Pubdate: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 Source: Press and Guide (Dearborn, MI) Copyright: 2012 Press and Guide Contact: http://www.pressandguide.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5196 LET'S CLARIFY MARIJUANA LAWS, ENFORCEMENT A cat unsure of its welcome can creep into its owner's lap at a quarter-inch per second. Pussyfooting - that's how we see the moves toward full legalization of marijuana in Michigan, going back to the 2008 campaign to legalize its medical use. It seemed an open secret at the time that creeping toward full legalization was the ultimate goal. Whatever Michigan residents thought about the initiative they eventually approved, its intent seemed clear enough: It would permit individuals with a physician's certification to use marijuana to grow up to a dozen plants for their own use. It would permit them to retain 21/2 ounces of marijuana from their own plants or from a grower, and permit a grower, a "caregiver," to grow up to 12 plants each for a maximum of five users. The resulting enabling law goes no further than that. But its enforcement and response from a community of users and growers has made a mish-mash of the issue. The law never envisioned "dispensaries." It set out what seemed to be a very small cottage industry. So subsequent rulings outlawing dispensaries, or any means of distribution other than that approved by voters and spelled out in the statute, seem to us simply to uphold the initiative and the law. The outcry which has followed rulings outlawing dispensaries predicts dire consequences for those with various medical conditions and physician's certificate, including images of little old ladies being forced to meet their seller out on a street corner. The preamble to the enabling act notes that growing and use of marijuana remain illegal under federal law, but that virtually all arrests and prosecutions on marijuana charges in Michigan are under state law. If state laws are lenient, prosecution under federal law is unlikely. So perhaps it's time to stop pussyfooting around the issue of legalizing marijuana in Michigan. Perhaps it's time to have a full discussion of the pros and cons. Whatever the result, where marijuana is legal and where it's not need to be crystal clear. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom