Critics claim police drug task forces are abusing their authority in Michigan

Critics claim police drug task forces are abusing their authority in Michigan

Attorney Michael Komorn (center) and Former state lawmaker Tom McMillin (right) takes part in a discussion of alleged abuses by law enforcement drug task forces in Michigan.

 

Attorney Michael Komorn who specializes in Medical Marijuana participates in a meeting in Port Huron about how law enforcement drug task forces are abusing their power in Michigan.

 

Speaker after speaker claimed the raids by heavily armed police officers on their homes have resulted in extensive damage and scared their children.  During the raids, they claim officers tried to intimidate them.

 

“It’s child endangerment. It’s sexual harassment. It’s excessive force. That’s civil rights violations,” claims Charmie Gholson, with Michigan Moms United. Gholson organized Tuesday’s meeting, which is the first of a series meetings planned around the state.
Former Republican state lawmaker Tom McMillin sat on a panel which asked questions of the speakers at the meeting.

 

“Some of this stuff sounds criminal that law enforcement is doing,” McMillin said during a break in the meeting.

 

There were no law enforcement officials at Tuesday’s meeting in Port Huron. Charmie Gholson says she intentionally didn’t invited the St. Clair County sheriff’s office out of concern that some of the people at the meeting would feel intimidated.

 

After a state House committee meeting last month where Annette Shattuck  testified about her experience with the local drug task force, St. Clair County Sheriff Tim Donnellon told the Washington Post she lied about officers on the county’s drug task force.

 

“She’s a liar, plain and simple. That’s all I can tell you,” he said. He says that the task force did not hang lingerie from the ceiling fans or stomp food on the floor. The Shattucks, he said, are “trying to further their cause, which at the base of it is the legalization of marijuana in the state of Michigan.”

 

State lawmakers are looking at making changes to the law under which drug task forces operate.

The state House has passed a package of bills to add new reporting requirements and increase the burden of proof required to seize private property in drug raids.

The bills are currently before the state Senate.

 

Source: Michigan Radio.org
Original Article By Steve Carmody • Jul 29, 2015


 

If you or someone you know is facing charges as a result of Medical Marijuana recommended to you as a medical marijuana patient under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, contact Komorn Law and ensure your rights are protected.

Michael Komorn is recognized as a leading expert on the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. He is the President of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association (MMMA), a nonprofit patient advocacy group with over 26,000 members, which advocates for the rights of medical marijuana patients and their caregivers. Michael is also the host of Planet Green Trees Radio, a marijuana reform based show, which is broadcast every Thursday night 8-10 pm EST. Follow Komorn on Twitter.

Contact us for a case evaluation at 800-656-3557

MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT – Sentencing Guidelines Unconstitutional

MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT – Sentencing Guidelines Unconstitutional

LANSING, MI 7/30/15 — In a decision that could have a far-reaching impact on current and future cases going through the court system, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the state’s sentencing guidelines that mandate prison terms are unconstitutional, and that judges should use them only in an advisory capacity.
In a 5-2 decision, the court struck down parts of Michigan law around sentencing guidelines and made sentencing guidelines advisory rather than mandatory.

 

One of the biggest aspects of Wednesday’s ruling is the elimination of mandatory minimum sentencing as determined by sentencing guidelines. Instead of sentencing guidelines determining a minimum length of how long a defendant must stay in prison, it will be up to Michigan judges to decide the minimum amount of a prison sentence range.

 

“A scheme of mandatory minimum sentencing violates the Sixth Amendment if it constrains the discretion of the sentencing court by compelling an increase in the mandatory minimum sentence beyond that authorized by the jury’s verdict alone,” wrote Justice Bridget Mary McCormack in the majority’s opinion.
The ruling set off a range of reactions, with many prosecutors expressing outrage, while many judges hailed the decision as long overdue.
Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper predicted the ruling would throw the judicial system into chaos for a while.

 

“This is going to result in a great deal of disparity in sentencing,” Cooper said. “It’s going to make a mess on both sides of the aisle and that’s not fair to anyone.”
But Oakland County Judge Jim Alexander said that guidelines are supposed to be a road map and not a hard and fast mandate.

“We’re going to have to get used to it. We’re going to have more discretion,” he said. “You can’t get total consistency when you’re dealing with human beings.”

 

There are more people incarcerated than our neighboring states and it’s costing $2 billion a year.
“Michigan’s sentencing guidelines do so to the extent that the floor of the guidelines range compels a court to impose a mandatory minimum sentence beyond that authorized by the jury’s verdict.”

Sentencing guidelines are a series of variables — made up of the offense for which a defendant is found guilty and the defendant’s past — that help determine the range of time a defendant could serve in prison.
McCormack was joined by Chief Justice Robert P. Young Jr. and Justices Mary Beth Kelly, David Viviano and Richard Bernstein in the majority opinion. Justices Brian Zahra and Stephen J, Markman dissented.

Read the Michigan Supreme Court Opinion

Medical Cannabis Crackdown in Michigan?

Medical Cannabis Crackdown in Michigan?

Medical Cannabis Crackdown in Michigan?

7/20/15 – Michigan law enforcement has thrown down the legal gauntlet against at least three medical cannabis dispensaries this month, including two in the Detroit metro area and one in a small town several hours northwest of the city.

 

In Detroit proper, the dispensary Detroit Medz was raided on July 14, with police seizing a gun and “drugs” and making an arrest, according to Mlive.com.

 

In Canton, a suburb west of Detroit, three residents who operate a dispensary that was raided in March were charged with felony crimes last week, including conspiracy to deliver marijuana.

In Shelby Township, far to the northwest of Detroit, local and federal law enforcement agents raided the dispensary Advance Medical Supply on July 10. Police conducted at least four searches and seized three vehicles and at least 10 pounds of cannabis.

 

The raids and criminal charges come just a few months after eight other dispensaries were raided in northern Michigan. They could be a response by the law enforcement community to a resurgence in the state’s MMJ industry.

 

Some of the raids may have been sparked by dispensaries not verifying the Michigan residency of customers, Mlive.com reported. But given the gray legal area that dispensaries operate in, how law enforcement deals with such businesses is often left to local discretion.

 

State police raided eight medical cannabis dispensaries in northern Michigan this week, serving 16 search warrants and seizing an untold number of cannabis plants.

 

Not a single arrest was made, however, even though law enforcement officials said the eight dispensaries are “suspected of selling marijuana illegally.” Police also seized processed marijuana products and “other evidence” from the homes and businesses that were searched.

 

The dispensaries were all in Otsego County, some in the town of Gaylord, which is more than three hours north of Detroit. Whether or not any criminal charges will be filed will be up to the county prosecutor.

 

The medical cannabis industry in Michigan has long been in limbo. The state’s Supreme Court ruled two years ago that dispensaries are illegal, but as many as 250 dispensaries still exist in a quasi-legal status, with some getting protection from local communities that approve of MMJ.

 

It remains to be seen if the eight dispensaries that were raided will reopen. In some other states that have experienced similar raids, targeted dispensaries actually were able to open their doors again.

Another State Legalizes Hemp Production, Nullifies Federal Law

Another State Legalizes Hemp Production, Nullifies Federal Law

Connecticut is over its ban on hemp. Beginning July 1, the industrial crop will be as legal as every other farmable thing. That flies in the face of the federal government’s criminalization of hemp.

“What this gets down to is the power of the people,” said Mike Maharrey of the Tenth Amendment Center. “When enough people tell the feds to pound sand, there’s not much D.C. can do to continue their unconstitutional prohibition on this productive plant.”

Experts suggest that the U.S. market for hemp is around $500 million per year. They count as many as 25,000 uses for industrial hemp, including food, cosmetics, plastics and bio-fuel. The U.S. is currently the world’s #1 importer of hemp fiber for various products, with China and Canada acting as the top two exporters in the world.

Connecticut joins the ranks of Vermont, Colorado and other states that are ignoring federal hemp prohibition. Oregon has handed out 13 hemp farming licenses so far. South Carolina, North Dakota, and Maine have laws that address the prohibition in different ways. President Obama signed a farm bill last year that authorized research on hemp for states which had already legalized it.

 

States That Farm Industrial Hemp

  • Hawaii
  • Kentucky
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Montana
  • North Dakota
  • Oregon
  • Vermont
  • West Virginia

 

Over 30 Countries That Farm Hemp;

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Hungary
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Mexico
  • North Korea
  • Poland
  • Romania
  • Russia
  • United Kingdom

 

INFORMATION ABOUT INDUSTRIAL HEMP

NORML Statement on the Cultivation of Industrial Hemp

“[T]he US market for hemp-based products has a highly dedicated and growing demand base. … [A] commercial hemp industry in the United States could provide opportunities as an economically viable alternative crop for some US growers.” – Congressional Research Service white paper, ‘Hemp as an Agricultural Commodity,’ 2013

Introduction Why are American farmers legally forbidden from growing a plant proclaimed by Popular Mechanics magazine to have the potential to be manufactured into more than 25,000 environmentally friendly products? It’s because the plant is hemp — also known as marijuana — and for more than 60 years, it has remained the U.S. government’s public enemy #1.

What is Hemp? Hemp is a distinct variety of the plant species cannabis sativa L. that contains minimal (less than 1%) amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. It is a tall, slender, fibrous plant similar to flax or kenaf. Various parts of the plant can be utilized in the making of textiles, paper, paints, clothing, plastics, cosmetics, foodstuffs, insulation, animal feed and other products.

Hemp produces a much higher yield per acre than do common substitutes such as cotton and requires few pesticides. In addition, hemp has an average growing cycle of only 100 days and leaves the soil virtually weed-free for the next planting.

The hemp plant is currently harvested for commercial purposes in over 30 nations, including Canada, Japan and the European Union. Although it grows wild across much of America and presents no public health or safety threat, hemp is nevertheless routinely uprooted and destroyed by law enforcement. Each year, approximately 98% of all the marijuana eliminated by the DEA’s “Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program” is actually hemp.

Despite America’s bureaucratic moratorium on industrial hemp cultivation, a domestic industry exists and continues to grow. U.S. retailers and manufacturers annually import approximately 1.9 million pounds of hemp fiber, 450,000 pounds of hemp seeds, and 331 pounds of hempseed oil from Canada and other nations that regulate hemp farming. (Federal law permits the importation of hemp fiber, sterilized seeds, and ingestible hemp-based products containing no THC.) In addition, a growing number of health professionals are praising hemp seeds’ nutritional value, noting that it’s second only to soy in protein and contains the highest concentration of essential amino and fatty acids found in any food. Given the crop’s versatility, it’s no wonder that hemp has been endorsed by organizations and individuals such as the U.S. Agriculture Department’s Alternative Agricultural Research, the National Conference of State Legislatures, environmentalist Ralph Nader and health guru Andrew Weil.

History of Hemp Researchers trace hemp’s history as a fiber and food crop back some 12,000 years. During America’s colonial era, many of the founding fathers — including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson — espoused its manufacturing for rope, sails and paper. Early settlers also used hemp seeds as a source for lamp oil and some colonies made hemp cultivation compulsory, calling its production necessary for the “wealth and protection of the country.”

Hemp continued to be cultivated in America until 1937 when Congress passed the Marihuana Tax Act outlawing marijuana. Although not a bill specifically aimed at hemp production, legal limitations posed by the legislation put an end to the once prominent industry.

Hemp production briefly re-emerged in 1942 when the federal government encouraged American farmers to grow it for the war effort. Armed with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) film “Hemp for Victory,” thousands of farmers grew hundreds of thousands of acres of hemp for wartime needs. Unfortunately, when World War II ended, so did the government’s allowance of hemp cultivation. By 1957, prohibitionists had reasserted a total ban on hemp production. That federal ban remains in effect today.

Where does the DEA Stand on Hemp? Despite hemp’s emergence as a worldwide economic industry, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) remain firmly opposed to it. Currently, only the DEA has the power to license farmers to legally grow hemp, even in those states where local laws permit it. Not surprisingly, the DEA has continued to deny every permit for large-scale hemp farming (In 1999, they did give Hawaii researchers permission to grow a one-quarter acre test plot of the crop.) within America’s borders for the last four decades.

In a 1995 USDA “White Paper,” the DEA stated that they are “opposed to any consideration of hemp as a legitimate fiber or pulp product,” and recommended that any USDA researcher who wishes to explore the issue must first be briefed by White House anti-drug officials. Since then, DEA officials have stonewalled several state efforts to enact hemp cultivation and research bills by threatening to arrest any farmers who attempt to grow it. Most recently, President George Bush’s spokesman Ari Flesher answered the question: “Does the President favor the legalization of industrial hemp?” by stating that Bush has not made “any statements … that would lend one to reach that conclusion.”

Hemp Today Although our federal government refuses to waver on hemp prohibition, public, state and international support is growing. The European Union now subsidizes farmers to grow hemp, which is legally recognized as a commercial crop by the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

In recent years, a number of U.S. states have commissioned studies recommending hemp as a viable economic crop. Most recently, legislatures in Montana and North Dakota have enacted legislation licensing farmers to grow hemp (though federal approval still remains necessary), hopefully paving the way for a renewed U.S. hemp cultivation industry in the not-so-distant future.

End NORML INFO

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Could it be true?

Did the Government Give Industrial Hemp a Pass to Clean Up Radiation in the States?

 

Dr. Ilya Raskin of Rutgers University’s Biotechnology Center for Agriculture and the Environment, who was a member of the original task force sent by the IAEA to examine food safety at the Chernobyl site figured out that through phytoremediation utilizing hemp, among other plants, the soil, and thus the food supply could be saved from toxicity.

Phytoremediation is the process whereby green plants remove toxins from the soil. Plants can extract specific elements within their ecosystem and still thrive. They accumulate the toxins in their tissues and root systems but remain undamaged. Sunflowers have been known to do something similar for centuries, eliminating heavy metals and pesticides from damaged soil. Two members of the mustard family are also useful for this process – Brassica juncea and Brassica carinata, but it seems hemp is quite amazing at sucking up radiation.

Granted, the government is probably dumbfounded at what to do with the Fukushima radiation headed our way, but the legalization of hemp just might balance some of the toxicity scientists expect.  Fortunately, California, one of the states that will be hardest hit, has already legalized industrial hemp, but it has to wait for the federal government to give states the right before they can actually grow it. The Farm Bill only allows ‘research’ growth at certain institutions in 10 states currently.

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp. In light of Fukushima, let’s join our countries’ founders to grow it too. You can help clean the soil in your area if hemp or medical marijuana has been legalized in your state, and help it to pass in further states by being vocal with your state and federal representatives.

Journal of Bone and Mineral Research has found that marijuana may help to heal broken bones…

Journal of Bone and Mineral Research has found that marijuana may help to heal broken bones…

A new study published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research has found that smoking marijuana may help to heal broken bones more quickly.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University found that rats with broken bones healed more quickly when given cannabinoid, or CBD, the non-psychotropic compound in weed, and THC.

The study, published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research on Thursday found that the bones not only healed quicker, but were also stronger and more resilient against a repeated fracture, meaning the bones treated with marijuana were much less likely to break again.

The scientists behind the research believe that this is due to a connection between cannabinoid receptors in the human body and the stimulation of bone growth.

Dr. Yankel Gabet of Tel Aviv’s Bone Research Laboratory presented findings that show that cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive chemical found in marijuana, may have therapeutic qualities in the mending of fractured bones. CBD can be separated from tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the component of marijuana commonly attributed to cause the altered state produced by taking the substance.

Because of the ability of the chemical to able to have positive outcomes for the healing of broken bones, there will undoubtedly be a continued effort to prove the effectiveness of CBD. Medical marijuana has also been shown to be effective for a range of other ailments. One of the most recently discovered is a possible positive influence on Alzheimer’s disease. A study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease presented findings indicative of a use for the substance to treat the disease, previously reported Inquisitr.