Jump to content

On Shaky Ground


Recommended Posts

Uncertainty Fills The Air At Marijuana Dispensaries 

Mark Dragovich and his mother run a medical marijuana dispensary called Farmacy just outside Fife Lake. During the snowy, slow winter months, maybe a dozen cardholders a day visit the tidy shop that sits across from a roadside park along US 131.

Dragovich — a navy veteran who wears his hair in a short mohawk — fears the next knock on his door could be police looking to confiscate cash, marijuana and, possibly, his freedom.

“It’s an uncertain future,” Dragovich said. “We’re on shaky ground.”

A DARK SHADOW 

It’s been almost a year since the Michigan Supreme Court condemned the way many patients obtain marijuana under the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. A February 2014 decision declared patient-to-patient transfers at dispensaries illegal.

This decision may force cardholders to obtain their supply from a registered caregiver — limited to serving five patients — which opponents of the decision say would be logistically difficult or impossible for many people seeking marijuana to treat serious illness.

In some jurisdictions like Wexford County, authorities shut down dispensaries following the decision, but as a conservative legislature quickly vowed to pass bills to establish regulated dispensaries, authorities elsewhere refrained from taking action. This was the case in Grand Traverse County.

Pundits expected that two bills intended to mitigate the Supreme Court decision would easily pass by the end of 2014, but they died in the Senate amid 11th-hour lobbying. Now, advocates of dispensaries say their fate is uncertain. There is talk that the bills will be reintroduced and Dragovich hopes that happens soon.

“I just want them to get off their donkey so we can be open and be able to help the people the law was intended to help,” said Dragovich. “Our whole business model is based on that legislation and it’s very frustrating.”

A ROLLER COASTER RIDE EVERY DAY 

Dragovich faces fear each day that he opens his store, and that fear is shared among dispensary owners, according to Adam DeVaney and Misty Cassell, operators of Chronic Certification Center.

“It’s pretty scary for those people who are actually in the dispensary business right now because there’s a definite uncertainty depending on the local law enforcement in their area,” Cassell said. “For them, it’s a daily challenge because they don’t know if they’re coming for them.”

DeVaney said the uncertainty hangs like a dark cloud.

“This industry is a roller coaster ride every single day. Whether you’re an owner of a dispensary, whether you’re a patient, whether you’re a caregiver supplying to your patients or whether you work at a medical center like we do, you never know,” DeVaney said. “You never know if the person who’s standing in front of you is literally a [Traverse Narcotics Team] officer trying to get something on your doctor so he can discredit him and charge him with multiple felonies.”

Chronic Certification in Garfield Township helps patients receive certification from a doctor, fill out state paperwork and find a marijuana supply.

Cassell and DeVaney believe they have carefully followed the law and are unsure if they have ever been investigated by police.

“We want safe access for patients in Michigan while the legislature works this out,” Cassell said. “We’ve never had any problems here and, if we’ve been visited, it’s unbeknownst to us.”

ALL EYES ON THE PROSECUTOR 

For Grand Traverse County dispensary operators, all eyes are on Prosecutor Robert Cooney. Last year, Cooney refrained from taking action because he said he wanted to see what would happen with the Legislature’s response to the court decision. Cooney is still waiting, but he’s considering options.

“I’m sure that the Legislature will revisit these issues sooner or later and I will be keeping a close eye on any developments,” Cooney wrote in an email.

Yet, Cooney said he is motivated to follow current law. That law, defined by the State of Michigan vs. McQueen decision, does not allow patient-to-patient transfers of marijuana, which is the common dispensary operation model.

“I am unwilling to sit back and allow Grand Traverse County to become the safe haven in northwestern Michigan for those businesses that would operate illegally,” Cooney said. “If they can operate their business within the confines of the law, fine. I don’t have a problem with that.”

Cooney said he has not looked closely at how any particular dispensary operates.

“Not having received either an actual nuisance complaint or warrant request, I have not been called upon to examine the specific facts of a particular case,” he wrote.

Adam DeVaney and Misty Cassell at Chronic Certification Center, a certification center in Garfield Township.

PUSHED OVER THE COUNTY LINE 

In Fife Lake, Farmacy sponsors the Fourth of July fireworks and Dragovich and his mother crochet hats and gloves for children in struggling families. Through these types of activities, they’ve won the support of the village’s chamber of commerce, Dragovich said.

“Being active in the community is necessary for any business, no matter what your business is,” he said.

This is Dragovich’s second dispensary. Police raided his first, in Mesick, in July. Traverse Narcotics Team officers visited his Mesick store and confiscated marijuana and cash, a setback Dragovich says cost him close to $4,000. He was in the process of opening the Fife Lake store when the first location was raided.

“They threatened to prosecute us if we didn’t shutter our doors,” he said. “So we closed our doors in Wexford County and that was our last day of business.”

A patient since 2009, Dragovich became involved in the business because he wanted to run a professional dispensary. He said he believes marijuana should be regularly tested for pesticides, mildew and mold. He also believes the people who work in dispensaries should be knowledgeable about what benefits different marijuana strains offer patients.

“I just saw that there was a need for a dispensary that brought a more professional attitude,” Dragovich said. “Some of the budtenders, as we call them for lack of a better term in the industry, had no knowledge of the product.”

MEDICAL OR RECREATIONAL USE?

Opponents of medical marijuana say the system is rife with abuse. They believe many use the law as a way around the state’s prohibition of recreational marijuana use.

Dragovich disagrees; he doesn’t believe that a significant number of cardholders take advantage of the law merely to get high.

“I see somebody under 30 maybe three, four times a week,” he said.

Most of his clients are in their 40s and 50s “and all of them have issues,” he said. “When a healthy, 30-something Marine walks in with PTSD, then somebody sees him on the street smoking, they’re going to think he is an abuser, but he’s not.”

Even advocates concede that the world of medical marijuana stretches along a spectrum. There are people devoted to operating according to the spirit of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act and then there are sketchy operators.

DeVaney and Cassell said they know of certifiers with questionable business practices. Chronic Certification is a brick-andmortar clinic and they say they are available for follow up visits to ensure a bonafide doctor-patient relationship for their clients, while — on the other end of the spectrum — traveling certification mills stage weekend events at hotels or offer visits with a doctor traveling in the back of a bus.

“There are plenty of them out there that certainly fall under that sketchy criteria. I can’t speak for them,” Cassell said. “I know that we follow state law here and we provide a legitimate service.”

 

Read More here
 
 
 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

these guys are sticking out their tounges and sticking up their finger at the law...they were hoping to get grandfathered in on the last bill that failed and now thats not going to happen.i have no sympathy for them and feel they'll get whats comin' to em sooner or later..i just don't want to listen to them cry about it when they do...bp

Link to comment
Share on other sites

these guys are sticking out their tounges and sticking up their finger at the law...they were hoping to get grandfathered in on the last bill that failed and now thats not going to happen.i have no sympathy for them and feel they'll get whats comin' to em sooner or later..i just don't want to listen to them cry about it when they do...bp

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

these guys are sticking out their tounges and sticking up their finger at the law...they were hoping to get grandfathered in on the last bill that failed and now thats not going to happen.i have no sympathy for them and feel they'll get whats comin' to em sooner or later..i just don't want to listen to them cry about it when they do...bp

Well i sure hope it ain't soon because i still haven't been able to get a canna #4 cut and i'm real low on CBD meds at the moment.  Anyone know where I can get an oz. of canna #4 outside the dispensary system?  Cause they are the only place that has had it since I've been here.

 

Waiting on my Perkin's cuts from arborside so hopefully they won't get busted before I can get them.  You wouldn't wish people to run out of meds would you?

 

Sorry, a little grumpy as I've cut way back on CBD as to not run out.  Better for me to stay away from posting till then, my fault.

Edited by Norby
Link to comment
Share on other sites

no norby i wouldn't want anyone to be without the strains they need for relief of their pain...i only wish that the people that had those strains, wouldn't add to it, the pain of having to pay so much to get it...if i had it ,i'd give it to you for cost and feel good about myself all day long.. but thats not enough for some others,,they feel like they should make alittle(or alota') somethin' extra on the deal...after all they're a business not your buddy...how much are you willing to pay before you feel like "man that antn't right"?.i hope someone can help you out without bustin the bank.. and alot of us can understand the fustration and grumpy that comes along with pain...i just wish i could give you the strain you need to smile..bp

Edited by budpuffer
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you really comparing dispensaries and rapists?

I made no such reference silly. Extrapolated maybe you could come up with a comparison between illegal crack houses and illegal prostitutes, but I quoted nothing concerning dispensaries. The legality of the matter was in question. "because they exist, they must be legal" ahhh, now, of course not, because just look at other illegal activity that is allowed to flourish, that was the point.

Are you able to discern now? I colored inside the lines on that one for ya. I do not regard a dispensary as evil, or immoral. I don't much regard them at all.

 

good day

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I made no such reference silly. Extrapolated maybe you could come up with a comparison between illegal crack houses and illegal prostitutes, but I quoted nothing concerning dispensaries. The legality of the matter was in question. "because they exist, they must be legal" ahhh, now, of course not, because just look at other illegal activity that is allowed to flourish, that was the point.

Are you able to discern now? I colored inside the lines on that one for ya. I do not regard a dispensary as evil, or immoral. I don't much regard them at all.

 

good day

You are too much my friend

Edited by Natesilver
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...