WEST MICHIGAN DISPENSARIES FEARFUL AFTER STATE COURT OF APPEALS KILLS
METHOD OF DISTRIBUTING MEDICAL MARIJUANA

SAUGATUCK TOWNSHIP -- At Good Intentions Paving Co., a medical
marijuana dispensary, Tammy Jacobi planned to close down over fears
the police might do it for her.

Her concerns could be well-founded, since a state Court of Appeals
ruling Wednesday essentially determined dispensaries are illegal.

Attorney General Bill Schuette wasted no time in encouraging county
prosecutors to consider taking action to close the numerous shops that
have opened around Michigan since voters approved the medical
marijuana law in 2008.

He planned to send a letter to all county prosecutors advising that
the court ruling "empowers them to close dispensaries" based on the
state's nuisance laws.

"If the police say there cannot be any sales of marijuana at a
dispensary, then this impacts everyone," said Jacobi, who opened her
dispensary on Blue Star Highway in late May. "This has made every
transaction for marijuana illegal."

The Court of Appeals decision hinged on an Isabella County case
involving a medical marijuana dispensary called Compassionate Apothecary.

In the long-awaited opinion, the court said the state's medical
marijuana law does not allow patient-to-patient marijuana sales.

The Compassionate Apothecary collects a $5 monthly membership fee from
medical marijuana caregivers and patients. It allows them to rent
lockers and store small amounts of marijuana there, then allows for
patient-to-patient sales of marijuana while collecting a 20 percent
fee for facilitating sales.

The appeals court said dispensaries violate both the law and the
public health code. The panel -- Judges Joel Hoekstra, Christopher
Murray and Cynthia Diane Stephen -- said an Isabella County trial judge
erred in an earlier ruling by saying dispensary operators do not
"possess" marijuana but merely facilitate its storage in lockers
rented by members.

"Defendants have no authority to actively engage in and carry out the
selling of marijuana between members," the panel ruled, calling the
operation a "public nuisance."

The decision is expected to be appealed to the state Supreme Court,
which has a solid conservative majority.

Jacobi said she does not operate in the same manner as Compassionate
Apothecary and does not believe her shop violates the law. Still, she
is worried.

"We are not allowing patients to transfer between themselves," she
said. "To make a ruling on one operational model that effectively
closes all dispensaries is shortsighted."

She and other dispensary owners say their shops are needed because
many patients, who also are qualified as their own caregivers, simply
do not have the time or resources to grow their own marijuana.

"If you are a sick person, you're not going to be able to endure
growing marijuana. We need the state to provide us with a way to get
the medicine to patients, and that's what hasn't happened," Jacobi
said.

Matt Abel, an attorney for Cannabis Counsel in Detroit, represents
about 10 dispensaries around the state and said the appeals court made
the wrong analysis in the opinion.

"I think this shows the need for dispensary legislation in Michigan,"
he said. "And if we can't get that, I think it's time for the citizens
to just legalize it altogether."

Abel said some dispensaries may have to shut down, but others probably
can remain open, depending on the attitude of various county
prosecutors.

"These shops are going to be funneled into jurisdictions that are
friendly to them," he said.

At a Grand Rapids-area medical marijuana dispensary, a co-owner who
did not want to be named said his operation works on a donation system
from so-called customers.

"Who is going to grow (marijuana) anymore if you can't disburse it
through dispensaries?" he asked. "People don't want to pay the
electric bill."

Another dispensary owner with a Grand Rapids shop, who also wanted to
remain anonymous, said the current law leaves gaps for patients.

"The law doesn't say how you can obtain marijuana," he said. "In my
opinion, it's crazy. How can you have something and you can't obtain
it?"