COURT: LAW DOESN'T ALLOW MEDICAL MARIJUANA SALES

Michigan's medical marijuana law does not allow patient-to-patient
"sales" of marijuana nor does it allow for the sale of marijuana, the
Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.

The three judge panel said that the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act
"does not include the patient-to-patient 'sales' " and that an
Isabella County dispensary that sells the drug can be closed because
it's a public nuisance.

"It doesn't surprise me," said Livingston County Prosecutor David
Morse. "Every single court that has decided this issue has reached the
same conclusion, except the Isabella (County) court from which this
appeal arose. ... This case says what I have been saying and what
every court has ruled."

The decision can be applied to other cases, including the pending case
against Fowlerville-based Marshall Alternatives' owners Christi
Marshall, 37, and Alan Marshall, 39, and their employee, Stephanie
Baxter, 30, of Howell. The trio is charged with delivering marijuana
to an undercover narcotics officer who posed as a medical marijuana
patient.

The Marshalls did not return a message seeking comment.

Denise Pollicella, business attorney for Marshall Alternatives, said
the appeals court's decision is flawed because it begins with the
premise that "medical marijuana is a controlled substance" and the
MMMA says "when used for medical purposes, marijuana is not a
controlled substance."

"It's lousy legal reasoning and didn't follow the intent of the
voters," she said about the appeals court decision.

"Their logic was incredibly circular. I think it's an awful law,"
Pollicella added. "Not only is it a law based on the wrong premise and
not what the drafters of the act intended, it's not making it safe.
It's not making it easier to do or clear."

A lower court earlier ruled that the Mount Pleasant-based
Compassionate Apothecary operated within the law when its operators
allowed patients or caregivers to buy marijuana that other members had
stored in their lockers rented from the facility. The owners provided
the mechanism for the sales and took a 20 percent cut of the sale
price, according to court records.

The appellate judges, however, said that the medical marijuana law
doesn't include sales as "medical use," and therefore it does not
trump existing anti-drug laws.

"Defendants have no authority to actively engage in and carry out the
selling of marijuana between ... members," the order read. "We
conclude that defendant's operation ... is a public nuisance."

The ruling supports the Isabella County prosecutor's effort to close
the operation as a public nuisance that violates the state's Public
Health Code.

The unanimous order was signed by Judges Joel P. Hoekstra,
Chris-topher M. Murray and Cynthia Diane Stephens.

Howell Police Chief George Basar said the court's decision does not
help his officers enforce the law, but it does clarify that "there's
no provision in the law for (people) to dispense marijuana ... as they
have been."

"That law needs to be revised from top to bottom," the chief said.
"There are so many holes in the law it's like a sieve. The Legislature
is taking a look at it to close it up."

Pollicella said it's "going to be a bumpy road" and that the only way
for it to be fixed is by the state Supreme Court "or another
referendum or the creation of a legal dispensary."

Pollicella said she is hopeful the Legislature will act, but she
doubts it will because the medical marijuana issue "is worse than gay
rights or Social Security" issues in the political arena.

"No legislator is going to want to touch it," she said.