Bills currently moving through the state legislature could clear up some gaps in current laws regarding medical marijuana and dispensaries.
Two Republican-sponsored House bills could remove the gray area surrounding certain aspects of a 2008 act allowing the use of medical marijuana, including the legalization of medical marijuana dispensaries and the legality of edible marijuana products.
One bill, sponsored by Reps. Eileen Kowall, R-White Lake, Sam Singh, D-East Lansing, and others, would allow registered patients to make products infused with marijuana in specific quantities.
In a previous interview with The State News, Kowall said the law was “murky” when it came to edible products and did not protect medical marijuana patients from legal ramifications.
“They felt like they had to be criminals,” Kowall said.
The other bill, sponsored by Rep. Mike Callton, R-Nashville, would allow those patients to use dispensaries.
In a statement released when the bill was first introduced, Callton said he considers the matter an issue of patient care, noting that some people eligible for medical marijuana might not be able to grow the plants on their own.
“It’s simply not realistic to expect them to do this,” he said in the statement. “Since it takes four to six months for a marijuana plant to provide usable medicine, many patients will die before their plants can help them.”
Neither dispensaries nor the creation of edible marijuana products were directly addressed in the 2008 bill and there have been illegal rulings against them in court. Both bills passed through the House in December.
Criminal defense attorney John Targowski, who specializes in cases related to medical marijuana, said the current law allows people to carry up to 2.5 ounces of dried marijuana flowers.
“The House bills would reposition medicals back in the community,” Targowski said. “If you have your card and you have your medicals, a cop can’t do anything.”
The new bills also could bring back more dispensaries to the area after numbers declined due to legal ramifications under the current laws.
"(Dispensaries) are not legal anymore,” Targowski said. “There are communities that can tolerate them but they don’t have any protection under the medical marijuana act.”
If the rules are changed because of the bills, it will allow patients with medical marijuana cards more freedom and ability without having to worry about legal consequences.
For MSU journalism junior, marijuana advocate and soon-to-be medical marijuana cardholder Brendan Smoker, the new laws will provide a sense of comfort knowing the rules have changed.
“I always act with caution because of the controversial laws with federal and state laws,” Smoker said. “However, I will always have my medicine and I will go where the price is cheapest, whether it is the dispensary or from a peer.”
Along with the comfort that Smoker says will come from fixes in the new bills, he said the issues of marijuana policies need to be addressed more.
“Marijuana policy is one of the most under-addressed issues today,” Smoker said. “Policy change is a must and for that to happen, the public needs to be educated on the facts (of marijuana).”
