Robert Celt
New Member
It's been seven years since voters approved the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act and it's been a constant battle over interpretation and implementation.
When enacted on Dec. 4, 2008, the MMMA outlined what would become a very complex industry in the state of Michigan.
Municipalities, and even the state as a whole, are still scrambling to nail down exactly what it entails.
Allegan County has created a task force that will look into medical marijuana facilities and safety concerns of production. The move is in response to a Dec. 3 explosion of a storage facility in Manlius Township that housed a medical marijuana grow operation. The explosion was likely caused by a propane appliance used to generate carbon dioxide to promote plant growth.
Sgt. Scott Leroy, of the Michigan State Police's District 5 Fire Investigations Unit, told The Sentinel that a loose connection on a 100-pound propane cylinder likely leaked propane into the unit.
Leroy said there are several possibilities as to an ignition source, including the heat from UV lamps used in the operation or a sparking mechanism on the appliance.
The Michigan State Police then said the facility was in complete compliance with MMMA, which only requires medical marijuana be grown and kept in an "enclosed, locked facility."
Storage facilities are private property, so whether a grow operation is allowed in a unit is up to the owner.
Two separate self-storage businesses in the Holland area said their lease agreements with customers don't directly prohibit medical marijuana facilities, but neither would allow it in their facilities.
Amanda Essenburgh, area manager of Cross Creek Self-Storage in Holland, said their agreements prohibit propane tanks and any other toxic or flammable material. Another owner, who asked not to be named, said the same.
Essenburgh said even though the grow operations were legal, she would not allow them.
"If I know someone was doing that, I would ask them to remove it," she said. "Unfortunately, we can't monitor everything that people put in their units."
The other owner said he prohibits businesses of any kind in his facility, and believes a medical marijuana grow operation would fall under that.
But the law itself provides little guidance to what constitutes a facility where medical marijuana can be produced.
In 2012, Larry King was arrested in Owosso after police determined the facility he was keeping his plants in, an outdoor, chain-linked dog kennel that was locked did not comply with MMMA, which states the plants must be kept in an "enclosed, locked facility."
The Michigan Supreme Court later ruled in favor of King, stating he could use the fact he was a medical marijuana user as a defense to the charges against him.
The Legislature then fully defined "enclosed, locked facility," in a lengthy definition found in a handful of public acts passed in 2012.
It specifically addressed outdoor facilities, stating the plants within could not be visible from an adjacent property and that it complies with MMMA if the facility "is enclosed on all sides, except for the base, by chain-link fencing, wooden slats, or a similar material that prevents access by the general public and that is anchored, attached, or affixed to the ground."
State action
In a nutshell, the law as written set up a system which allowed for "patients" with a doctor's written certification to possess up to 2.5 ounces of usable marijuana and grow up to 12 plants for themselves. Another option was to procure a "caregiver," who was allowed to grow up to 12 plants for each patient they provided the marijuana for, with a cap set at five patients.
Applications poured into the Department of Community Health, the state agency originally tasked with approving cards for patients.
Dispensaries, which provided usable marijuana in many forms, sprang up statewide before later being shuttered after a Michigan Supreme Court ruling.
The original law addressed patients and caregivers, granting them an affirmative defense from criminal charges if they are either a registered patient or can show they were using the marijuana medicinally.
The issue was that was all it really addressed.
"Right now, the MMMA allows for two things, with a doctor's recommendation to grow 12 plants for yourself, or if you have a caregiver, have that person grow 12 plants for a patient," said Rep. Mike Callton, R-Nashville, who has introduced one of a trio of House bills clarifying portions of the MMMA. "That's it."
The state has since tried to address what it saw as several areas of concern.
In 2012, the state enacted a number of laws, which required photo identification on all patient and caregiver registry cards, which now were good for two years as opposed to one. The acts also defined "bona fide" physician to include an in-person, medical evaluation of the patient in order to obtain a registry card.
The state, in 2015, established fees for becoming both a registered patient and/or caregiver.
Several bills have now passed through the House that would establish five different regulated medical marijuana businesses: growers, processors, dispensaries, testing facilities and transporters. Each "tier" would have to obtain a license from the state.
The bills would establish what is called a "seed-to-sale" tracking system to monitor the manufacturing, transportation and sale of medical marijuana. The bill would mean a 3 percent excise tax on medical marijuana businesses and the 6 percent sales tax on sales of medical marijuana.
Individual municipalities would also have a say in whether any of the tiers would be allowed within their boundaries.
A separate bill, paired with the others, would allow non-smokable forms of medical marijuana, including edibles and oils.
"In this model, you create licenses where it's kind of like a tiered system like alcohol and tobacco," said Callton. "If you're going to create such an industry, I think this is the model and situation where you serve the patients and prevent diversion," he said, alluding to the opportunity for crime.
Matthew Abel, attorney for the Cannabis Council out of Detroit, said the bills were just an effort to have more government control that will have the reverse effect because it will drive up prices.
"All they are doing by setting up this tightly regulated program is opening up the illegal market because people aren't going to pay $30 for a gram," he said. "This is not a patient-centered bill, this is a corporate-centered bill."
It's been seven years since enactment, and the battle over MMMA continues on.
"We've spent the last two years talking about "dispensaries" and here we are again," Abel said. "It's quite the dog-and-pony show up there in Lansing."
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Michigan Medical Marijuana Act Still Being Hashed Out
Author: Curtis Wildfong
Contact: Holland Sentinel
Photo Credit: None found
Website: Holland Sentinel
When enacted on Dec. 4, 2008, the MMMA outlined what would become a very complex industry in the state of Michigan.
Municipalities, and even the state as a whole, are still scrambling to nail down exactly what it entails.
Allegan County has created a task force that will look into medical marijuana facilities and safety concerns of production. The move is in response to a Dec. 3 explosion of a storage facility in Manlius Township that housed a medical marijuana grow operation. The explosion was likely caused by a propane appliance used to generate carbon dioxide to promote plant growth.
Sgt. Scott Leroy, of the Michigan State Police's District 5 Fire Investigations Unit, told The Sentinel that a loose connection on a 100-pound propane cylinder likely leaked propane into the unit.
Leroy said there are several possibilities as to an ignition source, including the heat from UV lamps used in the operation or a sparking mechanism on the appliance.
The Michigan State Police then said the facility was in complete compliance with MMMA, which only requires medical marijuana be grown and kept in an "enclosed, locked facility."
Storage facilities are private property, so whether a grow operation is allowed in a unit is up to the owner.
Two separate self-storage businesses in the Holland area said their lease agreements with customers don't directly prohibit medical marijuana facilities, but neither would allow it in their facilities.
Amanda Essenburgh, area manager of Cross Creek Self-Storage in Holland, said their agreements prohibit propane tanks and any other toxic or flammable material. Another owner, who asked not to be named, said the same.
Essenburgh said even though the grow operations were legal, she would not allow them.
"If I know someone was doing that, I would ask them to remove it," she said. "Unfortunately, we can't monitor everything that people put in their units."
The other owner said he prohibits businesses of any kind in his facility, and believes a medical marijuana grow operation would fall under that.
But the law itself provides little guidance to what constitutes a facility where medical marijuana can be produced.
In 2012, Larry King was arrested in Owosso after police determined the facility he was keeping his plants in, an outdoor, chain-linked dog kennel that was locked did not comply with MMMA, which states the plants must be kept in an "enclosed, locked facility."
The Michigan Supreme Court later ruled in favor of King, stating he could use the fact he was a medical marijuana user as a defense to the charges against him.
The Legislature then fully defined "enclosed, locked facility," in a lengthy definition found in a handful of public acts passed in 2012.
It specifically addressed outdoor facilities, stating the plants within could not be visible from an adjacent property and that it complies with MMMA if the facility "is enclosed on all sides, except for the base, by chain-link fencing, wooden slats, or a similar material that prevents access by the general public and that is anchored, attached, or affixed to the ground."
State action
In a nutshell, the law as written set up a system which allowed for "patients" with a doctor's written certification to possess up to 2.5 ounces of usable marijuana and grow up to 12 plants for themselves. Another option was to procure a "caregiver," who was allowed to grow up to 12 plants for each patient they provided the marijuana for, with a cap set at five patients.
Applications poured into the Department of Community Health, the state agency originally tasked with approving cards for patients.
Dispensaries, which provided usable marijuana in many forms, sprang up statewide before later being shuttered after a Michigan Supreme Court ruling.
The original law addressed patients and caregivers, granting them an affirmative defense from criminal charges if they are either a registered patient or can show they were using the marijuana medicinally.
The issue was that was all it really addressed.
"Right now, the MMMA allows for two things, with a doctor's recommendation to grow 12 plants for yourself, or if you have a caregiver, have that person grow 12 plants for a patient," said Rep. Mike Callton, R-Nashville, who has introduced one of a trio of House bills clarifying portions of the MMMA. "That's it."
The state has since tried to address what it saw as several areas of concern.
In 2012, the state enacted a number of laws, which required photo identification on all patient and caregiver registry cards, which now were good for two years as opposed to one. The acts also defined "bona fide" physician to include an in-person, medical evaluation of the patient in order to obtain a registry card.
The state, in 2015, established fees for becoming both a registered patient and/or caregiver.
Several bills have now passed through the House that would establish five different regulated medical marijuana businesses: growers, processors, dispensaries, testing facilities and transporters. Each "tier" would have to obtain a license from the state.
The bills would establish what is called a "seed-to-sale" tracking system to monitor the manufacturing, transportation and sale of medical marijuana. The bill would mean a 3 percent excise tax on medical marijuana businesses and the 6 percent sales tax on sales of medical marijuana.
Individual municipalities would also have a say in whether any of the tiers would be allowed within their boundaries.
A separate bill, paired with the others, would allow non-smokable forms of medical marijuana, including edibles and oils.
"In this model, you create licenses where it's kind of like a tiered system like alcohol and tobacco," said Callton. "If you're going to create such an industry, I think this is the model and situation where you serve the patients and prevent diversion," he said, alluding to the opportunity for crime.
Matthew Abel, attorney for the Cannabis Council out of Detroit, said the bills were just an effort to have more government control that will have the reverse effect because it will drive up prices.
"All they are doing by setting up this tightly regulated program is opening up the illegal market because people aren't going to pay $30 for a gram," he said. "This is not a patient-centered bill, this is a corporate-centered bill."
It's been seven years since enactment, and the battle over MMMA continues on.
"We've spent the last two years talking about "dispensaries" and here we are again," Abel said. "It's quite the dog-and-pony show up there in Lansing."
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Michigan Medical Marijuana Act Still Being Hashed Out
Author: Curtis Wildfong
Contact: Holland Sentinel
Photo Credit: None found
Website: Holland Sentinel