Pubdate: Fri, 24 Jan 2014
Source: Daily Tribune, The (Royal Oak, MI)
Copyright: 2014 The Daily Tribune
Contact:  http://www.dailytribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1579
Author: Tom Watts, For The Daily Tribune
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?275 (Cannabis - Michigan)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis - Medicinal - U.S.)

MICHIGAN COMPASSION TO HOLD FIRST MEDICAL MARIJUANA EDUCATION MEETING
IN ROYAL OAK

Approval for a state charitable gaming license is the next step for
the non-profit group Michigan Compassion in order to get its medical
marijuana education organization soaring.

"We are waiting on the approval; everything has been submitted; now we
hope to hear back by February," said Heidi Parikh, executive director
of Michigan Compassion, located at 300 E. Fourth St. in Royal Oak.

"A gaming license allows us to take part in the charitable gaming the
state allows for 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations to have bingo,
charitable raffle tickets, charitable parties -- to raise funds to
help educate the public on the uses of medical cannabis," Parikh said.

The group will hold its first public meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday at the
Mahany-Meininger Senior Community Center at 3500 Marias in Royal Oak,
where attendees will learn about health and cannabis, as well as
legislation information in the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act.

Thursday's meeting will cover "chronic pain management and cannabis,"
Parikh said.

"You will hear from top lawyers in the state about cannabis laws and
rulings that can have a direct impact on your safety," she said. "If
you are a registered patient, caregiver, or just interested in
learning more about medical marijuana, this is the meeting to attend."

Michigan Compassion is a group Parikh founded five years ago after the
Medical Marihuana Act was passed in 2008.

"We were known as the Downriver Community Passion Club; we met at
Southgate Civic Center and VFWs downriver," she said. "We are in Royal
Oak because the space was donated to us."

Once in Royal Oak, the group applied for and was granted to become a
federal non-profit organization.

"Certain specifics you have to follow to be a federal non-profit: you
cannot dispense and you cannot educate cultivating cannabis," Parikh
said. "That was easy. We don't dispense and (provide) no cultivating
education."

Parikh said she has steadily been "building infrastructure of the
organization."

"We are the first non-profit where federal government employees can
donate to us," she noted. "We also broke ground last week to be the
first to actually educate before a class of nursing and pre-med
students for a three-hour course. We are opening doors that haven't
been open before."

"Education is our mission," she continued. "We really reach out to
parents and seniors and the public that doesn't understand cannabis.
We provide a place for the public to come and feel comfortable: no
medicine is passed out or no people smoking cannabis."

Royal Oak City Manager Don Johnson said the City Commission approved
the group's non-profit status in September, which allowed them to seek
a charitable gaming license.

"They came to us and met our criteria for non-profit status," Johnson
said. "We have one of the most extensive criteria in the state of Michigan."

Johnson said he assumed Michigan Compassion proceeded with its request
for a charitable gaming license.

"They met every criterion we have," Johnson said as Michigan
Compassion prepares for its first meeting on Thursday. "They can do
education there. They can educate all they want."

Admission to the meeting is a $2 donation. Coffee and dessert will be
served.

Parikh noted all meetings are open to the public and attendees must be
over 18 or accompanied by a parent/guardian. For more information,
visit mycompassion.org.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D