Blue Socks
Member
Michigan Supreme Court rules medical-marijuana dispensaries not allowed under 2008 law
Lansing — The Michigan Supreme Court has struck down the legality of medical marijuana dispensaries but upheld sales between caregivers and their own patients.
In an opinion released Friday, the high court said dispensaries are illegal because the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act of 2008 only offers protections to registered caregivers and their qualified patients.
The justices also ruled patient-to-patient transfers of medical marijuana are not legal under the voter-approved law, appearing to contradict a Court of Appeals decision last week that concluded there's nothing illegal about a medical marijuana user providing a small amount of pot to another registered user at no cost.
The ruling means the state's 126,000 approved users must grow their own pot or have a state-licensed caregiver grow it for them.
The Supreme Court's 4-2 decision involves a Mount Pleasant dispensary that allowed medical-marijuana users to sell pot to each other. Owners took as much as a 20 percent cut of each sale. Isabella County shut it down as a public nuisance.
Chief Justice Robert Young Jr. and Justices Stephen Markman, Mary Beth Kelly and Brian Zahra signed the majority opinion.
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130208/METRO/302080422#ixzz2KKF7bane
Lansing — The Michigan Supreme Court has struck down the legality of medical marijuana dispensaries but upheld sales between caregivers and their own patients.
In an opinion released Friday, the high court said dispensaries are illegal because the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act of 2008 only offers protections to registered caregivers and their qualified patients.
The justices also ruled patient-to-patient transfers of medical marijuana are not legal under the voter-approved law, appearing to contradict a Court of Appeals decision last week that concluded there's nothing illegal about a medical marijuana user providing a small amount of pot to another registered user at no cost.
The ruling means the state's 126,000 approved users must grow their own pot or have a state-licensed caregiver grow it for them.
The Supreme Court's 4-2 decision involves a Mount Pleasant dispensary that allowed medical-marijuana users to sell pot to each other. Owners took as much as a 20 percent cut of each sale. Isabella County shut it down as a public nuisance.
Chief Justice Robert Young Jr. and Justices Stephen Markman, Mary Beth Kelly and Brian Zahra signed the majority opinion.
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130208/METRO/302080422#ixzz2KKF7bane