Medical marijuana patients, providers, and lawyers will have a lot to celebrate this December. On December 20, a package of bills (2016 PA 281, 282, 283) that clarify the 2008 Michigan Medical Marihuana Act (MMMA) will go into effect. The legislation addresses several hotly contentious aspects of the law, including medical marijuana dispensaries.
Currently, dispensaries are not explicitly authorized under the MMMA, and caselaw has rendered them largely nonexistent. However, a new act (PA 281) provides guidelines for the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) to license provisioning centers (i.e., dispensaries), along with growers, processors, and secure transporters. Licensing will be implemented by the Medical Marihuana Licensing Board within LARA, which is yet to be created. Municipalities still have some control over marijuana inside their borders. A “marihuana facility”—essentially any licensee’s headquarters—can be located only in a municipality that has passed an ordinance specifically authorizing that type of facility.
Another highlight of the legislation: marijuana-infused products get the green light. Patients have to be careful, though, not to share their pot brownies with non−card-carrying friends. That kind of transfer is strictly prohibited under the amended MMMA.
Outside the legislative context, the court of appeals issued a published opinion this summer on what constitutes a plant under the MMMA. Under the root formation standard adopted in that case, a cutting from a mature plant may be a plant under the act if there is “readily observable evidence of root formation.”
Finally, if you’ve been concerned about your ability to be both a patient under the MMMA and a member of the State Bar of Michigan, take heart. The Representative Assembly just passed a proposal recommending that MRPC 1.2 and 8.4 be amended to permit lawyers to use marijuana in accordance with state law.
There’s a lot more to cover on this front. Stay tuned for an on-demand seminar on this topic to be posted in the ICLE Partnership in 2017.