Pubdate: Sun, 18 Mar 2012
Source: Ann Arbor News (MI)
Copyright: 2012 The Ann Arbor News
Contact: http://www.mlive.com/mailforms/aanews/letters/
Website: http://www.annarbor.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/20

LEGISLATURE NEEDS TO CLARIFY MICHIGAN'S MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW, NOT 
MAKE IT STRICTER

Michigan voters couldn't have been more clear about their intentions 
when they approved the Medical Marihuana Act by an overwhelming 
margin in 2008. They wanted to make marijuana legally available to 
people with chronic illnesses. Unfortunately, the law itself could 
hardly have been more vague. Its hazy language has created a legal 
mess that we'll be sorting out in the courts for the next couple of 
decades - unless either the Legislature or medical marijuana 
advocates themselves step in to provide much-needed clarity.

Lawmakers currently are taking a crack at amending the law, and we're 
underwhelmed by the attempt. Like too much of the approach we're seen 
so far, the reform measures seem driven more by an overzealous effort 
to restrict the availability of medical marijuana, rather than a 
sincere attempt to carry out the will of the people.

The reforms currently before the Legislature are primarily aimed at 
tightening the regulations on the cards required to purchase medical 
marijuana and how they are obtained - prohibiting, for instance, the 
practice of physicians certifying patients whom they haven't seen in person.

While the current system for getting a medical marijuana card is 
admittedly loose, we don't see tightening it as a legislative 
priority. The intent of the law was never to impose a restrictive 
approval process. If the Legislature is going to tackle this law, it 
should focus instead on the legal chaos that currently surrounds the 
question of "dispensaries'' that distribute medical marijuana.

Unfortunately, the Medical Marijuana Act offers no guidance on the 
issue. It authorizes the legal use of marijuana for medical purposes, 
but it is built around the concept that the patient grows his or her 
own marijuana, or receives it from a "caregiver,'' a grower who is 
allowed to supply up to five patients. In the real world, that ideal 
notion has not proven to be particularly workable. Many patients 
either can't or don't want to grow marijuana, and it's often hard for 
them to find someone who's willing to cultivate it for them. As a 
result, they turn to dispensaries, which quickly began to sprout up 
across Michigan, particularly in communities like Ann Arbor, which 
long has had a lenient attitude toward marijuana and strongly 
supports the concept of medical marijuana.

A dispensary is a facility that often resembles a storefront 
operation and that distributes medical marijuana. The Medical 
Marihuana Act says nothing about dispensaries; nor does it adequately 
define what compensation someone may take for providing medical 
marijuana to a patient. The result has been a hodge-podge of local 
ordinances, raids by law enforcement officials who don't recognize 
the legality of dispensaries, and years of litigation to come.

For the medical marijuana law to be carried out in the way voters 
intended, dispensaries should be explicitly allowed. We're convinced 
the public supports the concept. What we need right now - and clearly 
lack - is a legal basis statewide for dispensaries to exist and be 
regulated in a reasonable, consistent manner. On the local level, Ann 
Arbor has demonstrated how this can be done. City Council, working 
with local medical marijuana advocates, crafted a workable ordinance 
that seemed to satisfy everyone's concerns.

Ideally, we'd like to see advocates work with lawmakers on the state 
level to develop a coherent policy for dispensaries, much as was done 
here in Ann Arbor. But we're not optimistic that the Legislature 
could deliver anything like that in an election year, particularly 
given the prohibitive mindset that seems to prevail in Lansing.

In the four years since voters adopted the law, the problems created 
by its silence on the dispensary issue and by its vague wording in 
other areas have become readily apparent. Perhaps it is time for 
advocates of medical marijuana to bring forward another ballot 
proposal that offers the clarity that their original effort lacked. 
We don't underestimate the amount of work that would be involved in 
that, but we also are confident that voters would welcome such a 
measure and approve it with the same broad support they showed in 2008.

The alternative, we fear, will either be inadequate, restrictive 
legislation or a prolonged period of legal wrangling in the courts. 
It shouldn't be that complicated. The citizens of Michigan knew what 
they were voting for, and they heartily endorsed it. It's unfortunate 
to see this populist effort sucked into a legal quagmire that 
advocates may have to sort out themselves if they want their original 
intent to be honored.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart