Pubdate: Mon, 05 Mar 2012
Source: Livingston County Daily Press & Argus (MI)
Copyright: 2012 Livingston Daily Press & Argus
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/Kk1qVKJf
Website: http://www.livingstondaily.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4265
Author: Christopher Behnan

ATTORNEY: CLARIFY MEDICAL POT LAW

Michigan's medical marijuana program should be better regulated but is
in peril because of a "serious perception problem" in Lansing and the
legal system, Howell attorney Denise Pollicella said.

On Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee took testimony from medical
marijuana organizations on legislation that would create new
requirements for registered medical marijuana patients.

Pollicella said the Republican-led Legislature is trying to revamp on
a piecemeal basis what many consider a vague law.

"My overall take is that until medical cannabis begins to be viewed as
an actual alternative form of medication first instead of as a
controlled substance, (an) illicit substance ... we are not going to
get anywhere," she said.

Pollicella was a business attorney for the former Marshall
Alternatives medical marijuana dispensary in Handy Township, which was
raided by LAWNET one year ago last Friday. Dispensary operators were
charged with drug offenses.

The Michigan Medical Marihuana Act was enacted after voters in 2008
approved an initiative permitting the use and cultivation of marijuana
for medical purposes.

The bipartisan bill package discussed Thursday -- House Bills 4834,
4851, 4853 and 4856 -- contain several proposals, including requiring
photo identification on patient registry cards; defining a "bona fide
physician-patient relationship" to include an in-person physical exam;
and regulating the transportation of medical marijuana.

The bills would protect public safety while ensuring those in need of
medical marijuana have access to it, said state Rep. Ben Glardon, R-Owosso.

Glardon sponsored the bill that would prohibit transportation of
medical marijuana unless it is enclosed in a case or where it is
inaccessible from inside a vehicle.

"Driving under the influence of this drug is already a crime, so it's
only common sense to set limits on motorists who use medical
marijuana," Glardon said in a statement.

Officials like Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette, who opposed
the 2008 initiative, have drowned out the voices of patients and
caregivers, Pollicella said. Schuette has said the medical marijuana
law "has been hijacked by drug dealers who want to make money, line
their pockets and make a huge profit."

Pollicella said the medical marijuana community has policed itself
nearly seamlessly since the law was enacted. She said that has been
made difficult by proposals that treat caregivers like "back-alley
drug dealers," rather than people delivering medicine to ailing patients.

She said the program has suffered from a lack of support from
lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, and from a failure by state
officials to enforce its rules.

"I absolutely from the inside watched the medical marijuana
industry-slash-community do a bang-up job of self-regulating to a
point where it was a well-oiled, self-regulated machine where people
were able to go to dispensaries" and purchase high-quality marijuana
at reasonable prices, Pollicella said.

"I don't think we need more legislation, and I don't think we need any
more bills. I think we need comprehensive, sensible regulation," she
added.

Tyrone Township resident John Macintosh is a registered medical
marijuana patient to treat sciatica, a nerve ailment in the leg.

He said he supports some of the proposals, such as the photo
identification measure, but is most concerned with how difficult it
has become to obtain his medicine.

Macintosh said applicants from the start face an obstacle in receiving
their registry cards. The law requires certifications to be received
within 20 days, but it's often about three months before they are in
hand, he said.

He usually travels to Genesee County or Ann Arbor to obtain his
marijuana because there is little, if any, access to certified
facilities in Livingston County.

Of greatest concern is the rights of patients and certified caregivers
who supply those patients, Macintosh said. He said a petition drive is
being planned to get a proposal protecting medical marijuana patients
on the November ballot.

"We're basically against everything right now because they're not
helping the current issues as far as everything that they're trying to
change," Macintosh said.

"These things need to change," he added.

The state has admitted to a backlog on issuing registry identification
cards. The law doesn't allow the state to supply patients with seeds
or starter plants, or give advice on how to grow medical marijuana.

It should be noted that marijuana remains an illegal substance in
Michigan, and that medical marijuana patients are not protected from
federal drug laws.

The legislative process is needed to update or change the medical
marijuana law, state Rep. Bill Rogers, R-Genoa Township, said.

Rogers said he was initially flooded with calls from local and county
government officials unsure how to enforce the medical marijuana law
in their communities.

The issue has been debated heavily in Livingston County, particularly
by local government officials unsure how the law applies to their
zoning rules.

The law may need to be updated, in particular, to ensure medical
marijuana is reaching those in need of it to treat chronic ailments,
Rogers said.

"You want to make sure that's what's really transpiring," he
said.

Rogers said he's particularly concerned about the potential of medical
marijuana patients getting behind the wheel under the influence of the
controlled substance.

He said it's unclear if those using marijuana legally to treat
ailments would face the same charges as drivers who use the drug
illegally and are pulled over.

"These are the kinds of questions that I will be asking," Rogers said.
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