MICHIGAN'S ACT NEEDS STRONGER PROTECTIONS

The confusion about the marijuana laws in Michigan stems not from the
passage of the Medical Marijuana Act in 2008, but from individuals
who have either not read the act or do not care for the limitations
placed by it.

The Michigan Medical Marijuana Act is one of exemption. It means that
people are protected from prosecution under state law if, and only
if, they comply with the provisions of the act.

Marijuana is a Schedule I narcotic that is illegal to possess, sell,
distribute, cultivate or manufacture under both Michigan and federal
law. And, while there are some limited exemptions to individuals
qualifying under the Michigan Medical Marijuana statute, there are no
exemptions under federal law for anyone.

The Michigan Medical Marijuana Act requires that the individual be a
qualified patient as defined by the Michigan Department of Community
Health. The act states that qualified patients and caregivers may
possess no more than 12 plants and/or 2.5 ounces of harvested material.

The act also allows a qualified patient to designate one, and only
one, caregiver to grow or harvest his or her plants. A caregiver may
have a maximum of five designated patients and may grow or harvest on
behalf of only those five patients. Any activity beyond that is illegal.

Accordingly, patients can't share their marijuana or sell to each
other or anyone else.

In Michigan, the act does not authorize dispensaries or cooperatives.
We constantly read about townships and cities agonizing over how to
zone medical marijuana dispensaries. The answer is simple. No
dispensaries are allowed under Michigan law, and they are clearly
prohibited under federal law.

Only a practitioner who holds a license to prescribe or dispense
controlled substances may purchase or distribute a Schedule I
controlled substance.

The Michigan Department of Community Health also interprets the law
as saying that it is illegal to operate a marijuana dispensary, and
the Court of Appeals, in People v. Redden and Clark, addresses the prohibition.

The passage of the Michigan act was done in the spirit of compassion,
because the public believed it would provide relief to those
suffering certain severe and debilitating diseases. However, there is
a proliferation of individuals who are attempting to use the act as a
shield to conduct criminal activities never contemplated by voters.
Many are profiteers who want to make money by cultivating and selling
large amounts of the drug.

People who qualify under the act as having legitimate and
debilitating diseases should not have to deal with products infused
with benzene gas or pesticides, or products with varied and
incalculable amounts of THC. We don't allow adulterated foods. We
have a Liquor Control Commission to regulate the distribution and
sale of alcohol. Why should medical marijuana be any different?

The voters intended to allow people with severe and debilitating
diseases to be treated with a substance that a doctor in a bona fide
doctor-patient relationship recommended. The public and the
individuals whom the act was designed to assist should also be
concerned with the purity, dosage and the source of the product.

In these days when we constantly are warned by the medical profession
about the dangers of smoking, it is difficult to imagine that
legitimate doctors would sign 75,121 certifications recommending
smoking for patients with debilitating diseases. Most of these
certifications were obtained through the cooperation of physicians
having questionable motives who have set up "certification shops"
cranking out unjustified certificates for minor ailments at an alarming rate.

The Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, as it stands today, does not
adequately protect the people it was designed to help, and it leaves
open questions of public safety and protection of minors. The
Legislature now needs to act to refine the law.