Michigan patients using medical marijuana could obtain the drug from a pharmacy after a proposal was passed today by the Senate. Federal approval, along with a rescheduling of cannabis would be needed to implement the proposal, however.
The Republican-led Senate approved the measure today, saying that the Pharmaceutical Cannabis would run along side, but not replace, the current patient-caregiver system.
Canada had a similar system for almost a decade, but in April 2014, Patients will only be able to get medical marijuana from Prairie Plant Systems, currently the only company licensed to grow cannabis for patients.
Senate Bill 660, though approved by the Michigan Senate, is completely dependent on the Federal Government rescheduling cannabis to Schedule II.
Proponents of the Bill, including several doctors, believe that by dispensing cannabis through pharmacies, patients will have access to a consistent product free of mold, pesticide, and other impurities.
the Michigan Department of Community Health would be tasked with licensing, registering and inspecting specialized marijuana manufacturing facilities. Those wishing to distribute would have to obtain a license from the Michigan Board of Pharmacy, as already required for other controlled substances.
The story gets interesting when you see how intimately involved Prairie Plant Systems is with the passage of this bill.
Chuck Perricone, the former Michigan Speaker of the House, is now working for Prairie Plant Systems Inc. He testified in support of the Bill, which isn’t surprising when you see that PPS already owns an underground facility in the Upper Peninsula.
Hasn’t PPS learned that growing cannabis in a mine presents numerous health concerns? Perricone feigns humility when he states that the medical marijuana provided by PPS to Michigan Patients, “will be, we believe, a small segment of the market, but it will be a choice. It will be an option.”
If we have learned anything from Canada, PPS “Medical” Marijuana could soon become the only option for Michigan Patients.
Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, spoke out against the bill and questioned why the Senate would pass a bill benefiting a Canadian company when “we’re not doing squat” to improve current Michigan law.
Additionally, many patients testified on the floor that no deaths have come as a result of consuming home grown cannabis. They also fear the same fate as Canadian patients who will soon have to give up their cards, their ability to grow their own cannabis, and must rely on a product being produced underground in mines.
