As many of you have heard, Dr. Harwell of Triple M Clinics was arrested in Cadillac last week.  This is going to be an important case for medical marijuana in Michigan.  Dr. Harwell is a competitor of mine, the only significant clinic other than mine in N. Michigan.  The issue is not so much how he did certifications, which is different than my approach, but the nature of the charges.

The doc is accused of taking a patient complaint of headache and transforming that into 'severe and chronic pain'. He is accused of conspiring with the patient by asking something along the line of 'these headaches, are they chronic?'.

Whether he is a good doctor, or has good interview skills, or asks leading questions to a false diagnosis is a matter for the medical board, not a criminal court. Pre-signed certifications, certifications issued with no medical records and no doctor/patient contact, and the like are fraud. That is a criminal act. That is 'selling signatures' for a schedule 1 controlled substance. That is not what happened.

Read more...

This is the new dispensary.  $300-400 will get you this entire set up.

The Michigan Supreme Court has issued the long awaited McQueen Ruling.  There are no surprises, P2P, Farmers Markets, and Dispensaries have never been defined in the act as clearly as the self growing patient and the caregiver/registry desginated patient system.  What is very unfortunate is that the court voided a very favorable opinion from the CoA- The Green opinion which allowed patients to help each other in times of need with free transfers as part of medical use.

Now is not the time to vent about how the SC got it wrong, or try and figure out ways to 'game' the system.  1 patient, 12 plants, 1 caregiver, 5 patients.  That is the rule of law now.  Go outside of it privately if you must, just don't get caught doing it.  It is my hope for my patients that the legislature will look into addressing the problems of supply, crop failures and folks that can't grow for themselves and can't find caregivers.

Read more...

Bills as Passed

HB 4834   HB 4851   HB 4853   HB 4856

This is a nice summary forwarded from Brad Forrester in Cheboygan...
CHANGES TO THE MMMACT AS A RESULT OF LEGISLATION PASSED ON 12/13/2012

HB 4834 amends Section 6 of the MMMAct (MCL 333.26426)

1)  There is now a requirement that patients and caregivers be Michigan residents.

PROOF OF MICHIGAN RESIDENCY
For the purposes of this subdivision, a person shall be considered to have proved legal residency in this state if any of the following apply:

(i) The person provides a copy of a valid, lawfully obtained Michigan Driver License issued under
          the Michigan Vehicle Code, 1949 PA 300, MCL 257.1 to 257.923, or an official State Personal\
          Identification Card issued under 1972 PA 222, MCL 28.291 to 28.300.

(ii) The person provides a copy of a valid Michigan voter registration.

2)  The MMMAct states the department shall verify an application within 15 days from the day it is received by the department. This was changed to 15 BUSINESS days (M-F), weekends no longer
     count toward the 15 day verification process.

3)  The MMMAct states the department has 5 days to mail out card to qualifying patients and caregivers. This was changed to 5 BUSINESS days (M-F), weekends no longer count toward the
5 days the department has to mail out your card.

4)  The MMMAct states that MMP Registry I.D. cards are good for one year. This was extended to
two (2) years.

Read more...

We've seen it before, but here were go again.  A public figure leads the opposition to a medical marijuana initiative, loses at the polls, and rather than supporting the will of the voters uses his positon and public money to continue the fight against the measure.  We saw it with the passage of the MMMA in 2008, and now we see it again with the efforts of Kent Co. Prosecutor Bill Forsyth to block the decriminalization measure recently approved by nearly 60% of the voters in Grand Rapids.  Can he do it?  I don't know I'm not a lawyer.  But I do know that there are things you CAN do, and things you SHOULD do, and they are not always the same.

The difference between this effort and the one mounted against the MMMA of 2008 is that one of our Reps in Lansing, at no small risk to his political career, has stood up to the injustice.  Brandon Dillon, the State Rep for Grand Rapids, sent the above letter to Kent Co. Prosecutor Forsyth, asking him to support the will of the same voters that helped to put him in office and stop the assault on their successful ballot initiative.  Can you set a price on integrity and courage?  I think not, but Rep Dillon may have to pay one.  Take a moment out of your day to give his office a call or send an email to tell him you appreciate what he did, and that we look for courage and integrity in our leaders.  

We are at a critical stage in the session.  There is a rush to clear up the bills before the House and Senate and return home for the holidays.  Take the time to call your Rep, your Senator, and remind them we elected them to represent us with the same courage and intergrity we see in Rep Dillon.  Tell them to look at the bills concerning medical marijuana, and ask themselves if the requirements they contain are designed to help patients get access, or help law enforcement prosecute them.  Tell them we are counting on them to do the right thing, to show leadership.  Show them the face of medical marijuana in their district and tell them your concerns with specific parts of the bills.