Pubdate: Fri, 22 Apr 2011
Source: Holland Sentinel (MI)
Copyright: 2011 GateHouse Media, Inc.
Contact: http://extra.hollandsentinel.com/submitletter.shtml
Website: http://www.hollandsentinel.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1145
Author: Don Wickstra, Community Advisory Board
Note: Don Wickstra is a member of the Heath Township Planning Commission.
Referenced: Michigan Medical Marijuana Act http://drugsense.org/url/8mvr7sW8
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?275 (Cannabis - Michigan)

LEGISLATURE NEEDS TO END CONFUSION OVER MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Hamilton, MI - In November 2008, Michigan voters passed the Michigan 
Medical Marijuana Act by on overwhelming 63 percent majority. The 
intent of the law was to provide marijuana to patients suffering from 
a "debilitating medical condition." Clearly Michigan citizens felt 
compassion for this unique group of patients and sought a measure to 
help relieve their suffering. Now it gets interesting!

While on the surface the act seem simple enough - just provide 
marijuana to those in need - the enactment becomes a significant 
challenge. The law was written with the end result in mind without 
spelling out the means to get there. Voters responded to the concept 
without being aware of the logistics. As is often the case, the final 
result may be different from the original intent.

Currently, most cities and townships are wrestling with a method of 
implementing this new law. There are significant challenges. The act 
allows for an individual to grow his own marijuana and allows for a 
"caregiver" to grow plants for five patients. Officials need to 
decide, and in some cases legislate, where should these growers be 
located in the community, should growers be allowed to join into some 
type of large-scale operation, should marijuana be consumed on the 
premises, and should this activity be allowed in neighborhoods and 
near schools and churches?

Most local townships are considering zoning ordinances to regulate 
the location and nature of these growing operations. Since the law is 
quite vague on implementation, and there is little precedence to 
guide officials, this is proving to be and expensive and 
time-consuming task. The state looks like a patchwork quilt with a 
variety of ordinances which vary significantly from township to 
township. This variety in interpretation is sure to set the stage for 
numerous legal challenges and significant added costs.

The other factor is privacy. Because of the medical nature of the 
product and security issues involved, most caregivers would not be 
required to register with the township and thus there would be no 
oversight, inspections or accountability. While a small home business 
in a residential zone that sold almost any other product would 
require a special permit and a public hearing, the marijuana 
caregiver would be exempt. In an era when everything is inspected and 
controlled, there is currently no method to verify quality, 
cleanliness, or purity of the product delivered.

I would propose that the issue be revisited by legislators at the 
state level. We should remove the burden from local government. This 
is a medical product, prone to abuse, still federally illegal, and 
should be regulated and controlled by the state as it does other 
prescription drugs. It would be far more beneficial to the community 
and to the patients to have the product grown in an industrial 
setting. There would be security, quality control and even potential 
price controls.

We have a distribution network in place for prescription drugs. It is 
called a pharmacy. The drug could be delivered in the prescribed 
manner by a trained pharmacist. As with other prescriptions, he would 
be able to advise the patient about potential drug interactions, 
risks, etc. Records would be kept, stored and shared on a database as 
we currently do for other controlled substances. This would help 
prevent abuse and overuse.

Michigan voters have shown themselves to be a compassionate group. 
The state's own estimate places up to 80 percent of the current legal 
marijuana use as possibly not a medical necessity. Let's bring the 
issue out of the dark and into the light. Our voters and patients 
deserve no less.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake