SCHUETTE GETS CHEESY

AG Would Define Law So Narrowly You'd Need a Foot in the Grave To Qualify

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette came out swinging against
medical marijuana a couple of weeks ago when he held a press
conference to announce what could well be called his "Swiss cheese
offensive." Surrounded by a group of legislators, law enforcement
officers and health care professionals, Schuette said that the
Michigan Medical Marihuana Act had been "hijacked" by drug dealers
and profiteers, and that the law has "as many holes as Swiss cheese."

Rep. John Walsh (R-Livonia) repeated the allusion in saying that
there is an eight-bill package in the state Legislature that will
"define and fill in those holes in that Swiss cheese."

I bet they don't malign Swiss cheese like that when they order a ham
on rye sandwich at the local deli. The bottom line is that Schuette
was against the MMMA before it was enacted and he's against it now
that it's law.

John Sinclair discussed many of these pending bills in last week's
column, so I won't go into details. However, since the MMMA is a fact
of law, Schuette and his cohorts intend to define it so narrowly that
you practically have to have a foot in the grave to qualify for
relief. In his press conference, Schuette opined that the law was
designed, packaged and sold with the intent that medical marijuana
would be for people with "terminal illness" and to manage "pain at
the end of life" but that the bill has been "hijacked by pot profiteers."

Schuette and company railed against dispensaries as dangerous to
children, sounded the alarm about driving while stoned and threatened
doctors who they say don't have a true relationship with patients
they give recommendations to. Although they made big deals out of a
few examples of people running afoul of the law, the speeches seemed
to be much bigger on platitudes and arguments against the character
of people involved in medical marijuana than on pertinent facts. It
seemed like another scare-people-out-of-their-socks tactic from the
drug war playbook.

Actually all of those things are concerns that many of the state's
medical marijuana organizations have expressed and taken steps to
address. However, rather than try to work with forces within the
community to regulate the industry in a cooperative manner, Schuette
has chosen a cheesy attitude.

"Whenever Bill Schuette scares people, it makes it easier for me to
do my job," says Rick Thompson, editor of Michigan Medical Marijuana
Magazine. "Whenever he's in the newspaper, people start calling me to
know about the changes to the law. We have a ton of people who seek
our advice. All of our compassion centers around the state take a lot
of calls when he's in the paper like that."

Thompson defines his job as selling the magazine, organizing
activists and educating the public.

Despite the efforts of Thompson and other activists, lately the legal
tide seems to be flowing against medical marijuana in Michigan.
Legislators are coming out against it. Walsh mentioned that there may
be a few more bills added to the package so we don't know the
entirety of what will be coming down this fall. Recently, Wayne
County Circuit Court Judge Wendy Baxter dismissed a suit brought by
the American Civil Liberties Union against a Livonia law banning
medical marijuana. In another case, 70-year-old Barb Agro, a
card-carrying medical marijuana patient, was found guilty of growing
marijuana in Oakland County Circuit Court. In Agro's and other
Oakland County cases, judges have ruled that defendants cannot use
the MMMA as a defense when they face marijuana-related charges
because of technical violations of the law.

Medical marijuana supporters are feeling the pressure and pushing
back. There is a rally in support of the MMMA scheduled to take place
on the front steps of the state Capitol at noon Sept. 7. Organizers
say it's going to be the biggest rally yet, because all of the
statewide and some national organizations have signed on to
participate. In the past, there has been bickering between some
organizations regarding focus and tactics, but everyone seems to be
on board for this one.

"Finally we're closing ranks, everybody is getting together," says
Tim Beck, political director for the Michigan Association of
Compassion Centers. "The community is coming together. The prospect
of execution has a way of clearing one's mind."

Plans for the rally include an airplane flying over the area with a
banner message for Schuette. Thompson says that the Teamsters union
(which represents some medical marijuana compassion center workers)
will send a busload of supporters to the rally.

"We are trying to inform legislators that the citizenry does not
support changes to the law," Thompson says. "It's significant that
Schuette surrounded himself with law enforcement and prosecutors.
Those are the people who are pushing changes to the medical marijuana
law, not the patients."

It could be a very interesting day in Lansing. In addition to the
MMMA supporters, the controversial Koran-burning Rev. Terry Jones,
who has a court appearance scheduled in Detroit on Sept. 8, also has
a rally scheduled on the back steps of the state Capitol on Sept. 7.
Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero is planning a counter-Jones peace rally
for the day. There could be a lot of media around, possibly national,
to carry a message far and wide.

Could there be an epic comedy of errors in Lansing? Terry Jones burns
a Koran. The police smell the smoke and use it as an excuse to arrest
the entire crowd of medical marijuana supporters. Then Bernero
decides to free demonstrators if they agree to be deputized to
control the Jones crowd.

It's far-fetched, but these are volatile times. Anything could happen.

The legal challenge brought by the Coalition for a Safer Detroit
against the Detroit Election Commission moved along recently with
final oral arguments to the state appeals court. In a nutshell, the
CSD is the organization behind the petition drive to put on the
ballot the decriminalization of possession of 1 ounce or less of
marijuana by an adult on private property in Detroit. The Election
Commission refused to put the question on last year's ballot,
claiming the proposal ran counter to state law. CSD challenged the
Election Commission. A lower court sided with the commission against
the CSD appeal. On Aug. 10, the final stage of oral arguments in the
appeal took place before Judges Henry Saad, Elizabeth Gleicher and
Jane Markey. They could rule on the case at any time now.

The basic question is whether a municipality can have a statute that
runs counter to state law. If the court rules that it can't, there
are implications across the state for municipalities that already
have them. For instance, Detroit has a needle exchange program on the
books (although it's unfunded and not operational) that is illegal
under state law.

"One way or the other, the implications are stunning," says Tim Beck,
who is also part of the CSD. "This is turning out to be a bigger deal
than I ever thought."

If the court rules for the CSD, Detroiters could see it on the ballot
as soon as this November. That is, if the state allows the proposed
city charter to be voted on in this election cycle. That is
questionable because the governor and attorney general have
objections to several provisions in the proposed charter.