Pubdate: Wed, 19 Nov 2008
Source: County Press, The (Lapeer, MI)
Copyright: 2008 The County Press
Contact:  http://www.lapeergroup.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4501
Author: Brittany Kinstle
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW HAZY, OFFICIALS WARN

LANSING -- Voters made it clear that Michigan can allow marijuana to 
relieve patients suffering from cancer, glaucoma and other 
debilitating medical conditions.

Although the 63-37 percent ratio in favor of Proposal 1 makes the 
will of the public decisive, uncertainty reigns among state law 
enforcement agencies.

The proposal takes effect Dec. 4.

The Bureau of Health Professionals under the Department of Community 
Health will have 120 days after that date to draft and finalize rules 
for a medical marijuana program. The registry program will be 
complete by April 4.

Terry Jungel, executive director at the Michigan Sheriffs' 
Association, called the transition period between the effective date 
of the proposal and established rules a "gray area."

"People exploit loopholes in every law, and they will in this one," 
Jungel said.

James Valentine, chief of police in Lowell, said the language of the 
proposal leaves law enforcers with inadequate guidelines.

"I'm surprised this will take effect so soon without specific rules," 
he said. "How do we operate in between?"

Envision a late-night traffic stop, he said, where cannabis is found 
and the driver claims that a terminally ill uncle, who is in extreme 
pain, left it in the car.

"We don't want folks suddenly becoming criminals because they're in 
possession of this and didn't realize they don't have the authority," 
Valentine said.

Valentine said he's instructing his department to continue handling 
marijuana cases under current state controlled substance laws.

The key to clearing the haze of medical marijuana enforcement 
confusion comes with a closer look at how the Proposal 1 initiative 
will become law.

The law vests responsibility for implementation and administration 
with Community Health. That requires the department to establish 
rules and to create a medical marijuana registry system with 
identification cards.

Details are not yet available, but James McCurtis, press information 
officer for Community Health, said rules will cover application 
processing fees, membership costs once a patient is registered and 
criteria for acquiring membership to the program.

The department will draft clear guidelines for the program, he said, 
so qualified patients receive identification cards and unqualified ones don't.

"Everything is still the same in the transition phase until April 4 
because there's no program in force," McCurtis said. "Without an 
established program, there's nothing people can do except wait if 
they need marijuana for medical purposes."

Joining the program won't be instantaneous. After a patient or 
caregiver applies, it will take 20 days until each application is 
processed and approved, with an identification card issued as the last step.

Michigan joins a dozen other medical marijuana states and is the 
first in the Midwest to adopt such legislation. Others include 
California, Alaska, Maine, Nevada, Washington and Hawaii.

South Dakota is the only state where a medical marijuana ballot 
initiative failed to get voter approval.

The Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project and the Michigan 
Coalition for Compassionate Care campaigned for Proposal 1.

Uncertainty among law enforcement officers is understandable because 
they must adapt to a new system, said Dan Bernath, assistant director 
of communications at the Marijuana Policy Project.

"They are worrying about a problem that has never really occurred 
anywhere and can be solved by using the same common sense they're 
required to use every day to keep streets and communities safe," Bernath said.

Actual problems arising from the transition have been rare, he said. 
"It has never been a problem in other states that have passed it by 
ballot initiative and legislation. It's difficult to imagine where 
the problem is."

While the new law allows registered patients and caregivers to 
harvest and possess the drug, it doesn't specify other ways it can be 
obtained. Under federal law, the purchase of marijuana seeds and 
plants is illegal.

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) "targets criminals engaged in 
cultivation and trafficking, not the sick and dying," the federal agency says.

California's law, similar to Michigan's, allows patients and their 
caregivers to cultivate medicinal marijuana.

But state laws do not prevent the DEA from targeting patients 
regardless of individual state law protections. Americans for Safe 
Access, a national legal advocacy group that supports medical 
marijuana therapy and research, estimates the federal agency raided 
more than 50 medical marijuana dispensaries in California last year.

President-elect Barack Obama has promised to end federal raids on 
medical marijuana patients and their caregivers in states with laws 
similar to Michigan's. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake