Michigan's vague marijuana law creates confusion
Michigan's vague marijuana law creates confusion
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Laura Berman
The way some describe it, state's medical marijuana law -- passed by voter referendum last fall -- might as well have been written by Harold & Kumar at a hookah bar.
Ostensibly written to enable people suffering from serious medical conditions to gain relief by using marijuana, the law was also enthusiastically supported by the kind of voters who might envy Michael Phelps' designer bong.
It's a law that serves a few constituencies -- and whose vagueness is beginning to cause reefer madness among the law enforcement community.
Prosecutors and police agencies are annoyed by the law's fuzziness on basic legal procedures. "It doesn't define any," says Paul Walton, the deputy Oakland County prosecutor, whose office had a medical marijuana case dismissed by a frustrated Madison Heights judge last week.
And State Sen. Wayne Kuipers (R-Ottawa County) is stunned to be sponsoring reform bills that would standardize marijuana growing in Michigan. "My staffers like to make jokes but it is also clear that this is a very serious issue, especially to people who benefit from medical marijuana," he says.
Last week, Madison Heights District Judge Robert Turner dismissed one of the first tests of the new law, denouncing the law as "the worst piece of legislation," he's seen.
The defendants' case was dramatic: If treated as medical marijuana users, their 21 little marijuana plants were like prescription Motrin. If treated as illegal drug users, Torey Clark, 47, and Robert Redden, 59, could get up to 14 years in prison.
Redden, once caught with 22 pounds of marijuana, has served jail time on drug offenses. But he's also a military veteran who has had multiple surgeries and whose hip pain is now treated with oxycotin and Vicodin. Clark, according to testimony, has ovarian cancer.
Are they drug abusers or patients? The law requires that a physician approve the use of marijuana -- and Clark and Redden did see a doctor, Dr. Eric Eisenbud, who testified on their behalf in court.
In one of the other quirks in the case, Eisenbud works for the Hemp & THC Clinic, approving patients for medical marijuana. He's a Denver ophthalmologist, licensed to practice in Michigan and five other states.
Defendants Clark and Redden's beef was all about the bust: Police got a warrant, burst into their home, and seized cash as forfeiture money. Their lawyer, Plymouth-based Robert Mullen, says he empathized with the couple's plight ("they were being bullied,") and agreed to represent them pro bono.
After Wednesday's preliminary hearing, Redden told News reporter Jennifer Chambers he wanted to leave Madison Heights rather than be harassed for growing medicine.
As a test case, Redden and Clark -- with their checkered history and medical problems -- were perfect foils for overzealous law enforcement: There's a law on the books that's more sympathetic to sick people than drug warriors.
They had a doctor's prescription.
And for now, at least, the people -- including the ones who hope to loosen recreational pot smoking laws -- have spoken.
Laura Berman's column runs Tuesday and Thursday in Metro and Sunday on the web. She can be reached at lberman@detnews.com or 313-222-2032.
Wow
A unabashedly pro MJ article in the press. Go figure
WTF
I'm not sure if you are being sarcastic or not and I don't mean to be rude to you but the article actually gets me a little angry. They seem to be saying that the MMMA is only a stepping stone to legalizing marijuana which can scare potential voters from helping the act to go smoother for patients or adding more ailments that can be helped with this natural medicine. "more concerned with helping sick people than drug warriors" the news keeps bringing up that the judge thinks this is a bad law and they imply that it was written by pot heads while high. I think where they stand is clear and it's not in support of the MMMA.
thought it was facetious too
but SFC r u serious this article is a classic in tongue in cheek derogatory humor and fact slanting/spinning
L Berman is not a real journalist, more like an ignorant soccer mom whose kids have all gone away. She is no friend of truth or science as a basis for social policy. She is a joke and so is the Detroit News Fox (propaganda) News should be so fair and balanced
Dripping with sarcasm.
SFC is dripping with sarcasm. Sometimes a little hard to pick up with text, but if you read a lot of posts and know the personalities it gets a little easier.
how can i
move on with this kind of press. are life will never be the same for us. were ever we move to because of all of this
22 pounds
i just wanted to not run out it was all in 1 big big bag
not in court
It was not allowed to be brought up in court WHY does it Need to be in the news!!!!
"Last week, Madison Heights
"Last week, Madison Heights District Judge Robert Turner dismissed one of the first tests of the new law, denouncing the law as "the worst piece of legislation," he's seen."
Someone needs to go remind the judge that "legislation" refers to laws passed by the LEGISLATURE.
The MMMA Act is not legislation.
Kinda ironic, isn't it?
Boot His Ass
He needs to go..
More disinformation straight from the Bench.
priceless...
Not Ironic at all...The word is ignorance.
The sad part is these types are passing sentance on folks.
When he said that at Bob and Tori's hearing you better bet you rear he would have thrown the book at them if he could have gotten away with it...
At least he followed the law even though it seem it was under protest...
I have 2 words for the good Judge!
NEXT ELECTION!
Just imagine
63% of registered, ballot casting, voters being duped by a bunch of pot-heads. That's what the opposition's position is. STUPID VOTERS!! But then shouldn't those 63% be suspect in every vote they cast in this last election? Especially those that may have supported kuiper's & company while also supporting MM?
What a coincidence that the Iran election was decided(?) by exactly the same landslide.
Glad to see he press is looking at a more reasonable assessment of the situation.
We have to emphisize
The problems so far have been mostly from LEO, and from some piss and moan judges. They are the minority and don't like it, and can't believe their wrong, whaaaaww. In the article the quote from judge and from kuipers were not balanced by pols or other judges who are sympathetic. To me it is a biased article. I did not notice the reporter asking how it helped, or how many could be helped, or why so many people voted for it, or point out how big pharma is being shut out, they still don't get it...........shredder
This
There's a law on the books that's more sympathetic to sick people than drug warriors.
They had a doctor's prescription.
And for now, at least, the people -- including the ones who hope to loosen recreational pot smoking laws -- have spoken."
You can skip through all of the rest of the bullshit, the final words are pro-MJ.
Very poorly written article
the writer failed miserably to articulate any point of view and just mashed a bunch of recent statements about the law into 1 article to try and get her name in a paper as if she was making any contribution to journalism. There was no real point to this pile of crap at all and she has no business being a reporter or writer of any kind when all she does is regurgitate the top 3-5 most recent news articles on the subject and spin it to make it seem like they are her own original thoughts or research. Pro or anit mj doesn't really matter...she is just a bad writer.
Yea,
I guess I woke up in a good mood this morning,and was looking at the brighter side. There was a lot of BS in the article, but the last two paragraphs I liked. And it does show that even the anti's know their day is lost.
Hell, even Kuiper's statement sounds as if he is backtracking a bit.
have thrown the book
at them you bet i bet they could go back to court and sit their and watch him put people in jail all day long it that town for MARIJUANA or maybe he will think 2X and ask him/her if they have medical reasons for using it
As a journalist, Laura Berman
As a journalist, Laura Berman has a duty to get her facts straight. Otherwise anything she says sounds fishy. Dr. Eisenbud works for The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation (THCF). And since it is against the law to write prescriptions for medical marijuana, they had a recommendation. If she can't get the facts straight about this issue then what good is her opinion? Is this an editorial? I hope so, because this article is very insulting to us. I hope her derogatory views are not that of The Detroit News. Time to write a letter...
Tables have turned
Stange, we were suppose to "understand" the peace officers were just doing there job making cannabis arrests prior to the proposal passing.
Why is it so hard for them to under stand the law now?
it was march 30
the law was passed dec 4
Here's my letter if any of
Here's my letter if any of you would like to read it:
http://www.michiganmedicalmarijuana.org/node/5428
Poor LEO
Its a crying shame that LEO's job is gonna be tougher now. Too bad,So sad....
Rev.J
www.benziecountycc.webs.com
Include a Video
Include a video done by the BBC, it's like a 60 Minutes or 20/20 story on the history and medical benefits of cannabis. I was originally given this by the Eastside Caregiver. This shows how cannabis works in the brain, and how the human brain is pre-programed to respond to cannabis. I would include the link to this video in any correspondence to the media and LEO. We need to educate them as they surely don't seem too interested in educating themselves.
http://eastsidecaregiver.com/cannabis.htm
Just a thought...........
boy, this writer is so F'in
boy, this writer is so F'in funny with her little puns and playing to the anti's on how stupid us mj users are.
harold and kumar? wtf are you talking about? michael phelps designer bong? F you!
she must have written this in her Passat, outside Old Navy or The Gap. How typical and unoriginal. Her article is written like it was for a high school newspaper. It amazes me how little thought these people have to put into their work.
Hey Dakine, there are much
Hey Dakine, there are much better videos out there.
Post Em
Post Em please. I thought the medical evidence presented here was pretty compelling. We need to INFORM our elected officials as they don't seem to be busting their asses to inform themselves.
I read this comment on the cannabisnews
I thought it was very well spoken,and very true words.
Comment #34 posted by museman on June 24, 2009 at 09:29:59 PT
negotiation
Negotioation. A word that is a package containing other words, like 'compromise,' 'capitulation,' 'treaty' and every word that is in the 'negotiators' vocabulary.
Negotiation is used to resolve conflict between powers and authorities who recognize each others 'position' and 'power' in the world. Wars are often ended or avoided by effective negotiation.
There is a phrase that has recently been used a lot by our government; "We do not negotiate with terrorists."
This means that the 'terrorists' or in the case of our government and its many imitators, don't 'recognize' the validity of 'terrorists', and that they are 'unworthy' of the effort of negotiations.
In the true definition of the word 'terrorist':
–noun
1. the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes.
2. the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization.
3. a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government.
-in the truest definition, the biggest terrorists in the world is the US Government. The CIA, the DEA, the BLM, and because of recent empowerment of basic 'law enforcement,' just about every cop in America.
Millions of Americans live in fear and terror of the jack boots kicking down their door, of their grade school child inadvertantly 'giving them away' with honesty -to the subterfuge of institutional propoganda. They have lived with fear of injury, death, and imprisonment most of their lives, under a shadow of tyranny parading around like something else.
Now that a significant number of people have been moved towards some political sanity after decades of just letting it happen, questions of liberty, freedom, and justice are coming to the foreground, like cannabis prohibition. The powers and principalities are scrambling to remake their images in the current public trends, and WITHOUT ACTUALLY FIXING the situation, they are attempting to NEGOTIATE with us- as a suddenly recognized power. They offer to stop being BIG Gestapo, and terrorists, if we just let them keep, and have the control and regulation -which is what they do-. They offer to 'decriminalize' our sacrament, and to set standards of weights, and pricing -so that they can have the tax percentage go back into the coffers of global dominion, or just to China, depending on how you look at it. (and that situation has more of a setup for future war than the economic collapse of Germany in the 30s.)
They offer to give us back a small part of our God'-Given heritage and providence, as if it belonged to them, and they have some kind of 'super' right to dictate to us how, when, where, and how much. -Lets see, first they take it away, punish us for trying to have it or get it back, and now that we have them almost in the corner, they are going to suddenly be good guys and 'allow' us limited access to our herb of reknown, but only on the CONDITIONS that maintain the Status Quo. No liberty and freedom here, just corrupted commerce. And they have obviously gotten many former activists ready to bend over and take it, because there is a distinct rift growing in the ranks (divide and conquer) that is focussed on the issue and dynamics of liberty vs compromise. Though I do recognize the 'logic' (limited as it is) of thinking that 'anything is an improvement' over the many years of persecuting and imprisoning cannabis users, I cannot accept it as anything other than the politcal powers putting a 'new face' on their insidiousness. If I can still get fined, lose my job, pension, or get thrown in jail FOR ANYTHING HAVING TO DO WITH CANNABIS, then please tell me how this is somehow and 'end' to prohibition? The DEA, ATF, BLM, and CIA -are known terrorist organizations, and though the suits and ties that create them, enlist them, maintain them and fund them have a large percentage of television viewers convinced of their false authority, non-representation, and some kind of 'social superiority' they are of course the greatest terrorists of them all, because they hide behind their made-up images, and smile and wave at the cameras, while they engineer destruction behind closed doors. So, in the phraseology of this corrupted government;
"DON'T NEGOTIATE WITH TERRORISTS"