Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette Obsessed with Marijuana
By Michael Komorn
This past April, seven Michigan Representatives led by Rep Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) introduced House Bill 4623, which would reduce the penalties for those caught with 1 ounce or less of marijuana. First time offenders would face a fine of $25, second offenses would carry a $50 fine, and a $100 fine would be levied for subsequent offenses. When asked about our prohibitionist policy toward marijuana, one of the members on the bipartisan committee, Representative Mike Shirkey (R), had this to say, ”The data is clear, we’re spending a lot of money, a lot of energy and a lot of resources in Michigan and across the nation to try to accomplish something that, frankly, we’ve failed at.”
Michigan currently has 128,441 active registered qualified patients and 26,875 active registered primary caregivers. There have also been 402,688 applications submitted to the Licensing and Regulatory Affairs office since April of 2009. Even with a patient or caregiver card, members of the medical marijuana program continue to be arrested and thrown into the criminal Justice System. Bill Schuette, the current Attorney General and leading law enforcement agent in Michigan remains ardently opposed to any measure that would lessen the punishment for the possession of any amount. According to Schuette, ”We should not go down this road of legalizing drugs…It exposes young kids, children, to ever more potent drugs use, and I think that’s not good for the in the future.”
Since he was elected in 2010, Schuette has issued 14 Opinions, 4 of which have been about Medical Marijuana. Aside from issuing the opinions (all of which have been anti-medical marijuana), Schuette has hosted seminars for law enforcement across the state. When my office inquired whether I could sit in on one, I was told they were for police and local government officials only. At these seminars, Schuette instructed officers to arrest patients, confiscate any medical marijuana, and let the courts decide whether a crime had been committed. The AG went on further to explain that if a police officer returned the seized cannabis to the patient or caregiver, they themselves could be charged with the felony offense of delivery of a schedule one controlled substance.
It is unfortunate that the political landscape for the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act finds the attorney general, the leading law enforcement agent of the state, as such an obstructionist for the implementation of the voters initiative of 2008. His opposition to the law passing was well publicized when he was acting as the spokesperson for Citizens Protecting Michigan’s Kids. Despite his arcane and illogical arguments, Michigan voters overwhelmingly passed the Michigan Medical Marihuana act by a 63% margin, totaling 3,008,980 votes. Never in the history of Michigan elections had more votes been cast. Many of the issues that exist in the implementation have been perpetuated by his failed policy of viewing the MMMA as a public safety issue instead of a public health issue.
Michigan voters should take heed of the failed implementation of the MMMA, understand where much of the blame should be directed, and hope for a more rational approach from our next candidates who wish to serve the People of the State of Michigan.
Examples of rational approaches taken by other attorney generals in implementing the desire of their citizens to whom they serve can be found here:
To read each of Bill Schuette’s opinions on the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, click the links below.
1) Smoking marihuana is prohibited in public places
2) Return of marihuana to patient or caregiver upon release from custody
3) Medical Marihuana Act prohibits the collective growing or sharing of marihuana plants.
4) Application of Michigan Medical Marihuana Act to child-protective proceedings
