Michigan pot growers edge out of the closet

[FruityBud]

A contest to pick the best medicinal marijuana in Michigan may go up in smoke as the event's organizer and local law enforcement officials argue over whether the judging is legal.

The Michigan Caregiver's Cup expo, designed to educate state residents on how to grow, dispense and use medical marijuana, is to be held Jan. 29-31 at an Ypsilanti conference center.

But organizer Anthony Freed, executive director of the Michigan Marijuana Chamber of Commerce, said Friday he has moved the marijuana judging -- where state-registered medical marijuana users test samples from state growers and choose favorites -- to an offsite location. The decision came after local prosecutors deemed the contest illegal.

"I don't believe I'm doing anything illegal," Freed said Friday.

Washtenaw County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Steve Hiller disagrees, but wouldn't say whether the Prosecutor's Office has consulted law enforcement on the possibility of arrests.

Growing pains

Michigan medical marijuana proponents will literally go through growing pains, say supporters in states where the drug's use for medical purposes has been legal for years.

"I compare it often to the Jim Crow laws, where they gave people the right to vote but not the right to practice it," said Nathan Sands, communications director for the Compassionate Coalition, an activist group based in California -- the first state to approve medical marijuana use, in 1996.

"So if you give them the right to use it, but no ability to obtain it, it is the exact same thing as a Jim Crow law."

On Nov. 4, 2008, Michigan joined 13 states -- Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington -- in allowing pot's medicinal use.

Freed designed the first Caregiver's Cup on Jan. 29-31 in Ypsilanti as an educational forum to teach people how to do it right.

The event at the Marriott at Eagle Crest will offer lectures and classes on everything from the civil rights of pot users and how to become a caregiver or qualified user, to hydroponics and cooking with cannabis.

But he said he's moving one of the main events -- a judging of marijuana grown and dispersed by Michigan caregivers -- to a secret location after local prosecutors questioned the competition's legality.

He said he may cancel the judging altogether if the threat of arrest heats up.

"I'm not interested in getting a bunch of people arrested," Freed said. "I'm not interested in getting any members of my staff or myself arrested either. I've got two kids."

For the judging, caregivers each will pay $200 and donate 2.5 ounces of marijuana they've grown to be judged on presentation, smell, feel, taste and effectiveness. Judges pay $250 to smoke or inhale vapors from up to 100.5 grams of marijuna before they vote.

Hiller said his office will support the arrest of those who participate in testing. He said the contest violates the law, which he believes limits caregiver's distribution to five patients.

"We're not going to give" the marijuana group "permission to do something we believe is illegal," Hiller said Friday. "That's never going to happen."

Jeremy Miller, executive director of the Olympia Patients Resource Center, a medical marijuana resource center in Washington state, said caregiver contests are held there without opposition, despite the state limiting caregivers to only one patient.

Their way around it: Patients "sign in" with their caregiver, get their allotted amount of marijuana to test, then sign out a couple of minutes later.

He said he's not surprised, though, that the Michigan event is facing opposition so soon after legalization of medical marijuana.

"They're going to test the waters," he said. "They're going to see how far they can push."

Vivian McPeak, executive director of Seattle's Hempfest, a political rally that draws 200,000 people each August, said he's also not surprised that Michigan organizers are facing resistance.

"But sometimes it's not worth the battle," he said. "You'll spend money on legal fees. Sometimes they fight you even if they don't win in the end because they think it will disrupt you."

He said most contests in his area happen underground.

"I would suggest they take their cup out of the hotel and they make it a private event," he said.

"I'm sure it would be a more successful event that way."

hxxp://tinyurl.com/y9hetm2

 

[nvthis]

They'll change their tune. Soon as they start losing lawsuits

 

[legalize_freedom]

hopefully soon! I know I'm staying in the closet up here until they get all the details a little more clear!

 

[swampbud]

Not soon enough. Now they are trying to limit the # of caregivers in the state to 10...

 

[legalize_freedom]

I heard something about that swampbud. It's bad enough that one can't find a doc with the guts to write a recomendation...now they want to decide who can grow it for us...no thanks I'll stay illegal, rather than to have to jump through those hoops and stay within their lines....whats the point in haveing a law if it's written in such a way as to still not allow us any freedom? Oh well I've been an outlaw my whole life...why change now?

 

[mr_trich_420]

lol,damn right man

 

[mrdavid]

read this it just came out to day.
Here's the article detailing how influential the meeting will be on local legislation:

Cities figuring out how to treat medical marijuana

Daily Tribune Sunday, January 10, 2010

ROYAL OAK — City officials are hashing out whether medical marijuana dispensaries should be limited to commercial zones or banned outright under a federal law that restricts the drug.

The Plan Commission will meet Tuesday, but neither that board nor elected officials will decide the issue until after City Attorney David Gillam attends a Feb. 5 seminar on the Medical Marihuana Act that was passed by 63 percent of voters in November 2008.

"The ultimate question the City Commission here has to decide is whether or not to follow the wish of voters who passed the state proposal by a higher margin in Royal Oak," Gillam said.

In the city, 72 percent of voters favored the state act that allows qualified patients with cancer, AIDS and other illnesses to use medical marijuana to reduce pain and increase appetites.

Patients can grow up to 12 plants at their house or they can choose a caregiver to provide them. However, the law doesn't address caregivers, who can grow up to 60 plants for five patients. Cities are scrambling to set up local regulations.

In Royal Oak, planning board members were looking at a zoning amendment to restrict caregivers to general business districts on Woodward Avenue, Main Street north of the downtown, and some parts of Coolidge Highway and 14 Mile Road. The ordinance change is aimed at people who aren't growing the plants for personal use.

Roseville passed a similar

local law last October and Hazel Park officials are looking at how medical marijuana facilities set up in an industrial district could benefit the community economically.

Caregivers can't sell medical marijuana, but they can be compensated for costs related to growing it, such as seeds, utilities and building rent.

Just before Royal Oak plan commissioners recommended zoning rules for caregivers, Police Chief Chris Jahnke asked city officials to follow Livonia by amending its ordinance to prohibit any business in violation of local, state and federal laws.

Jahnke said he is concerned about crime that could sprout up if caregivers form a consortium to afford rent for a dispensary in one of Royal Oak's business districts.

"If you have 12 plants per patient multiplied by four harvests a year, the return on investment could be huge," Jahnke said. "We will see an increase in crime and the quality of life will go down. There will be more robberies, breaking and entry, aggravated assaults and auto thefts. I worry about our community if this comes to fruition."

City Commissioner Chuck Semchena said he also sees problems with illegal sales and questions the quantity and potency of medical marijuana.

"It's a drug and it should be filled by a pharmacist with control over the potency and dose," said Semchena, a former drug prosecutor for Oakland County and city attorney for Royal Oak.

"My gut feeling is the quantity allowed by the state law greatly exceeds the amount a patient can consume. There's going to be a lot of extra marijuana and I don't want it in Royal Oak."

To get more information, Gillam said he signed up for the State Bar of Michigan seminar as soon as he saw the agenda had a session on the Medical Marihuana Act. Speakers include Melanie Brinn of the Department of Community Health, which processes applications from patients and caregivers, and Christopher Forsyth, assistant city attorney for Troy, who will talk about local control and regulating caregivers.

Also, Robert Corso, special agent in charge of the U.S. Department of Justice's Drug Enforcement Agency in Detroit, will participate in the question-and-answer session at the end.

The issue was clouded even more last November when the Obama administration directed federal prosecutors not to pursue cases against medical marijuana patients and sanctioned suppliers.

"There are different approaches out there because state law says it's allowed and federal law says it isn't," Royal Oak Mayor Jim Ellison said. "We're holding off on deciding. It will come back, but not this month."

 

[IRISH]

they want 5 main dispensaries in state to supply all pharmacies. do you see the problem here? pharms being fed, the would have to reclass. and we know that ain't happening...all a smoke screen to advert the masses while they do some sneaky quoo elsewhere...

someone with big money is gonna have to challenge. call the bluff...afterall, we did vote...

 

[legalize_freedom]

Yeah I like this quote by the city attorney of Royal Oak, "The ultimate question the city commision has to decide is wether or not to follow the wish of the voters who passed the state proposal by a higher margin in Royal Oak."

Where do they find the right to question what the voters put into law? They have NO right to decide...we allready did. This is why I think it's better to stay low, and stay an outlaw. As soon as you give them your name, they will be at your door with a scale and calulator...showing you some revision that they made yesterday as they are slipping on the bracelets. I'm done with trying to get a rec anymore...just going to play this game the same way I have for the last 20 some yrs. Crooked SOB's!