Michigan House approves return of medical marijuana dispensaries, edibles
By Jonathan Oosting |
[email protected]
<
http://connect.mlive.com/user/joosting/posts.html>
on December 12, 2013 at 5:00 PM
LANSING, MI -- The Michigan House on Thursday approved legislation to update
the state's voter-approved medical marijuana law by allowing for
dispensaries and a variety of edible products.
Medical marijuana storefronts had operated in several Michigan communities
until a February ruling by the state Supreme Court that empowered county
prosecutors to shut them down as a "public nuisance."
Bipartisan legislation introduced by Republican Rep. Mike Callton of
Nashville and approved Thursday in a 95-14 vote, would pave the way for the
return of dispensaries -- or "provisioning centers" -- but allow local
communities to prohibit them if desired.
Dispensaries would have to provide municipalities with test results ensuring
that the medical marijuana they sell is free of contaminants. Edible
products would have to be clearly labelled. House Bill 4271
<
http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?2013-HB-4271> also would prohibit
on-premises cultivation or use of the drug and generally prohibit new
dispensaries from opening within 1,000 feet of a school.
Callton fine-tuned the bipartisan bill with input from municipalities and
law enforcement officials. Those groups still have some concerns about
definitions but no longer oppose the legislation, which Callton has
championed as a way to improve patient access and care.
"If you get your recommendation from a doctor, instead of waiting four to
six months for someone to grow plants for you -- and you may be dead by then
-- you'll be able to go right away to a provisioning center and get the
medicine you need," Callton told MLive on Tuesday.
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, who joined the lawsuit to shut down
medical marijuana dispensaries and has celebrated their closure, remains
concerned about any legislation that would allow similar facilities to
re-open.
"As the state's top law enforcement officer, Attorney General Schuette
opposes any effort to legalize drugs," said spokesperson Joy Yearout.
"Communities across Michigan have already struggled with dispensaries
selling drugs near schools and churches. Marijuana remains a Schedule 1
drug, and expanding sales will undermine public safety and endanger our
children."
Yearout called the 1,000-foot radius around schools a "cold comfort" that
does not assuage the attorney general's fears.
House Bill 5104, sponsored by Republican Rep. Eileen Kowall of White Lake
and approved Thursday in a 100-9 vote, would update the medical marijuana
law to clarify that multiple parts of the plant -- including dried leaves,
resin and extracts -- can be eaten or otherwise used as medicine.
The Michigan Court of appeals ruled in July that "pot brownies" are not a
usable form of marijuana under the medical law. The plaintiff is appealing,
but the decision has clouded the legal status of various "medibles," which
many patients prefer as a healthier alternative to smoking.
Kowall, speaking on the House floor before the vote, said her bill will give
patients the ability to "choose the delivery method that works best for
their afflictions," referencing vaporization, tinctures, topical creams and
edibles. "It also provides much needed legal clarity that patients need and
deserve."
The dispensary and edibles bills, approved on the last session day of the
year, now head to the Senate. Under the Legislature's five-day rule, they
cannot be taken up until 2014.
The House also approved a separate proposal to create a
"pharmaceutical-grade cannabis" registry if the federal government ever
reclassifies marijuana as a Schedule II drug fit for medical use.
Senate Bill 660 <
http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?2013-SB-0660> could
eventually allow the state to license large-scale growers to produce
marijuana for sale in pharmacies. Creation of the registry would be
dependent on federal approval, and the system would not replace the current
patient-caregiver model.
Patients who wanted access to the pharmaceutical registry would have to give
up their medical marijuana cards, however, meaning they could no longer grow
their own plants.
Sponsoring Sen. Roger Kahn, R-Saginaw Township, is a medical doctor who has
stressed the importance of offering patients carefully grown and
consistently dosed marijuana.
Former state House Speaker Chuck Perricone, who worked on the legislation
with Kahn, now works for Prairie Plant Systems. The bio-pharmaceutical
company is a medical marijuana provider in Canada and would like to grow the
plant in a former copper mine in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
A House amendment adopted Thursday would allow minors to access the
pharmaceutical registry upon recommendation of two physicians. Because of
that change, the bill returns to the Senate for additional consideration and
possible concurrence.
