Michigan Woman Champions Amendement To Medical Marijuana Act

[bobandtorey]

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - A Michigan woman who wants non-smoked forms of medical marijuana legalized for her 6-year-old daughter, who suffers from seizures, is taking her message to West Michigan.

Ida Chinonis is on a mission to try to amend the Medical Marijuana Act so that edible products made from extracted oils would be legal in Michigan.

39 year old Ida Chinonis straps her six year old daughter Bella in for a ride in her stroller.

The mother of three says the ride to find a treatment for her daughter--who has a genetic disorder and suffers from a seizure disorder--has been anything but smooth.

She tried different pharmaceutical medications.

"She was more drowsy, she was lethargic, she almost was zombied out," Chinonis said.

She says that changed when she switched her daughter to medical marijuana in the form of an oil that her daughter takes orally.

"She's calmer, she's more relaxed, her muscle tone has definitely improved, stood for the first time in six years," Chinonis said.

She says her daughter's seizures have also decreased.

While her daughter is a medical marijuana card holder, and was approved for a caregiver, she has no legal protection right now because her daughter does not smoke the marijuana.

A proposed amendment to the Medical Marijuana Act would change that, allowing marijuana-infused products--including beverages, topical applications, and edible substances--to be included in the law.

Robin Schneider, with the National Patients Rights Association, says the state has failed to protect patients.

"I think there's this idea out there there will be marijuana brownies in every corner and that's not the case," Schneider said. "I would regulate it, it would actually keep children safer because it would be a regulated product."

For her part, Chinonis says medical marijuana is medicine, and it needs to be legal for patients who need it and it needs to be regulated.

"I have to know exactly what I'm giving her; when the lab tests it, I want to know exactly what's in it," she said.

Robin Schneider says the biggest pushback last time the legislation was taken up in Lansing came from law enforcement.

However, Representative Mike Callton, who is against sponsoring a regulatory bill, says his office is working with that sector constructively, and he wants to create safe access to medical marijuana.

 

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