Harassment Of Legal Mmj Patients Not The Way To Go.

[greenbuddha]

MEDICAL POT LAW WOULD BE WORKABLE IF PEOPLE WEREN'T HARASSED

by Eric L. VanDussen, Freelance Journalist, (Source:Livingston County Daily Press & Argus)

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09 Jun 2011

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Michigan

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In November 2008, a whopping 63% of Michigan's electorate affirmed that "modern medical research ... has discovered beneficial uses for marijuana in treating or alleviating the pain, nausea, and other symptoms associated with a variety of debilitating medical conditions."

 

Since then, however, various politicians, judges, prosecutors and cops have been attempting to convince all of those voters that they were bamboozled. A prevailing argument made by these naysayers is that the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act is being abused by physicians and patients who recommend and/or use marijuana to alleviate pain.

 

The reefer madness rhetoric advanced by those wishing to repeal the MMMA is disingenuous and clearly intended to circumvent the will of the people. Attorney General Bill Schuette and other like-minded prosecutors throughout Michigan have been actively coordinating the charge to destroy the MMMA. They make no secret of their intention to whittle away at the law until its clearly defined legal protections are virtually nonexistent.

 

When Schuette was still a sitting Court of Appeals judge, he led Citizens Protecting Michigan's Kids, an organization that vehemently opposed the MMMA. The propaganda distributed by Schuette's anti-medical marijuana group stated that "a deliberate loophole in Proposal 1 allows anyone arrested on any offense involving marijuana to offer a 'medical' defense in court." And, a month before the MMMA was passed, Schuette told the Lansing City Pulse that, "Nothing in this ballot initiative would prohibit these pot shops and pot clubs that have erupted in California."

 

Schuette's current position on those issues is now contrary to how he, as a court of appeals judge, interpreted the MMMA before its passage. His about-faces demonstrate that he'll do whatever it takes to convince his former judicial colleagues to construe the law to his liking.

 

In recent filings by Schuette's office with the Court of Appeals, he argues that there are all kinds of circumstances in which individuals arrested for marijuana offenses can be denied the right to present a medical necessity defense. His legal briefs also contend that the "language of the MMMA does not expressly permit the operation of dispensaries, clubs, consignment shops, or any other type of business or storefront at which marijuana is transferred, delivered, or sold ."

 

With all of that doubletalk, it's hard to tell who the citizens of Michigan are supposed to believe: Attorney General Bill Schuette or former Court of Appeals Judge Bill Schuette. These are only a couple examples of the deceptive tactics Schuette has employed while attempting to convince the masses that the sky is falling.

 

It doesn't take a genius to see that Schuette's obvious bias against medical marijuana is clouding his judgment. Schuette and his counterparts should stop persecuting medical marijuana patients and start focusing their limited resources on putting away murderers, rapists and other violent criminals. The voters in Michigan have spoken, and it's time for their collective voices to be taken seriously.

 

 

MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.

 

 

 

 

Share This Article Pubdate: Thu, 09 Jun 2011

Source: Livingston County Daily Press & Argus (MI)

Copyright: 2011 Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/Kk1qVKJf

Website: http://www.livingstondaily.com

Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4265

Author: Eric L. VanDussen, Freelance Journalist and Courtroom

Videographer. Research Assistant for attorney Jesse L. Williams, who

specializes in marijuana law.