Pubdate: Tue, 12 Jun 2012
Source: Traverse City Record-Eagle (MI)
Copyright: 2012 The Traverse City Record-Eagle
Contact: http://www.record-eagle.com/opinion/local_story_128175513.html
Website: http://www.record-eagle.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1336

MEDICAL POT RULING HELPS CLARIFY WHAT VOTERS SAID

After 18 months of conflicting court rulings, lawsuits and arrests, 
the Michigan Supreme Court has finally acknowledged what Michigan 
voters overwhelmingly intended in 2008: State residents, with an OK 
from their doctor, can use marijuana to treat medical issues like 
chronic pain, nausea from chemotherapy and other maladies without 
fear of prosecution.

It has been a long road from November 2008 to now, but at last the 
state's top court has plainly said those who have been given an OK by 
their doctor can use that approval as an affirmative defense against 
prosecution.

An attorney involved in one of two cases ruled on by the court said 
the decision was a clear-cut victory for medical marijuana patients 
and a rebuke to overly zealous police and prosecutors (and some 
Michigan Court of Appeals judges) who have attempted to enforce the 
marijuana law in the harshest way possible.

It was also a repudiation of state Attorney General Bill Schuette's 
hard-line attitude toward the ballot proposal and his continued 
urging for local police to come down hard on users and caregivers.

A Schuette spokeswoman disagreed; she said the ruling didn't 
"legalize marijuana broadly," that patients remain subject to limits 
on the amount of marijuana they can grow or possess and medical 
marijuana users must get a doctor's certification before using marijuana.

That's right on all three counts. But then again, nobody claimed 
otherwise; legalizing pot wasn't even on the agenda. What counts is 
that patients have the right to use and possess marijuana; and if 
they have a doctor's OK, they don't even need to register with the 
state Department of Community Health.

Even medical marijuana supporters say it still makes sense for 
patients to get state certification to avoid possible arrest and 
prosecution by law enforcement types who didn't get the memo. The 
bottom line is that the Supreme Court says the law provides "a safety 
net" for all legitimate patients.

This will hardly be the end of the medical marijuana debate. The 
Legislature recently took a tentative step toward sorting out the 
confusing infrastructure needed to codify the medical marijuana 
initiative. Issues still to be dealt with include the role caregivers 
can play, whether patients can sell pot to other patients and the 
legal standing of dispensaries or collectives.

Thankfully, the court has drawn a line on the most basic issue: If 
someone suffering chronic pain can get an OK from his or her doctor, 
they can use medical marijuana to deal with that pain.

Just what 63 percent of Michigan voters said in 2008.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom