MEDICAL POT LAW WOULD BE WORKABLE IF PEOPLE WEREN'T HARASSED

In November 2008, a whopping 63% of Michigan's electorate affirmed
that "modern medical research ... has discovered beneficial uses for
marijuana in treating or alleviating the pain, nausea, and other
symptoms associated with a variety of debilitating medical
conditions."

Since then, however, various politicians, judges, prosecutors and cops
have been attempting to convince all of those voters that they were
bamboozled. A prevailing argument made by these naysayers is that the
Michigan Medical Marihuana Act is being abused by physicians and
patients who recommend and/or use marijuana to alleviate pain.

The reefer madness rhetoric advanced by those wishing to repeal the
MMMA is disingenuous and clearly intended to circumvent the will of
the people. Attorney General Bill Schuette and other like-minded
prosecutors throughout Michigan have been actively coordinating the
charge to destroy the MMMA. They make no secret of their intention to
whittle away at the law until its clearly defined legal protections
are virtually nonexistent.

When Schuette was still a sitting Court of Appeals judge, he led
Citizens Protecting Michigan's Kids, an organization that vehemently
opposed the MMMA. The propaganda distributed by Schuette's
anti-medical marijuana group stated that "a deliberate loophole in
Proposal 1 allows anyone arrested on any offense involving marijuana
to offer a 'medical' defense in court." And, a month before the MMMA
was passed, Schuette told the Lansing City Pulse that, "Nothing in
this ballot initiative would prohibit these pot shops and pot clubs
that have erupted in California."

Schuette's current position on those issues is now contrary to how he,
as a court of appeals judge, interpreted the MMMA before its passage.
His about-faces demonstrate that he'll do whatever it takes to
convince his former judicial colleagues to construe the law to his
liking.

In recent filings by Schuette's office with the Court of Appeals, he
argues that there are all kinds of circumstances in which individuals
arrested for marijuana offenses can be denied the right to present a
medical necessity defense. His legal briefs also contend that the
"language of the MMMA does not expressly permit the operation of
dispensaries, clubs, consignment shops, or any other type of business
or storefront at which marijuana is transferred, delivered, or sold
."

With all of that doubletalk, it's hard to tell who the citizens of
Michigan are supposed to believe: Attorney General Bill Schuette or
former Court of Appeals Judge Bill Schuette. These are only a couple
examples of the deceptive tactics Schuette has employed while
attempting to convince the masses that the sky is falling.

It doesn't take a genius to see that Schuette's obvious bias against
medical marijuana is clouding his judgment. Schuette and his
counterparts should stop persecuting medical marijuana patients and
start focusing their limited resources on putting away murderers,
rapists and other violent criminals. The voters in Michigan have
spoken, and it's time for their collective voices to be taken seriously.