Pubdate: Mon, 18 Feb 2013
Source: Detroit Free Press (MI)
Copyright: 2013 Detroit Free Press
Contact: http://www.freep.com/article/99999999/opinion04/50926009
Website: http://www.freep.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/125
Author: Bill Laitner

STATE REP TO INTRODUCE BILL TO ALLOW MEDICAL POT DISTRIBUTION

Operators of Michigan's medical marijuana distribution facilities are 
hiding behind steel doors with peepholes and growing warier than ever 
of strangers after a state Supreme Court ruling this month turned 
them into outlaws.

That's the word from marijuana users, cannabis lawyers and operators 
of facilities called dispensaries and compassion clubs.

"Nobody I know in this state is advertising this service anymore -- 
it's all going to be word-of-mouth from now on," said Holice Wood, 
owner of a compassion club where medical marijuana users come to use the drug.

But a bill expected to be introduced Tuesday in Lansing could change 
how they operate.

State Rep. Mike Callton, a Republican from Nashville in southwest 
Michigan, is sponsoring a bill that would leave it up to local 
officials or residents to decide if they want their community to 
allow dispensaries and clubs -- the terms widely used in other states 
for shops that distribute medical marijuana.

Although a similar bill died in committee last year, Callton said 
this year's bill has a better chance of passing because it comes with 
up-front GOP support -- eight Republicans are cosponsors. Another 
eight cosponsors are Democrats.

"I'm a Republican and I'm from a conservative area, but I've seen 
growing support from a lot of other legislators for this from both 
parties," Callton said.

"And now, with this court ruling, it becomes much more important," he 
said, referring to a Supreme Court ruling Feb. 8 that has been widely 
interpreted to make dispensaries illegal. Callton's proposal, House 
Bill 4271, would allow each community in the state to decide 
individually whether it wanted to allow dispensaries, and where, Callton said.

"I want people to be able to take a recommendation for (marijuana) 
from their doctor -- we're not calling it a prescription; the 
pharmacy people told me that was their word -- and be able to go to 
what we're calling a provisionary center," Callton said.

Wood, 45, runs the Trans-Love Energies compassion club near Eastern 
Market in Detroit. It's one of an estimated two dozen dispensaries 
and similar facilities in Detroit, and more than 100 in Michigan, all 
running scared, he said.

Many have closed their doors, while those remaining are operating out 
of sight and in fear of police raids, he said.

"I believe I can stay in business. We're a totally private club," 
Wood insisted Friday.

Meanwhile, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette is planning to 
instruct all 83 Michigan county prosecutors to shut down anything 
resembling a dispensary -- the letters are going out this week, a 
spokeswoman said Friday.

Known as the first chiropractor to be elected to the Michigan 
Legislature, Callton adjusts the spines of other legislators at his 
Lansing office during breaks from House sessions, and he's active on 
the House Health Policy Committee.

"I see medical marijuana as a health care issue. I know a lot of 
people -- I have patients -- who have clearly benefitted" from 
medical marijuana, he said.

Lacking a regulatory structure, there are dispensaries and clubs that 
"feel like a drug den" while others are very professional, Callton said.

"I want all dispensaries to pass the grandma test. Your grandma 
should feel safe in there," he said.

Callton's bill is almost sure to be opposed by the Michigan Attorney 
General's Office, which declared last week through a spokeswoman that 
no new legislation was needed to regulate medical marijuana.

"The Michigan Supreme Court issued a straightforward ruling, and we 
see no immediate need for legislation at this time," spokeswoman Joy 
Yearout said.

Many local and law enforcement officials are skeptical about allowing 
dispensaries.

"As a retired police officer, I'd want there to be very tight 
controls on this -- very tight," said Roseville Mayor John Chirkun. 
"You set something up like this, people will take the opportunity to 
skirt the law. They'll sell some (legally) to the person who comes in 
the front door and sell a lot more out the back door to a drug dealer."

Sara Wurfel, spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Snyder, said medical marijuana 
"hasn't been on our radar" and that Snyder would review the bill if 
the Legislature approved it.

Users of medical marijuana said they need to regain safe access to the drug.

"It's cost-prohibitive to grow this yourself, and it's labor 
intensive," said Alec McKelvey Jr., 41, of Warren, a state-registered 
patient who uses marijuana to fight the side effects of cancer treatments.

"You have to spend hundreds of dollars on equipment and really know 
what you're doing to get a quality plant that has no parasites or 
mold -- that would make my health worse," McKelvey said.

Callton's proposal, which many supporters call "the dispensary bill," 
is soon to gain lobbying support.

"This will give control back to local government -- to zone these 
centers and to say how many they want," said Robin Schneider, a 
lobbyist in Lansing for the Detroit-based National Patient Rights 
Association, a coalition of dispensary and compassion club owners.

"Communities can say, 'Do we want this happening in a (residential) 
neighborhood or in a designated commercial or industrial district?' 
Or, 'we don't want this happening right next to our schools,' " said 
Schneider, 34, formerly a state-registered caregiver.

Medical marijuana user Marti Robinson, 55, of Southfield, a survivor 
of colorectal cancer who now is fighting new cancer in her lymph 
nodes, said she plans to talk about the bill on her Facebook page 
"and get people behind this."

State Rep. Tom McMillan, R-Rochester Hills, said he signed on as the 
first cosponsor of Callton's bill.

"I've got friends who are legitimately helped by medical marijuana," 
McMillan said Friday.

"There's a new group of Republicans saying this war on drugs has been 
a disaster. Eventually, we've got to step back and look at that," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom