulations. Oakland County
Executive L. Brooks Patterson ordered a survey and analysis of local
approaches to the law, which was overwhelmingly passed by Michigan
voters in 2008.

County corporation counsel Judith Cunningham wrote in a memo that
"uncertainty in the law is compounded by the fact that it remains a
violation of federal law to distribute or sell marijuana."

St. Clair Shores Mayor Robert Hison said more research is needed.
That city enacted a 180-day moratorium Aug. 16.

Hison plans to use Oakland County's guide to shape policy in his
Macomb County city.

"It seems like each day I collect more articles on this issue. It's
too soon for us to say what we are going to do. But this (law) was
passed by residents in Michigan. There is a good use for it if it is
controlled," he said.

Police Forcing the Issue

Criminal defense attorney and Michigan Medical Marijuana Association
board member Michael Komorn said, "There is a lack of consistency in
how many counties and cities view the law. Some oppose it while
others embrace it.

"There has to be recognition by the courts, the prosecutors and law
enforcement that cannabis is a legitimate medicine that helps a
number of different people treat their medical conditions. That is
what 62.7 percent of the voters have said. Until that happens,
there's a good chance more raids will occur," he said.

Rick Thompson, a board member with the medical marijuana dispensary,
Big Daddy's Compassionate Care Club in Hazel Park, said he and other
business owners are worried about police raids. Big Daddy's
considered adding a second location in Ferndale but withdrew its
application over zoning concerns. The company is looking for other
locations in southeast Michigan.

Law enforcement in Oakland and Lapeer counties is forcing the issue
into courts, Thompson complained, "at the expense of patients who
have been jailed, had their personal possessions confiscated and
their lives turned upside down."

While some of the 14 states with medical marijuana laws have seen
legal challenges, there have been no significant court rulings that
have changed those laws, said Mike Meno with the Marijuana Policy
Project in Washington, D.C.