Medical Marijuana Now Legal In Michigan, But Rules Unclear

DETROIT — Medical marijuana became legal in Michigan on Thursday, but smoking a joint could still get patients arrested because the regulations needed to protect them won't be ready for months.

The law approved by voters in November allows patients with cancer, HIV, AIDS, glaucoma and other diseases to use marijuana to relieve their symptoms on a doctor's recommendation.

Qualifying patients can register with the state and receive ID cards allowing them to legally acquire, possess, grow, transport and use a limited amount _ no more than 2.5 ounces and 12 plants _ of marijuana. They also can designate a primary caregiver to receive similar protection.

But those cards won't be issued until the Department of Community Health introduces guidelines addressing how applications will be handled, what fees will be charged and other issues. The rules must be finalized by April 4.

Until then, anyone possessing marijuana _ even patients who could later qualify for the program _ can be arrested and prosecuted, though the law allows patients to use a medical-justification defense at trial.

"We have this void where this takes effect now, but there are no rules, regulations or guidance for the people who want to use it or the people who enforce the laws," said Jim Valentine, chief of police in Lowell and first vice president of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police.

Officers in Lowell will arrest marijuana users even if they claim to be patients awaiting cards, Valentine said. He said he'll let the prosecutor decide whether to pursue charges.

A medical-marijuana program nearly identical to Michigan's was implemented without major incident in Rhode Island in 2006, said Charles Alexandre, who oversees the program as chief of health professions regulation in Rhode Island's Department of Health. That state also had a period where the law went into effect before the regulations were in place, and patients simply had to wait until the rules were in order.

"It's been very quiet," Alexandre said.

Michigan is the 13th state to allow medicinal use of marijuana, though the state's law doesn't address how patients can obtain it. It's illegal to sell marijuana, even to registered patients. That's also the case in several other states.

Police in Michigan say they want guidance on the issue, and some experts said the Legislature may have to intervene if that or any other aspect of the program becomes a problem.

Comments

[Malamati]

Holder isn't going to like this one bit!

[ErikW65]

Whaddya got on Eric Holder regarding cannabis?

[harrymellon]

He's been against medical marijuana since the beginning and supported locking up more people for marijauna than Bush I and Reagan combined. He is the enemy and not to be trusted. Check out Obamas choice for Drug Czar(a post that shouldn't exist) : it's a hardcore Republican who supports the drug war and opposes medical pot. They line their pockets with corrupt money by keeping drug laws and financing the biggest crime families of them all.

[losangelian1]

Legalize It - Don't Criticize It

[instagladiator]

Naw! Then more people would "wake up and smell the coffee" about what's going on around them.

Gotta keep'em in the dark, ya see.

[gascelebrations]

Awesome song.

[pitman]

Alright now - somebody put on Inna Gada Davida

[ErikW65]

I think Michigan should consider the industrial uses of cannabis, as well as the medicinal.

On the back cover of the book "The Emperor Wears No Clothes," it offers $100,000.0­0 to anyone who can disprove the following:

"If all fossil fuels and their derivatives, as well as trees for paper and construction were banned in order to save the planet, reverse the Greenhouse Effect and stop deforestation; then there is only one known annually renewable natural resource that is capable of providing the overall majority of the world's paper and textiles; meet all of the world's transportation, industrial and home energy needs, while simultaneously reducing pollution, rebuilding the soil, and cleaning the atmosphere all at the same time... and that substance is -- the same one that did it all before -- Cannabis Hemp... Marijuana!"

http://www.jackherer.com/chapters.html

[Js420]

right on! just imagine what it would do for their economy

[jackpinesavage]

There are some serious, horticultural problems with a lot of what Herer wrote. Hemp as a regular crop runs into the same limitations as other commodity crops. Canadian hemp growers state that fiber hemp requires the same fertilizer regime as wheat, and many of them operate at a state of barely profitable. You simply cannot plant the same crop in the same ground season after season without heavy fertilization.

Fiber hemp is very good at choking out weed growth because it is grown so close together, but seed hemp (which is what would be used as fuel) is spaced too far apart to choke weeds...so it would require herbicides and fertilizer.

The only time/place that hemp has ever been grown industrially and on a large scale was in Eastern Europe. And it was only profitable because of serf labor (i.e. free).

There's a lot of potential for hemp as a crop, but unfortunately, Herer perpetuated a Utopian ideal without much concern for facts. I can't disprove his statement, but he's never proved that his idea would work...and that is more germane.

[ErikW65]

So go collect your $100 grand!

[BillMelater]

I understand there is large industrial scale growth in Central and South America and it is very profitable.

And haven't C'nooks every heard of crop rotation?

[zizyphus]

We need to return to cover crops and rotation rather than using petroleum based fertilizers, which destroy the life of the soil by killing the microorganisms.

[Big0725]

Hey everybody, George Washington grew hemp!

[Agent420]

The first drafts of the Constitution were written on hemp paper.

[Badbone]

Bamboo. I'll take my money in 100's, please.

[Badbone]

And by the way, the $100,000 offer is no longer on the back of the book. What does that say about the strength of the argument?

[bayside]

Whats up with mich.. Read in another city of mich. they will put you in jail if your underwear is showing..Y­ou know like hip hop..hemp can be used to make clothes, medicine, renewable fuel..Much maligned plant..

[SWF4Change]

That would be my town, Flint. It is illegal to have you underwear showing due to baggy pants. Everytime I see a Flint cop, I call them the fashion police.

[BigMike75]

Can someone please present factual, and verifiable information in regards to the long term use of marijuana, and how it relates to serious addiction. The government waged war on Marijuana has been the most laughable excercise in inefficiency I have ever seen, and the most expensive. The age old logic doesn't fit, cigarettes and alcohol which are responsible for millions of deaths globally are legal, but Marijuana isn't? Somewhere the trail always leads to a dent in the corporate machine, you think the pharmaceutical, law enforcement, and the religious/lobbyist industries want marijuana legalized? When was the last time you heard of someone dying from a marijuana overdose? I have smoked Ganja for over 15 years, I run a successful business, never committed a crime a day in my life, don't abuse my beautiful wife, and pride myself on being a productive tax paying member of society. Yet I can do up to five years for possession of a few grams, go figure. Alcohol prohibition sure worked out well for the government as well...leg­alize it, regulate the industry, and generate much needed tax revenues. As an aside, there is nothing more relaxing than rolling up a fat one, sitting in front of the TV, and just chilling out. Believe me, with everything crumbling around us Marijuana would go a long way in easing all this anxiety people are suffering from nowadays.

[theiccemann]

Mary Jane is not addictive. The chemicals that people place with it, may be. I smoked it a few times, it was nice. lol Although, if I smoked a lot of it, say, even a half a joint, I got paranoid, kept checking my pulse, shortness of breath... that wasn't fun. I'm sure there are many negatives to smoking weed.

[zizyphus]

Every strain of pot is slightly different in the type of experience it provides. Some can you make you a little paranoid, especially for novice users.

[karinova]

You asked: "Can someone please present factual, and verifiable information in regards to the long term use of marijuana, and how it relates to serious addiction.­"

Get this: It is next to impossible for scientists to get permission to do such studies!

Way to go, government!

[batguano]

On this anniversary of the end of Prohibition (alcohol) we should all demand an end to the oppression………Lives ruined by law enforcement, confiscated property without charges, and total hypocrisy on other more "dangerous" substances, like alcohol and cigarettes and not least of which is all the legal crap Big Pharma pushes on Americans.­...."may cause headaches,­diareah,in­continence­,impotence­,4 hour boners"…..­.Cannabis is a natural healthful herb that millions have used with no adverse effects throughout the ages...man­y of our most revered artists, musicians, scientists & authors have become icons of our culture...­......are we going to live our entire lives under this draconian oppression, or will common sense (no pun intended) at last prevail and stop the waste and criminaliz­ation?....­..resist the phony "war on drugs", which is in reality a war on Americans, used to harass and victimize peaceful people!!..­....& by the way, we don't abuse marijuana, We smoke it gently and lovingly!.­......the "war on drugs "is a waste of our resources, a disaster for otherwise innocent people and is filling our prisons with non-violent victims of "law enforcement”, the “prison-industrial complex”..­....RESIST THE PHONEY WAR ON DRUGS PEOPLE....­SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE MADNESS...­.....the real crime is ignorance and destroying peoples lives for the non crime of smoking Cannabis..­.......LEG­ALIZE IT!!

[HempCanSaveUS]

You don't want the prosecution to have all the time in the world to build their case against you! If you are adamant about all that, and if their case isn't strong, then they might actually drop it! What the hell, it's worth a shot! If your case does go to trial, then try like hell to get that jury informed about their inherent right to judge the law itself, and to nullify it by letting you go, if they think it's not fair or is totally ridiculous (like forcing you to go to prison for a year for having 1.5 ounces of pot, or some equally obnoxious law).

[Schnitzel]

I don't understand why they don't simply legalize the stuff already. That way they could degrade the black market for it and really put the screws to drug dealers. They could also tax the bejeezus out of it and use the revenues to finance the war on the real problem drugs like cocaine, heroin and meth. Chasing otherwise law abiding marijuana users around is a complete waste of tax dollars.

[HempCanSaveUS]

If they arrest you: Ask "Why am I under arrest?". They have to tell you. After they book you, demand your two phone calls, at your expense: first to an attorney, relative or employer, and second to a bailbondsman. If you can't afford a lawyer, then demand that they provide you with one at no expense. Do not let your lawyer enter a plea of "not guilty" before the arraignment (the first trip to court where you will be formally charged, which by law has to occur within 48 hours of your arrest, barring holidays and Sundays), because that would automatically lock you into criminal proceedings, which is where your dear lawyer will try to make his/her money. You should try like hell to get your case dismissed before that arraignment! Your lawyer knows what to do, and if s/he won't do it, then get one who will. If you can't get it dismissed, then enter your "not guilty" plea at the arraignment and insist on a jury trial, which will be expensive and difficult for the DA. Do not let your lawyer waive the speedy trial time limits! (Which s/he might try to do so they can charge you more money for "preparation," etc.)

[HempCanSaveUS]

If they do not have a warrant, then tell them that they must leave. If they don't, then call the State Police and FBI , and report an incident of trespass by the local police and ask them to come and remove them. Get your lawyer there as quickly as possible, if you can, and remember that the more witnesses you have, the better ... there's always your neighbors! If the cops arrest you, then they must give you a receipt for everything they confiscate (wallet, clothing, packages, etc.), so I would think that they must also give you one for whatever they take during the search.

[HempCanSaveUS]

If they want to search you, then say "I do not consent to being searched." Always be clear about this, try to involve witnesses, and never physically resist. If you ever try to resist, then they will use force... they always do. So, be relaxed, move slowly, and keep your hands out where they can see them.

Tight situation: They conduct a search without your consent, and find something. Almost anything you say at that point will hurt you. The best thing you can do, and it is your Constitutional right, is to say "I want a lawyer" and then keep your trap shut 'til you get one! Don't answer any of their questions (except name, address, and age) if your lawyer isn't with you.

Worst case scenario: It's 3:30 am, ten cops break down your door and they're yelling and pointing their guns at you ... freeze! Do not move a muscle, and keep absolutely quiet for at least a count of 3! They'll frisk you and start to tear your place apart. When they know you're unarmed, then ask "Do you have a warrant? I do not consent to a search." If they do have one, then read it and make damn sure that they can legally do what they're doing. If the warrant doesn't specify what they're doing right now, then say so and insist that they stop (but don't try to physically stop them!).

[HempCanSaveUS]

If you get pulled over, it may be best to grab your license and registration, get out of the car, lock the door behind you, and walk to the area between the two cars, and get ready to play the Good Citizen Game.

EDIT: This tip can lead to dangerous situations and is not advised for the USA. Getting out of the car may lead to shooting incidents.

Be friendly, but not "too" friendly, be at ease, and talk to the person behind the badge. That way you're totally covered, they won't have an easy excuse to look through your windows, and they'll think that you're an average citizen ready to be admonished for some minor traffic violation. If they do decide to search your car, then they will do so, since apparently they don't need a search warrant if they have probable cause ... so fer Chrisake don't keep a joint sitting in your ashtray! Of course, you should tell them "I do not consent to a search", just so you're covered. When they ask why you're refusing their search, and if you feel you gotta say something, then say "I've been advised by an attorney never to consent to a search." It's magic.

[HempCanSaveUS]

If they knock on your door to "ask you a few questions," then either talk through the closed door or quickly step outside and lock your door behind you. This serves two purposes: One, do not give them an opportunity to look inside ... if they see something, that's probable cause. Two, if they want to conduct an illegal search, then they'll have to break down your door to do so. Then you can use the broken pieces as evidence against them, whereas if there are no broken pieces, then they will claim that you let them in voluntarily. If they drag on their "question" thing too long, keep asking "Am I free to go?" until they give you a definite answer. If they have a warrant, then tell them they can't start their search until your lawyer arrives to witness it, and then get that lawyer quick! During the search, have everyone sit together and instruct them to say absolutely nothing. If the cops ask you to do something, then you may politely tell them "Unless you are ordering me to do that at this time, I refuse. Are you ordering me to do that?" If they say yes, then you can ask "What law says that you can order me to do that?" If they can't answer, then don't do it. If they try to force you at that point, do not resist, and state "I'm not doing this voluntarily, but under protest and duress."

[HempCanSaveUS]

They can briefly detain you for various purposes, but they can't hold you unless you're under arrest (If you ask "Am I free to go?", and they say no, ask "Why not?" or "What is the law that allows you to hold me?" or "I'm not under arrest, yet you've said I can't leave ... please clarify my legal status at this time."). If you try to physically resist them or to run away from them, then they have the right to use force against you ... even if you're clean and have done nothing wrong! So ... keep calm and be cool, they've got the deck stacked in their favor and they know it.

Reasonable Suspicion: Allows them to look briefly, but not to search.

Probable Cause: Having some kind of evidence against you, such as: a certain smell, an anonymous phone call about you, or seeing a joint lying on your living room table. Refusal to allow a search is not probable cause ... if it were, then they could search you no matter what answer you give, which is totally against the US Constitution (4th Amendment).