Med marijuana law up for review in two years

Don’t like the new medical marijuana law that goes into effect next week? Spend the next two years lobbying against it.

“This law, like all laws in Michigan, comes up for review in two years and it cannot be touched until then because it is a ballot initiative,” said Greg Francisco, executive director of the Michigan Medical

Marijuana Association.

Medicinal marijuana advocates in Michigan are already working on legislation advocating dispensaries, which have been the focus of so much attention in states like California, where the federal government has been raiding them regularly for several years.

Michigan’s law does not currently allow for dispensaries, causing problems for patients trying to obtain seeds/plants once they have an official registry card.

“Any other type of controlled substance, or any other prescription drug, you go to a dispensary, mainly a pharmacy to get it; and it’s a very structured type of setup,” said Isabella County Prosecutor Larry Burdick.

“Medical marijuana is a little bit different,” he said. “You don’t go to your local Walgreens to get a couple ounces of marijuana.”

However, dispensaries, or “pot shops” opponents to the law call them, have been under fire by the federal government for years.

On March 18, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced medical marijuana dispensaries operating legally under California law would no longer face prosecution.

But a week later, as politicians and media outlets were discussing the announcement, a dispensary in San Francisco was raided.

“It’s not clear whether the agents that did that are rogues and just trying to get in a few last licks before the word officially trickles down from the administration that the raids are going to be stopped, said Matthew Abel, a Michigan attorney and Central Michigan University alumnus.

Abel has built a reputation as an advocate for medicinal marijuana and said despite the latest news, raids have decreased since the Bush administration left office.

“They have definitely backed off and it seems that the White House got an ear-full after that raid,” he said.

Francisco said Michigan’s law can be amended by a simple majority vote and that he and a group of other medicinal marijuana advocates are preparing for it.

“We are preparing now for what happens two years from now and we would like to see not-for-profit cooperatives and dispensaries,” he said.

Meanwhile, others believe the passing of Proposal 1 has opened the flood gates to disaster.

“Marijuana is still illegal in the federal government and it’s just a nightmare scenario to me,” said James Muffett, president of the Citizens for Traditional Values, a Lansing-based conservative group.

Muffett and his organization ran a campaign against Proposal 1, stating, “The proposal is filled with loopholes, errors and unintended consequences.”

“It’s all going to roll out slowly and we’re going to deal with the problems little by little, but when we get to the end we’re going to have pot shops all over the state of Michigan,” Muffett said.

However, whether there will be any dire consequences is still unforeseen.

“It will be interesting to see because no matter what you regulate, or what you allow, or what you make laws for, there’s always going to be abuses,” said Bay Area Narcotics Enforcement Team Lt. Amado Arceo.

metro@cm-life.com