Editorial: Time to Clear Haze Around Medical Marijuana

[Jacob Bell]

Michigan voters left little doubt in 2008 that they support marijuana use for legitimate medical reasons. They said so in a voter referendum that passed easily. What they didn't really make clear is how medical marijuana should be bought and sold, and a host of other, smaller questions.

The result is a lot of confusion in communities throughout the state, from the people who enforce the law to those who should be allowed to use this drug with some restrictions. State lawmakers need to clear away the smoke on this issue.

The problem with the law is its vagueness. It allows the use of marijuana with a doctor's blessing but little else. There is no guidance in terms of how and where it should be bought and sold. One advocate for the law told us in 2008 simply that patients will always find a way to get marijuana.

While true, that's an invitation for the sort of confusion we are seeing now. Jackson, Summit Township and a host of other communities have put a halt to new marijuana dispensaries, where the drug can be bought, while lawyers seek out some clarity.

Speaking of lawyers, they are busy on other fronts, too. One criminal case, involving an Owosso medical marijuana user who is charged with a felony, reportedly is on a track that could lead to the Michigan Supreme Court. Other marijuana users have been prosecuted with felonies for offenses that stem from mere misunderstanding of the law.

And here's another one: Should a medical marijuana user be prosecuted for driving after smoking the drug? In our state, there's no definitive answer.

The medical marijuana law was destined to lead to some odd situations. There's still the fact that the drug is illegal at a federal level. It wasn't that long ago that federal officials raided legitimate clubs for marijuana users in other states.

Still, Michigan has created many of these issues for itself, starting with the voter referendum's silence on many questions. The easiest and most responsible way to end any doubts, and limit the legal cases, is for the Legislature to lay down some rules. Lawmakers could start by addressing a few questions:

- How should medical marijuana be bought and sold?

- If Michigan allows dispensaries, should local communities be allowed to say where they can and cannot open?

- The law allows users (or "caregivers") to grow limited amounts of marijuana. Are regulations on where they grow pot clear enough? What should be the penalty for good-faith mistakes?

- Should someone who has smoked pot for medical uses be allowed to drive?

There are some hard-liners in the Legislature who would like nothing more than to ban medical marijuana use altogether, but we believe the public's wishes must be respected. Michigan residents support use of this drug if it can relieve pain and suffering.

What no one has ever spelled out is the details. And as we are seeing, that ambiguity will continue to cause problems that will clog the courts and take up too much time of city councils and township boards.

Lawmakers have an opportunity to clear away most of these questions on medical marijuana. What's stopping them?


News Hawk- Jacob Husky 420 MAGAZINE
Source: mlive.com
Author: Jackson Citizen Patriot staff
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Michigan Live LLC
Website: Time to clear haze around medical marijuana

 

[HappyPlants]

Here's a great article about Michigan Medical Marihuana Program.
I came across it on the Michigan Medical Marihuana Association website.


* You cannot edit this article

*A Source of "Gray Areas"*
Many officials have made statements to the effect that the Medical
Marijuana Act of the state of Michigan is "hazy" with lots of "gray areas."

There may indeed be areas that are hazy. While that may be true, most of
the complaints of "gray areas" are simply an attempt to ignore the
voters of the State of Michigan.

Most laws are passed with the intent to somehow limit citizens. The
target of these laws was law abiding citizens one day and a criminal the
next. When most laws are passed, law enforcement runs classes or passes
on some indication about how to use this new tool to arrest people with.

*Then once in a great while, a law gets passed that limits the powers of
the government.*

Our MMA law is one of those kinds of laws. Instead of being a tool to
arrest people with, this law has a target of the government.

In a recent ruling, a Michigan court of appeals ruled the protections
given in the MMA are rights.

That elevates the need of the system to pay attention to the direct
order of the voters of Michigan. We are talking about civil rights
violations. It's time to shake the "gray" out of your head. You have had
nearly two years to come to understand the direct orders of the voters
of Michigan.

*Attention government officials This law is for YOU to obey.*

This law, the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, has direct orders within
it. These are civil rights that were granted to us by the voters of
Michigan. You are the ones that have legal boundaries that can't be crossed.

This is one source of "gray areas" that government officials claim to
see. They simply can't understand that they are no longer allowed to do
the things that are being done. *They don't understand that the voters
set limits on them.
*
Orders are given to police in this law. Orders are given to judges.
Orders are given to every sub-branch of bureaucratic government. A new
crime was defined that only an employee of any level of state or local
government can commit. And that crime carries a six month jail term.

Only a government official can commit this crime. Police officers are
supposed to go to jail, when they do this. I doubt that even one single
police department has warned their officers that they could go to jail
for this crime.

These direct orders, from the voters of Michigan, are civil rights.

These orders from the voters, these civil rights, include our
expectation that these officials obey their duty to perform.

One of the most basic of these orders is to the judges in our courts:
"*the case shall be dismissed.*"

This can not be directed to anyone but the judge. The defendant can not
dismiss their own case. It doesn't read "may be dismissed." It is in
terms of an absolute command. SHALL be dismissed.

It is a civil right to expect you to obey this direct command from the
voters. Judges have this duty to perform placed on them directly by the
voters. There is no option for them.

And this duty to perform was placed on them in every case "involving
marihuana." Every one! No exceptions! By order of the voters!

It's easy to see how resistance to this idea about citizens ordering
judges could generate a "gray area." It's much simpler to fail to
understand the order. An order about civil rights.

There are areas that are direct orders to police. Remember, these are
civil rights. Your duty to perform. A duty placed upon you by the people
of Michigan.

*To start with, you can't take our medicine. It is illegal to do that.*

Here's a quote of the section of law I'm talking about:

Section 4 (h) Any marihuana, marihuana paraphernalia, or licit property
that is possessed, owned, or used in connection with the medical use of
marihuana, as allowed under this act, or acts incidental to such use,
shall not be seized or forfeited.

You see, not only is the marijuana itself protected from you, *so is
everything around the marijuana*.

These things are not to be seized. You can't just take them anymore.
Whatever allowed police officers to reach out and take things before
12/4/2008 no longer applies. It is a civil right granted to us by the
voters to expect you to obey this order.

*You can't take it anymore. It's against the law.*

Not only is this an order to police, it is also an order to the courts
of Michigan. The police officer can not take it and no judge is allowed
to keep it. The duty of every police officer and judge in Michigan is to
obey. There is no legal option.

Police are rarely exposed to new civil rights. When these kinds of
events take place, it is typical to expect resistance. Think of the late
50's and early 60's. It took a very long time to get our legal systems
to comply with direct orders.

These are simple things, within the MMA, to understand. These orders are
not "gray" at all.

You can't take or keep our stuff and the case must be dismissed. See!!
Very simple.

New rights. Very simple.

MDCH patient/caregiver records are another area of rights. They are
already protected by federal and state law. But there's a new law in
town. The MMA adds a new layer of protection.

Messing with these records is a whole new crime. And as I've been
pointing out, a civil rights crime. We have a civil right to expect
government officials to be arrested when they break this law. By order
of the voters of Michigan.

Here is the section of law I'm talking about:

*Section 6 (h) The following confidentiality rules shall apply:

(1) Applications and supporting information submitted by qualifying
patients, including information regarding their primary caregivers and
physicians, are confidential.*

(2) The department shall maintain a confidential list of the persons to
whom the department has issued registry identification cards.
*Individual names and other identifying information on the list is
confidential* and is exempt from disclosure under the freedom of
information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246.

(3) The department shall verify to law enforcement personnel whether a
registry identification card is valid, without disclosing more
information than is reasonably necessary to verify the authenticity of
the registry identification card.

(4) A person, including an employee or official of the department or
another state agency or *local unit of government, who discloses
confidential information in violation of this act is guilty of a
misdemeanor,* punishable by imprisonment for not more than 6 months, or
a fine of not more than $1, 000.00, or both. Notwithstanding this
provision, department employees may notify law enforcement about
falsified or fraudulent information submitted to the department.

This information is very sensitive. If the information is accessed by
thieves, it places the very lives of the patients and caregivers at risk.

For nearly two yeas now, regular police and court procedure has placed
these lives at risk. And they have done so by confiscating records of
patients that contain their name address, medical condition, ability to
grow marijuana or the address of the person growing for them. These
documents have been made public court record and passed around police
agencies. This information has been published in newspapers and by way
of press conference

We have been given, by way of civil right, the expectation of the legal
system to arrest persons that have committed these crimes.

It is difficult for a police officer to understand that they are
expected to arrest other officers. Here is another "gray area".
Disbelief is what generates this "gray area" in the minds of officials.

Police can and do, go to jail for civil rights violations.

The leadership of police agencies statewide did a disservice to their
officers by failing to teach them they could go to jail for violating
this act. It isn't the responsibility of the medical marijuana community
to teach them about it. Break the law, go to jail. No "Gray Area" there
at all.

*Please stop passing these confidential documents around the office and
exposing them in court records.

And please start enforcing this law.

It is a protection we expect and it is an order of the voters of this
state.*

Happy spring!

 

[sinbad]

This should be mandatory reading for everyone here-great editorial! Our MMA law does have a lot of grey areas, but the areas we're (patients) are still living in fear of prosecution are the very ones we're (patients) are the most protected from those who are sworn to protect us. Funny, we(patients) have to fear those in power...