State-registered user and Detroit attorney, Matt Abel, is one of the primary organizers of the petition campaign to be on the statewide November ballot with a proposal allowing Michiganders 21 and older to possess small amounts of marijuana.
(Not long ago, in 2008, Michigan Voters approved the state act to allow medical marijuana use with an overwhelming 63% votes.)
A continued restriction of access to medical marijuana has Michigan’s registered patients, supporters and lawyer heading in a new direction: a campaign to approve limited legalization of marijuana in Michigan for all uses.
Patients are growing tired of tightened access to the medical marijuana as a result of doctors refusing to sign the state forms to approve the state forms to approve the drug. Worse, dozens of communities — including Birmingham and Livonia — are enforcing total bans on the drug, while dispensaries that openly sold it for medicinal purposes have been raided and shut down by the police.
(Related: Planet Green Trees Radio)
State-registered user and Detroit attorney, Matt Abel, is one of the primary organizers of the petition campaign to be on the statewide November ballot with a proposal allowing Michiganders 21 and older to possess small amounts of marijuana, he said.
“It would be for religious, medical and personal use, industrial use and agricultural use — we’re putting all that right in the wording,” said Abel, 53, of Detroit.
Not long ago, in 2008, Michigan Voters approved the state act to allow medical marijuana use with an overwhelming 63% votes. However, due to law enforcement authorities, including Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette and Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper, opinion that the state’s medical marijuana act has been abused and used a cover for drug dealers, patients have had their basic rights to medication tightened and in many cases denied!
(Related: Komorn Law Press)
In a ballot proposal passes for limited legalization of marijuana, both prosecutors and police claim the drug would still be illegal in Michigan under federal laws. However, those supporting the ballot proposal said if their proposal passes state and local courts could not prosecute small-time marijuana users.
The campaign for legalization is only evident as a result of “Schuette and his obsession with destroying the medical marijuana act,” said marijuana activist Tim Beck, who owns a Detroit-based health care benefits firm.
(Related: Komorn Talks Medical Marijuana on Mitch Albom Show)
“People are getting desperate and saying, ‘We have to push ahead and get public opinion on our side,’ ” said Beck, 60, of Detroit, who was among the contributors to Michigan’s medical marijuana act in 2006.
A growing desperation loomed from those who needed medical marijuana but could no longer access it.
Infectious disease specialist Dr. Charles Craig at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ypsilanti wrote in a Nov. 29 letter to patients:
“The Michigan Attorney General has declared the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act to be illegal (and) instructed law enforcement officials in Michigan to arrest anyone possessing marijuana, even if they have a card.
“If I prescribed medical marijuana for you … I might be construed as being complicit in encouraging criminal behavior for prescribing what the AG has declared to be an illegal substance.”
Michigan doctors were issued tremendous cause for concern in June when Schuette issued an opinion in which he said:
“The possession of marijuana remains illegal under federal law, even if it is possessed for medicinal purposes in accordance with the state law.” Schuette continues to evade further questioning on the matter.
(Related: Komorn Speaks At Michigan’s Capital)
Other Michigan doctors are also fleeing from signing medical marijuana forms, resulting in a greater demand for approvals by doctors working in offices that do nothing but approve medical marijuana consumers, said Michael Komorn, the President of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association.
“We’re hearing this from a number of patients, but their doctors don’t want to talk about it,” Komorn said.
The dwindling pool of cooperating doctors is one of the many reasons that Michigan voters must consider supporting limited legalization of the drug, said Rick Thompson, editor of the Chesterfield Township-based Michigan Medical Marijuana Magazine.
“We’re seeing all kinds of ways that the authorities want to confuse the voters and contradict the intent of the state law, which was to provide safe use of this drug that has proven medicinal purposes,” Thompson said.
If you or someone you know is facing charges as a result of Medical Marijuana prescribed to you as a Medical Marijuana patient under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, contact Komorn Law and ensure your rights are protected.
Read more: http://www.cannabisnews.org/medical-marijuana-supporters-push-to-legalize-drug/2012/01/11/
Michael Komorn is recognized as a leading expert on the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. He is the President of theMichigan Medical Marijuana Association (MMMA), a nonprofit patient advocacy group with over 26,000 members, which advocates for medical marijuana patients, and caregiver rights. 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.
