ATTORNEY GENERAL SIDES WITH BURDICK'S STAND AGAINST COMPASSIONATE APOTHECARY

Michigan's medical marijuana law does not allow for-profit
dispensaries and an Isabella judge erred in allowing a Mt. Pleasant
business to stay open, the state attorney general said.

A state appellate court panel has already accepted Isabella Prosecutor
Larry Burdick's appeal of the local decision and agreed to hear it on
an expedited basis.

Attorney General Bill Schuette's support of the county's stand further
strengthens the case and points to the need for statewide answers,
Burdick said.

Schuette argues that the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act does not
authorize a for-profit club system of medical marijuana sales.

"The statute does not allow for patient-to-patient transactions or for
club owners to take possession of an amount of medical marijuana
exceeding established limits for qualified patients and caregivers,"
Schuette said.

Making essentially the same claim, Burdick sued last summer to close
Compassionate Apothecary, 311 Michigan Ave. in Mt. Pleasant, as a
public nuisance.

But Isabella Trial Court Judge Paul Chamberlain ruled in December
that, because dispensaries are not specifically prohibited in the act,
they are not a public nuisance.

Since then, new dispensaries have opened in Weidman and Mt. Pleasant,
and another is in the works for Rosebush.

"Marijuana is illegal in Michigan under the Controlled Substances Act,
and the MMMA concerns very specific exceptions with a specific
framework for when it is legal," Burdick said.

Schuette also backed appeal of an Oakland County case where defendants
without medical marijuana cards were allowed to use the act as a
defense in their possession cases.

"This law was intended to aid people with difficult or incurable
diseases, but some are attempting to exploit the law to essentially
legalize marijuana and that is wrong," said Schuette.

Burdick and others have encouraged the Michigan Legislature to address
the myriad of quirks and vague language in the Michigan law.

"It's a waste of resources to be addressing these issues
county-by-county," Burdick said.

Although conflicts with federal law might prohibit it, Burdick said
he'd favor dispensing medical marijuana through licensed existing
pharmacies with state oversight.

Instead, Michigan's law allows licensed patients to use marijuana
grown or obtained by their "designated caregiver."

Confusion over the law has led not only to marijuana dispensaries
across the state, but court cases as well.

Schuette also recently filed a brief in support of the Grand Traverse
County prosecutor's office, which is seeking to enforce the state ban
on driving with marijuana in a driver's system.

"Statewide determinations on these issues are needed, not only for
police and prosecutors, but also for patients and dispensaries,"
Burdick said.

An appellate court decision on whether or not to accept Schuette's
brief in the Isabella case is imminent.

Oral arguments are expected to occur in a matter of
weeks.

Burdick said he hopes to have an appellate decision by
mid-summer.

In the meantime, neither police nor prosecutors are likely to move
against new dispensaries; local precedence says they are allowed
because they are not prohibited, and therefore are not a nuisance.