Seedless Underbelly



The Compassionate Care Center of Michigan,
a medical marijuana dispensary, has opened in Dryden.
Staff prohibited pictures from being taken inside,
 but this green door leads up to the dispensary,
5493 Main St. at the corner of Mill Street




       In November of 2008, the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act was adopted by the residents of the state of Michigan with a staggering margin of over 63%. Ever since then politicians have been doing there best to squeeze the new legislation into the current drug policy.  However, there are so many gray areas in our new law, and the exact interpretation of it varies greatly from township to township and county to county.  As a long time user of marijuana, it wasn’t hard for me to make transition from illegal user to legal medical patient. I already knew the ins and outs of how marijuana is grown, the many ways to use it, where to get it, and maybe most importantly, the laws that surround it. Then it occurred to me while talking to a classmate named Nancy, that most of the perspective patients who are making their way into this movement have no idea what to do once they get there. With all that’s going on with the law and all the dispensaries in the news paper, one could see how this could seem a little daunting. It is my hope that some of these grey areas will be sussed out by the end of this paper, allowing for newbie patients to gain some perspective before heading into Genesee County’s seedless underbelly.

            When taking on anything that might be a little subversive, especially something as politically charged as marijuana use, it is always a good idea to read all the laws and procedures that pertain to that subject, just so you have a basic understanding of what you could be getting yourself into. The last thing you want is to wind up in a situation that you didn’t necessarily know you were in danger of encountering and get into trouble for it. All the laws and procedures the authorities are supposed to abide by are on the MMMP website at Michigan.gov. Just because it’s a law doesn’t mean the courts and the police will enforce it the way you think they should.

In an interview with the Genesee County Chronicle, Tim Beck leader of the medical marijuana movement in this state said that once the initial law was passed Mike Cox, current Attorney General for the state of Michigan, had a choice of how to implement the new statute.  He had the power to force a uniform measure across the state or to allow each county to decide how marijuana would be handled.  Ever since, the state’s counties have been issuing a jigsaw of ordinances and confusing the already troubled act.  While, it is more egalitarian to allow each county its own policy, it does in effect allow counties outlaw medical marijuana by ordinance. Essentially, in this case, local ordinance trumps state law.  This initiative most likely derived from the infamous “White Page Report” issued out of California by groups of locals sheriffs and related agencies.  Basically the report is a right-wing how to manual on keeping the medical marijuana movement from establishing legitimacy.  Overall any person new to the medical marijuana scene ought to check their local ordinances before making a move.  

So, in general, State Police follow state law and have thus far have not had any notable conflicts with the act or the citizens following that act.  However, as aforementioned, each county has been afforded the right to interpret the law as they see fit, and in some more conservative communities they still view marijuana with contempt.  It is in those counties such as Lapeer and Oakland, where local authorities take the law into their own hands. Bloomfield Hills for example is battling with ACLU over its complete ban of dispensaries right now. These authorities pride themselves on taking the narrowest view of the law possible, and when it comes to the very obvious gray areas, they just make it up as they go along.  Now I’m not saying these guys are crooked; I’m just saying that because there are so many shadows in the legislation that it’s anyone’s guess where it begins and ends. Take the “Dryden Incident”; it’s a case concerning a local dispensary that was shut down because caregivers were selling their products to people who weren’t their patients, but still legal card holders. According to the authorities in that township, under administrative rules set forth by the Director of Community Health, namely Rule 333.115: caregivers are only allowed to be compensated by the five patients they are responsible for, not anyone else. So these counties are solely focusing on the administrative rules that the department of health was legally forced to produce. However, the law doesn’t actually say that, and in effect tramples on the initial spirit of the law.  The specifics are clearly lacking in this area for either side. In fact, according to the Medical Marijuana Act under section 333.26424, clause (j) states that patients who are cardholders in another state can come and get medication in our state when there here visiting.  If that’s true, then how are visitors supposed to get their medication if caregivers aren’t allowed to sell it to them? They might refer to another section, 333.26428, subsection 8, clause (2) that says that a legal patient cannot be charged for purchasing medication, even if it’s from someone who is not legal at all. To me, that sound like a good “legal” way to allow an out-of-towner to obtain medication.   This brings me to the overall point, which is the spirit of the law. I believe that the objective of the 63% who voted for it was to allow safe access for people who need medication, not to make it as hard and expensive to get and as possible.

            In order to get an idea of how these places have been allowed to operate I decided to question local dispensary owner of MI Organic Solutions “Ben”. He begins by saying that there is no outline for a business model written in the law; however the law does stipulate that there must be a safe place for patients to transfer their medication. So dispensary owners have been left with the uncomfortable task of figuring it out on our own.

The two most favored business models fall into two major categories. The first is what is called a compassion club, which legally operates as a non-profit business and allows for patients and caregivers to congregate for the safe transfer of medication. These places usually have a farmer’s market feel where the patient is allowed to interact directly with the people who grew the medication, to sample it and haggle for a better price. Further, because the entity is non-profit, patients and caregivers are allowed to “sample” the medication as many times as they wish before leaving.  It is common in a compassion club to see caregivers allotted to a section of the establishment, and the patients lounge on a variety of couches or chairs sampling. The second model is a for profit business that usually gives the patient the more professional feel of a doctor’s office. The medication is still free but the difference being that your paying for the container instead of the labor.  But because there is no medicating on the premises unlike in a compassion club, the atmosphere tends to be a lot quieter and less bothersome to the community. A lot of people like the compassion club feel for its variety and prices but some people just want to get their medication in private and then to go home. They don’t like crowds or haggling, they just want a reliable source for their medication.

Considering the fact that the leader of the anti-medical marijuana movement, Republican Bill Schuette, has risen to the position of Attorney General many dispensary and compassion club owners are shaking in their boots.  Schuette has stated repeatedly that while he used marijuana in college, he thinks that the movement is a sham and seeks to impede its efforts in any way possible.  Since Schuette was circuit court judge of appeals in his early career, he is very familiar with the administrative process of the legal system and plans to use it to forward is own political view.  But there is still hope for medical marijuana as a whole.  In recent Pew Research Center survey 3 out of 4 Americans believe that marijuana should be legal in their state.  Up from 35% in 2008, 41% of Americans think that medical marijuana should be legal.  So because of the confusion created, it is obvious that if you plan to get involved with the medical marijuana movement in this state, be sure to know the laws!