HOW COMPASSIONATE APOTHECARY WORKS

Matt Taylor and Brandon McQueen opened Compassionate Apothecary in
Mt. Pleasant May 1.

How the business operates was a point of contention in a motion filed
in Isabella County Trial Court to obtain a temporary restraining
order and a preliminary injunction to stop Compassionate Apothecary
from doing business.

Taylor is a registered primary caregiver, and McQueen is a registered
qualifying patient as well as a registered primary caregiver.

In an opinion filed in Isabella County Trial Court Thursday, Chief
Judge Paul Chamberlain explained that McQueen and Taylor only approve
an applicant for membership if the applicant is registered as a
qualifying patient or a primary caregiver with the Michigan
Department of Community Health.

Once an applicant becomes a member, he or she pays a membership fee,
receives a membership number and may lease a locker in which to store
medical marijuana, Chamberlain said in the opinion.

Members of the apothecary purchase or sell medical marijuana among
other members, and frequently, a member registered as a primary
caregiver receives permission from his or her registered qualifying
patient to store medical marijuana at the apothecary and to sell the
drug to other members, Chamberlain said in the opinion.

"Thus, the registered qualifying patient owns the medical marijuana
at all times," he said. "The members determine the price of the marijuana.

"(Taylor and McQueen's) business does not own, purchase, or sell any
marijuana; however, (the two) collect locker rental fees, membership
fees and receive 20 percent of the sales price per transfer."

Chamberlain also noted that the business pays sales tax to the state
of Michigan for each transfer.

Taylor and McQueen have 27 storage lockers and, because the Michigan
Medical Marijuana Act permits a specific amount of medical marijuana
a registered qualifying patient or registered primary caregiver may
possess, McQueen and Taylor keep records of the amount of marijuana
in each of the lockers, Chamberlain said.

The two prohibit growing or smoking of the drug on the apothecary
property and refuse to allow any transfer of marijuana into their
lockers from anyone who is not a member, or transfers from the
lockers to non-members, the judge said.