A Swing And A Miss

[The Compassion Chronicles]

A Swing And A Miss

 

House Bill 4856 was passed by the Michigan Legislature during a frantic lame-duck session in which dozens of bills were voted on and passed within a matter of a few hours, including votes taken at 4:30am. The text of HB 4856 is below:

 

Sec. 474. (1) A person shall not transport or possess usable marihuana as defined in section 26423 of the public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.26423, in or upon a motor vehicle or any self-propelled vehicle designed for land travel unless the usable marihuana is 1 or more of the following:

 

(a) Enclosed in a case that is carried in the trunk of the vehicle.

 

(b) Enclosed in a case that is not readily accessible from the interior of the vehicle, if the vehicle in which the person is traveling does not have a trunk.

 

(2) A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 93 days or a fine of not more than $500.00, or both.

 

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

 

Attorney Michael Komorn blogs on occasion for The Compassion Chronicles. Here are his thoughts:

 

House Bill 4856, born out of the late night lame duck session, is not a law intended to protect patients or caregivers. Instead it sets out a new opportunity for law enforcement officers to find violations of how patients and caregivers engage in the medical use of cannabis. Furthermore it is a law that exclusively targets persons who choose to treat their serious or debilitating condition with medical cannabis, and no one else.

 

If the goal of this legislature was to clear up the "holes" in the law, the passing of 4856 would earn the Legislature an (F) Failure on their report card, for doing the exact opposite:

 

1. The MMMA requires a 75 percent vote in both houses to amend the act, but the creation of 4856 only required a 50 percent vote to amend the Michigan Penal Code, and created a prohibition for previously protected behavior.

 

2. 4856 prohibits "persons" from carrying usable marihuana in the interior of a vehicle, unless it is within an enclosed case (definition of enclosed case not provided). Yet the MMMA specifically protects the same behavior 4856 prohibits. Section 4(a) and (b) of the act, protects a person from arrest, prosecution or any penalty, if they possesses, a registry I.D. card and 2.5 ounces or less of usable marihuana, so long as not while on a school bus, grounds of a preschool, primary or secondary school, correctional facility etc.. Said another way 4856 creates, conflict and confusion upon implementation and will certainly be challenged with litigation.

 

To read Michael's other three points and the rest of "A Swing And A Miss" please go to-

 

http://www.thecompassionchronicles.com/2012/12/29/

Edited December 30, 2012 by The Compassion Chronicles

[hofner67]

What do you think the courts will ultimately do? do you think they will be literal with the words or take into consideration the context?

[Michael Komorn]

Independent of the questions it raises of unusable marihuana etc, that is mostly fluff, I would like to think that 4856 will get tossed. Mostly because of the direct conflict it has with the section 4 protections. It is a very poorly written law and seemingly creates a lot of conflict. I don't see it standing up when it is challenged.