Yet another loophole within the current medical marijuana laws has been addressed, this time in Royal Oaks, Michigan. Mayor Jim Ellison says information is being gathered to draft an ordinance that will allow caregivers to grow medical marijuana for up to five patients.

Apparently zoning has become an issue, none of the dispensaries would be allowed in the central business district, the downtown heart of Royal Oaks, but the caregivers would be permitted to set up their business within the general district business area.

A meeting was held last Tuesday, where various viewpoints were shared. Christe Langdeau, one of the attendees that spoke in favor of the ordinance said:

I’ve had the misfortune to see friends die without medicine, and the only thing that can help them is medical marijuana. [...] Many patients are not able to get out of bed. How can they grow their own?

Only one of the speakers, Richard Kozlowski, was against the ideas of having caregivers be able to run a medical marijuana business:

If the city is going to allow caregivers to grow medical marijuana in the general business district, it should also allow it in the central business district.

Kozlowski was concerned with the fact that the dispensaries would be allowed to be set up near private homes and would become as popular as a drug store and gas station, one on every corner.

Obviously certain aspects of the medical marijuana laws need tweaking but it’s good to see someone taking control. Since it is a state law, the state should have thought about taking care of that when they created the bill that became a law. It’s just another prime example of federal, state and local government always passing the buck.

Ever since Michigan’s Medical Marijuana law went into effect Dec. 4, 2008, there seems to have been confusion among Medical Marijuana patients. Under the law, patients who have a note from their doctor, are allowed to have 12 plants. Unfortunately the police are not on the same page, when it comes to the law.

Police Chief Kevin Sagan said:

The law calls for an ID card. So the letter may not be enough.

The new ID cards, for those patients that have a doctor’s note allowing them to use medical marijuana, are being issued by the Michigan Department of Community Health, beginning Saturday, April 4th. Patients that have the note can then request an application to receive the ID card. Once the application is filed, the MDCH staff has 15 days to issue the ID.

120 people have already contacted the MDCH, asking about the applications and the doctor’s note. Some even thought that the health department would distribute medical marijuana.

The New Jersey Senate approved a medical marijuana bill Monday, making it the 14th state to recognize medical marijuana.

The bill has one more hurdle before the governor would be able to sign it into law — approval in the New Jersey House of Representatives.

The bill’s passage is uncertain in the house because a group of Republican opponents have raised concerns the proposal does not address distribution adequately, and therefore lead to more illegal drug sales. Pro-MMJ advocates declared numbers as high as 86 percent in favor of the bill.

States where medical marijuana is legal are: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Only Hawaii, Vermont, Rhode Island and New Mexico legislatures passed bills to legalize medical marijuana; the other states did so through voter referendum.

The debate is heating up in the Garden State, as to whether New Jersey is ready to become the 14th state to allow medical marijuana. An announcement of the law’s approval by a health committee led to a lengthy editorial condemning the move by a local legislator.

Local health authorities haven’t exactly crystallized the issue either — several health organizations, including the NJSNA, the ANA, and the American College of Physicians, spoke favorably of medical marijuana; while the American Medical Association, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the American Cancer Society, are among those that have rejected smoking marijuana as medicine.

Activists however, point to the fact that it took 18 months to get an initiative on the ballot in Michigan, and that they are prepared to entrench themselves for a similar battle for the opportunity in New Jersey.

We don’t want to blow up anyone’s spot, but according to CityPulse, M3A (Michigan Medical Marijuana – an umbrella group serving all of MI) cooperatives have begun meeting in libraries and coffee shops around the state.

The groups gather to act as a support mechanism, members exchange ideas and share information about medical marijuana’s cultivation and uses. Here’s a more formal description:

M3A Compassion Clubs are patient support groups. A place for medical marijuana patients, their caregivers and those who care about them to safely meet and offer mutual support — no different than any other condition-based patient support group. Compassion Clubs are sources of information, emotional support and referrals. Things people do as a community.

The M3A makes it clear that anyone looking to score pot from any members will be out of luck — the group acts in accordance with state law, which prohibits publicly smoking marijuana.

Anyone in the Michigan area who is a MMJ user and wants to meet and converse with other patients can go to M3A’s website for times and dates.

With plans to expand their agenda after a successful 2008 campaign which brought legal marijuana to three more states, the Marijuana Policy Project is asking for a little help financially.

Recently given a donation-matching offer for up to $2.35 million, the group is asking all of its members to give what it can to get as close to possible to its goal. Last year, the MPP raised $2.49 million, short of its $3 million goal.

Some of the MPP’s goals for 2009:

• Passing medical marijuana bills in Minnesota, New Hampshire, and New York
• Expanding Rhode Island’s medical marijuana law by allowing for dispensaries
• Building support for medical marijuana legislation in Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, and Massachusetts
• Collecting signatures for a statewide medical marijuana ballot initiative in Arizona
• Building support for medical marijuana in the medical community (MPP has organized more than 8,000 physicians to help persuade more medical organizations to join the dozens that already support medical access to marijuana)
• Passing marijuana decriminalization legislation in Vermont
• Influencing the Obama administration to roll back the federal war on medical marijuana

The group was a big part of campaigns in Michigan and Massachusetts, which had pro-marijuana initiatives pass successfully on each of its ballots.

Click here to donate now and help the MPP’s worthy cause!

A 19-year-old woman from Berkley was recently arrested after she showed up to 45-A District Court, as a visitor, smelling like (you guessed it,) marijuana. Police officers asked to search the Clinton Township resident shortly after she entered the court.

They found marijuana packaging on her person and then searched her car, where officers found marijuana in her ‘96 Escort. She was arrested without incident and ordered to return to court later in the month. Michigan recently passed a law on the November ballot which legalized medical marijuana in the state. However, it has never been a good idea to show up to court really high with paraphernalia on you.

NORML recently released a letter (.pdf) asking for DEA help in fighting medical marijuana. The letter cites a lengthy presentation by El Cerrito Police Department, which talks at length the dangers posed by selling MMJ in a community.

The letter provides an attitude by the police chiefs association which runs in stark contrast to state law, which has allowed medical marijuana since 1996.

Quoted from the Drug Law Blog:

The purpose of doing this, the letter states, would be to send a strong message to local and county government that ‘medical marijuana’ is not allowed.

Several members of the organization also flew to Michigan, to unsuccessfully campaign for the defeat of Michigan’s medical marijuana initiative.

At a meeting with several drug prevention leaders and spokesmen for recovery, Bush announced three new studies conducted by his administration; one study pertaining to teenage drug use, and the others in regards to cocaine abuse and availability.

Bush also announced that overall drug use among youths has declined 25 percent since 2001, based on a Michigan study. The results have not shown any sort of decrease as of late, but the numbers trend a seven-year decline Bush used as proof of the effectiveness in prevention and treatment programs, as well as an ability to disrupt drug supply. Although “mild bother” might be a better word for the administration’s efforts at drug trade disruption.

The article also notes the use of drugs such as ecstasy, steroids and marijuana, did not statistically change.

Joseph A. Califano, Jr., director for the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, said:

Marijuana is as available to teenagers in this country as candy.

It’s not a coincidence that this is coming during Bush’s “legacy tour” as he has less and less impact on policy and, instead, continues to eulogize accomplishments during his 2 terms. Unfortunately, cherry picking studies that apply to small areas of the country doesn’t exactly cement a successful tenure when it comes to drug prevention.

Less than a month after Michigan approved MMJ, a clinic is already open in metropolitan Detroit.

The clinic will issue temporary identification cards until the state’s card program takes effect in April. Proposition 1 was approved by a 63-37 margin, but is likely to soon see opposition refocus efforts on a local level to ban dispensaries within city limits, as has happened in several other states.

The link leads to a video report by Fox 2 Detroit, check it out.

In all of our overzealous post-Obamamania recovery, we lost sight of a very important anniversary. On Tuesday, November 5,1996 the first medical marijuana law was passed in California.

The Marijuana Policy Project said in the years since 56% of California voters decided to stop criminalizing the ill, and public support for legal access to medical marijuana has grown to nearly 80%. Not to mention 12 other states are now on board, most recently Michigan and Massachusetts, which leaves the movement halfway to the 26 needed to draft a national resolution.

Defeated by a vote of roughly 60 to 40, the groundbreaking initiative would have moved California further towards decriminalization than any other state in the union. While Prop. 5 advocates lost, they may have reason for optimism considering the 40 percent of the vote it had garnered. Surprising, considering all of the resources dedicated to its defeat, like basically everyone in California with a badge, MADD, John Walters and his unethical use of federal resources to interfere with a state election and Charlie Sheen, who of all people was the spokesperson.

Prop. 9, which called for a bigger say for victims in sentencing, passed, and Prop. 6, which called for more spending on law enforcement, failed, which means California voters want tougher penalties, but to spend less money to regulate more criminals.

The latest reports on Prop. 8, are that 52% of Californians have voted Yes, with 95% of districts reporting. Although that’s not a definitive pass, the chances of 8% of the remaining precincts swinging the result are very low.

More relevant results after the jump.

In San Francisco, Measure T, which adequately funds drug treatment on demand, passed overwhelmingly.

Michigan’s medical marijuana initiative passed easily, as it was expected to do.

Massachusetts voters approved a striking measure that entirely eliminates criminal penalties for marijuana users, medical or otherwise.

Oregon’s draconian Measure 61 – establishing 3-year mandatory minimums for certain drug offenses – was defeated by the passage (by a higher margin) of a Measure 57, a competing initiative on the same subject.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform recently criticized Office of National Drug Policy and its director, John Walters, for his involvement in partisan activities.

His recent lobbying efforts against Proposition 1 in Michigan, which would legalize medical marijuana in the state, was cited by the committee as a perfect example of someone going way above and beyond their scope of responsibility and intervening in violation of the Hatch Act.

This act clearly states federal and D.C. employees may not:

Walters’ participation in the election violates most of the above. We’re providing a link here to file a complaint about a Hatch Act violation, if you are so inclined.

You almost wonder what took them so long.

Freep.com reports, a team of top national anti-drug officials joined the late-starting campaign to defeat Michigan’s medical marijuana initiative Tuesday. Proposition 1’s opposition referred to it as a dangerous legalization scheme, and the words “despair” and “addiction” actually made their way into the rhetoric.

The group Citizens Protecting Michigan’s Kids was formed late last month by law enforcement and medical organizations that argue that legalizing medical marijuana will make it harder to control cultivation, distribution and sale of the drug.

Ah, but who needs logic when you have unfounded rationalizations and scare tactics.

According to government statistics, by Friday Uncle Sam will have arrested 20 million Americans for marijuana use. And there’s no sign those numbers will slow down any time soon.

But don’t take it from me, take it from NORML executive director Allen St. Pierre:

This policy is a tremendous waste of taxpayers’ resources; it destroys the lives of millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens, and threatens the personal liberties and freedoms of all Americans. We’ve now arrested more American citizens for pot than the entire population of Massachusetts, Michigan, and Oregon combined.

Wow.