STATE NEEDS TO CLARIFY MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW

The medical marijuana issue hasn't changed much in the past year.

In fact, not much has changed in the past two years, since voters
approved the law in November 2008 and it went into effect in January 2009.

It remains a convoluted, vague and confusing regulation that has
stirred strong debate and created legal conflicts pitting supporters
of the legislation against law enforcement officers and local
community officials.

Clearly, while solving Michigan's structural deficit and making the
state more business friendly to revive the sagging economy are the
top priorities of the new Legislature, high on the to-do list should
be fixing the medical marijuana law.

Trying to figure out how to regulate the substance has been a constant problem.

Under the law, Michigan's more than 45,000 licensed medical marijuana
patients can possess up to 21/2 ounces of usable marijuana and have
up to 12 plants kept in an enclosed, locked facility - or have a
registered caregiver grow the drug for them.

However, some police agencies want a better system to verify the
authenticity of authorization cards. Physicians must certify patients
would benefit from the pain-reducing aspects of marijuana, but it's
left to the patients to register with the state and to self-regulate
the amount and quality of the drug they take.

Advocates say nothing in the law prohibits dispensaries and
collective growing facilities, and that communities are ignoring the
will of Michigan voters by cracking down on those businesses.

However, many Michigan communities have said state law isn't clear or
is largely silent on how the drug can be grown and distributed by
anyone other than patients or caregivers, or how plants and seeds can
be bought in the first place. Marijuana, after all, remains a
federally banned substance.

Oakland County narcotics agents raided two medical marijuana
dispensaries this summer after they sold the drug to deputies
carrying phony state ID cards.

Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union has sued Birmingham and
Bloomfield Hills in Oakland County and Livonia and Wyoming in the
metro area over their efforts to restrict or ban marijuana sales.
Generally, local governments counter that they are trying to make
sure illegal drug dealing and other crimes don't take place in the
absence of a clear state law.

Local officials are wise to closely examine how the drug is sold to
prevent or at least limit its illegal use. It's easy to tug at a
voter's heartstrings and say that marijuana will help ease the pain
of those suffering from terminal illnesses. We hope it does. But
there are also other drugs that help reduce pain and those are highly
regulated.

Considering what could happen if the drug falls into the wrong hands,
the stricter the regulations on its distribution, the better.

That's why the Legislature, as busy as it will be in 2011, must
clarify this law to halt the expensive lawsuits and law enforcement
costs that have been mounting since the law went into effect.

Because of the ballot issue, it appears we're going to have to live
with some type of medical marijuana distribution and use.

So, maybe taxing it and putting the revenue toward Medicaid, Medicare
or schools is in order.

As the old saying goes, when you get lemons, try making lemonade. But
first, straighten out the recipe with clearer laws.