Earlier this month, the Court of Appeals, in a split choice, figured out that the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act does NOT protect caregivers or patients that are in possession of wet marijuana that is in the drying procedure, from prosecution. The Judiciaries judgment in the case of People v. Vanessa Mansour identified that since wet marijuana that was in the drying process was not usable cannabis, possession of wet marijuana was not protected by the MMMA.
The MMMA defines a number of the terms of the act. The term usable marijuana is specifically defined in the MMMA. The act defines usable marijuana to indicate the following: "Usable marihuana" means the dried leaves, flowers, plant resin, or extract of the marihuana plant, however does not consist of the seeds, stalks, as well as roots of the plant. The Court found that because the act chose to use the word "dried" before the remaining components, that implied that wet, undried marijuana was not a part of what the protections of the act were implied to shield. As a result, any person in the marijuana business of caregiving, who is growing under the MMMA for themselves or various other registered qualifying individuals, is in offense of the law, if they possess wet marijuana, regardless of the function for which you have it. Even you remain in the process of drying out the marijuana, if you are raided and the marijuana is wet, you might be in trouble.
The ruling is rather troublesome for a number of reasons. Initially, any caregiver that is currently growing under the MMMA, will, at some time, have wet cannabis that is drying out but not usable. Because of this, any caregiver must understand that if you remain in possession of wet, non-usable marijuana, and the cops arrive, you can be apprehended and also the Court of Appeals has actually figured out that you can be prosecuted and also punished for possession with intent to deliver marijuana, and that the immunity provisions of Section 4 and Section 8 of the MMMA will not protect you. Second, the issue produces concerns about the practicality of the caregiving model, and additionally creates a bothersome situation for caregivers applying under the Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act (MMFLA) for a growing or processing license.
Knowing that you are caregiving, and that the Courts are showing that a component of your farming process triggers you to commit, at minimum, a misdemeanor, produces prospective troubles for the application review process. Even more, if having wet marijuana cause for criminal apprehension and prosecution, just how does that influence cultivators as well as processors who are to be licensed under the MMFLA. Seemingly, the two laws are not interlinked and so, there shouldn't be any concerns. However, the MMFLA uses the same "usable" marijuana definition as the MMMA. Especially, subsection (ff) of M.C.L. § 333.27102 specifies 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.
For that reason, it would not be a stretch to see the Courts expand that MMMA meaning to the MMFLA. Such a ruling later on could place a major crimp in the medical marijuana industry under the MMFLA, likely as an outcome of a possible chilling impact. The judgment plainly triggers concerns for registered caregivers, and, potentially, for MMFLA farmers, needs to the Court expand this reading to cover cannabis growing as well as processing under the MMFLA. Essentially, due to the fact that "wet" undried cannabis, according to the Court, does not satisfy the definition of "usable" marijuana, if authorities were to come to the place and find wet marijuana, you could be looking at possible criminal liability. If you are a caregiver and are intending to proceed growing for your patients under the MMMA, as well as you have inquiries regarding the prospective liability you have under this new judgment, do not think twice to contact our office for a consultation.
No comments:
Post a Comment