Earlier this month, the Court of Appeals, in a split decision, established that the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act does NOT protect caregivers or patients who remain in possession of wet cannabis that is in the drying out process, from prosecution. The Judiciaries ruling in the case of People v. Vanessa Mansour established that because wet marijuana that was in the drying out procedure was not usable cannabis, possession of wet marijuana was not protected by the MMMA.
The MMMA specifies a number of the terms of the act. The term usable marijuana is specifically defined in the MMMA. The act defines usable marijuana to mean the following: "Usable marihuana" means the dried leaves, flowers, plant resin, or extract of the marihuana plant, however does not include the seeds, stalks, as well as roots of the plant. The Court found that due to the fact that the act chose to use the word "dried" before the remaining components, that indicated that wet, undried marijuana was not a part of what the protections of the act were meant to shield. For that reason, anyone in the marijuana business of caregiving, who is growing under the MMMA for themselves or other registered qualifying clients, is in violation of the regulation, if they have wet marijuana, no matter the objective for which you possess it. Even you remain in the procedure of drying out the cannabis, if you are raided and the cannabis is wet, you could be in trouble.
The ruling is fairly problematic for a number of factors. Initially, any caregiver that is currently growing under the MMMA, will, eventually, have wet cannabis that is drying however not usable. Therefore, any caregiver needs to understand that if you remain in possession of wet, non-usable marijuana, and the cops arrive, you can be apprehended as well as the Court of Appeals has actually identified that you can be prosecuted as well as punished for possession with intent to deliver cannabis, which the immunity provisions of Section 4 and also Section 8 of the MMMA will not protect you. Second, the matter develops questions concerning the practicality of the caregiving model, and also produces a problematic scenario for caregivers applying under the Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act (MMFLA) for a growing or processing license.
Recognizing that you are caregiving, and that the Courts are showing that a component of your cultivation procedure causes you to commit, at minimum, a misdemeanor, produces prospective issues for the application review procedure. Better, if having wet marijuana cause for criminal apprehension and also prosecution, exactly how does that impact farmers and processors that are to be licensed under the MMFLA. Ostensibly, the two laws are not interlinked therefore, there should not be any type of concerns. Nevertheless, the MMFLA uses the exact same "usable" marijuana definition as the MMMA. Particularly, subsection (ff) of M.C.L. § 333.27102 defines usable marijuana as follows: (ff) "Usable marihuana" means the dried leaves, flowers, plant resin, or extract of the marihuana plant, but does not include the seeds, stalks, and roots of the plant.
Consequently, it wouldn't be a stretch to see the Courts expand that MMMA meaning to the MMFLA. Such a ruling later on can put a significant kink in the medical marijuana industry under the MMFLA, likely as a result of a feasible chilling result. The judgment clearly causes concerns for registered caregivers, and also, potentially, for MMFLA growers, must the Court increase this analysis to cover marijuana growing and also processing under the MMFLA. Essentially, due to the fact that "wet" undried marijuana, according to the Court, does not fulfill the meaning of "usable" cannabis, if authorities were to come to the location and also discover wet marijuana, you could be looking at potential criminal liability. If you are a caregiver as well as are intending to continue growing for your patients under the MMMA, as well as you have concerns concerning the prospective obligation you have under this brand-new ruling, don't be reluctant to call our office for a consultation.
Comments
Post a Comment