smokebreaks wrote:It's strange to me too WHAB, when I read the law it looks like if you're a registered caregiver there is a provision in their law that expressly states that you can't be arrested. I dunno what's going on there..
Time to go find some Michigan peeps to find out more.
Hey smokes!...Bob!
In the main, it seems the law is going through the normal birthing process. I read their program provisions just now ...
http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl-333-26424 (including the general information provided in that pdf link I posted in the other thread). There are several conflicting articles on the subject matter, though.
You are right in that caregivers are expressly covered in the provision. And, BB, is also correct with his numbers. But, there is a catch-22 situation as it stands today. They are covered once they get their card from the state but the state is way behind in processing them. As an added bonus they actually specifically 'excluded' ancillaries to medical use and cultivation....seeds, stalks and roots are not included in any weight (which is forward thinking, more than the other states--that I know of).
First is an article detailing the problems with process and the fact that you're not covered without the card (even though the law is in effect)...
Medical pot users need more than doctor's note
They must wait for state-issued cards
BY MEGHA SATYANARAYANA • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • May 25, 2009
Almost 2,000 people have applied to use and grow medical marijuana in Michigan, and roughly half fall in a legal black hole where they have letters recommending its use but not the state-issued cards that make it legal.
Of the applications, about 700 have not yet been processed and 260 have been rejected, according to the Michigan Department of Community Health. Some people who have cards now face legal questions because the state took months to launch its ID program after the law went into effect.
"There hasn't been quite the degree of confusion as in the Michigan program," Dan Bernath, a spokesman for the Washington-based Marijuana Policy Project, said about the other states the group has guided in starting medical marijuana programs.
Medical marijuana advocates maintain a doctor's letter is sufficient to prevent prosecution for small amounts of marijuana, but state health officials disagree.
"You needed to wait until the program was established," said James McCurtis, spokesman for the MDCH.
In the courts, the law is being tested by Bob Redden, 59, and Torey Clark, 47, of Madison Heights, who face a preliminary examination Wednesday on felony charges of manufacturing marijuana. Police took multiple plants during a late March raid on their home. While they both have cards now, the raid came before the state was issuing them. Their attorney is trying to get the charges thrown out because they had doctor's letters.
The defense could work, said David A. Moran, co-director of the Michigan Innocence Clinic at the University of Michigan, but it's "an expensive, dangerous risk to take."
McCurtis said another gray area is the roughly 15 days between submitting an application and when the card is in hand. And while most of the denials thus far have been for improperly filled-out applications, they still represent one out of every six processed applications.
Stephanie Annis, 30, of New Hudson said many patients can't wait for the card. She wants one for appetite stimulation after multiple surgeries left the 5-foot-6 graduate student at 99 pounds and without much of her intestinal tract.
She's on disability, and since April has tried to gather required documents to qualify for a reduced fee of $25 for the card, rather than $100. The soonest she says she thinks she would get her card is late June."I would think the doctor would be the authority," she said.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti ... 9905250407
But I also read where their is a provision for an affirmative defense (I'm assuming like Colorado) within the first paragraph of the initiative...
"MICHIGAN MEDICAL MARIHUANA ACT
Initiated Law 1 of 2008
AN INITIATION of Legislation to allow under state law the medical use of marihuana; to provide protections for the medical use of marihuana; to provide for a system of registry identification cards for qualifying patients and primary caregivers; to impose a fee for registry application and renewal; to provide for the promulgation of rules; to provide for the administration of this act; to provide for enforcement of this act; to provide for affirmative defenses; and to provide for penalties for violations of this act."
http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl- ... -1-of-2008
There are some considerably permissive provisions (discussed in the Q&A link below) in the law that aren't in other state laws, though, like, a MD or a DO can sign recommendations. And, there is also reciprocity, going in one direction at the moment, accepting other MMJ states registry cards.
And according to MI's government website FAQ the above mentioned patients are covered (without working out the seeming problem that one or both had previous drug convictions and where exclusions were made for such). Murky and muddy their situation is at this point without further legal clarifications.
Question: Do I need to keep a copy of my application and any other information I send to the MMMP?
Answer: Yes. If your application has not yet been approved, denied or terminated you may provide law enforcement with a copy of your written documentation submitted to the department; you must also submit proof of the date of mailing or other transmission of the documentation. This documentation shall have the same legal effect as a registry identification card, until such time as you receive your card or you have received notification that your application has been approved, denied or terminated
http://www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,1607,7-1 ... --,00.html
Here is a link for ALL of the sections...including the previously mentioned opening paragraph...
http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl- ... -1-of-2008
Then here is the provision covering patient and caregiver rules...
Section 333.26424
MICHIGAN MEDICAL MARIHUANA ACT (EXCERPT)
Initiated Law 1 of 2008
333.26424 Qualifying patient or primary caregiver; arrest, prosecution, or penalty prohibited; conditions; presumption; compensation; physician subject to arrest, prosecution, or penalty prohibited; marihuana paraphernalia; person in presence or vicinity to medical use of marihuana; registry identification issued outside of department; sale of marihuana as felony; penalty.
4. Protections for the Medical Use of Marihuana.
Sec. 4. (a) A qualifying patient who has been issued and possesses a registry identification card shall not be subject to arrest, prosecution, or penalty in any manner, or denied any right or privilege, including but not limited to civil penalty or disciplinary action by a business or occupational or professional licensing board or bureau, for the medical use of marihuana in accordance with this act, provided that the qualifying patient possesses an amount of marihuana that does not exceed 2.5 ounces of usable marihuana, and, if the qualifying patient has not specified that a primary caregiver will be allowed under state law to cultivate marihuana for the qualifying patient, 12 marihuana plants kept in an enclosed, locked facility. Any incidental amount of seeds, stalks, and unusable roots shall also be allowed under state law and shall not be included in this amount.
(b) A primary caregiver who has been issued and possesses a registry identification card shall not be subject to arrest, prosecution, or penalty in any manner, or denied any right or privilege, including but not limited to civil penalty or disciplinary action by a business or occupational or professional licensing board or bureau, for assisting a qualifying patient to whom he or she is connected through the department's registration process with the medical use of marihuana in accordance with this act, provided that the primary caregiver possesses an amount of marihuana that does not exceed:
(1) 2.5 ounces of usable marihuana for each qualifying patient to whom he or she is connected through the department's registration process; and
(2) for each registered qualifying patient who has specified that the primary caregiver will be allowed under state law to cultivate marihuana for the qualifying patient, 12 marihuana plants kept in an enclosed, locked facility; and
(3) any incidental amount of seeds, stalks, and unusable roots.
(c) A person shall not be denied custody or visitation of a minor for acting in accordance with this act, unless the person's behavior is such that it creates an unreasonable danger to the minor that can be clearly articulated and substantiated.
(d) There shall be a presumption that a qualifying patient or primary caregiver is engaged in the medical use of marihuana in accordance with this act if the qualifying patient or primary caregiver:
(1) is in possession of a registry identification card; and
(2) is in possession of an amount of marihuana that does not exceed the amount allowed under this act. The presumption may be rebutted by evidence that conduct related to marihuana was not for the purpose of alleviating the qualifying patient's debilitating medical condition or symptoms associated with the debilitating medical condition, in accordance with this act.
(e) A registered primary caregiver may receive compensation for costs associated with assisting a registered qualifying patient in the medical use of marihuana. Any such compensation shall not constitute the sale of controlled substances.
(f) A physician shall not be subject to arrest, prosecution, or penalty in any manner, or denied any right or privilege, including but not limited to civil penalty or disciplinary action by the Michigan board of medicine, the Michigan board of osteopathic medicine and surgery, or any other business or occupational or professional licensing board or bureau, solely for providing written certifications, in the course of a bona fide physician-patient relationship and after the physician has completed a full assessment of the qualifying patient's medical history, or for otherwise stating that, in the physician's professional opinion, a patient is likely to receive therapeutic or palliative benefit from the medical use of marihuana to treat or alleviate the patient's serious or debilitating medical condition or symptoms associated with the serious or debilitating medical condition, provided that nothing shall prevent a professional licensing board from sanctioning a physician for failing to properly evaluate a patient's medical condition or otherwise violating the standard of care for evaluating medical conditions.
(g) A person shall not be subject to arrest, prosecution, or penalty in any manner, or denied any right or privilege, including but not limited to civil penalty or disciplinary action by a business or occupational or professional licensing board or bureau, for providing a registered qualifying patient or a registered primary caregiver with marihuana paraphernalia for purposes of a qualifying patient's medical use of marihuana.
(h) Any marihuana, marihuana paraphernalia, or licit property that is possessed, owned, or used in connection with the medical use of marihuana, as allowed under this act, or acts incidental to such use, shall not be seized or forfeited.
(i) A person shall not be subject to arrest, prosecution, or penalty in any manner, or denied any right or privilege, including but not limited to civil penalty or disciplinary action by a business or occupational or professional licensing board or bureau, solely for being in the presence or vicinity of the medical use of marihuana in accordance with this act, or for assisting a registered qualifying patient with using or administering marihuana.
(j) A registry identification card, or its equivalent, that is issued under the laws of another state, district, territory, commonwealth, or insular possession of the United States that allows the medical use of marihuana by a visiting qualifying patient, or to allow a person to assist with a visiting qualifying patient's medical use of marihuana, shall have the same force and effect as a registry identification card issued by the department.
(k) Any registered qualifying patient or registered primary caregiver who sells marihuana to someone who is not allowed to use marihuana for medical purposes under this act shall have his or her registry identification card revoked and is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 2 years or a fine of not more than $2,000.00, or both, in addition to any other penalties for the distribution of marihuana.
http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl-333-26424
It will be interesting to watch this case and the program get wrung out.
Take care guys,
WHAB
