Michigan residents looking to use marijuana for medical purposes might have to look a little harder than they would like.
Medical marijuana officially becomes legal Saturday, but the law is hazy on how patients can obtain the marijuana, said Greg Francisco, executive director of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association.
Under the current legislation, patients must either grow their own marijuana or buy it from a drug dealer, which is illegal, Francisco said.
“Certainly, this is a glaring lapse in the law,” he said. “Patients can buy the seeds legally, but it’s the people who (sell) them who are at risk.”
Because medical marijuana is a citizen-initiated law, it is protected for two years, Francisco said. After two years, the Michigan Legislature can change it by a majority vote, he said.
“We’re hoping in two years, the Legislature will want to adopt a system of nonprofit cooperatives,” he said.
A lot of the gray area on obtaining marijuana will probably become more detailed on a case-by-case basis, said Zach Jarou, a 2008 MSU graduate and founder of Spartans for Medical Marijuana.
“People have been obtaining seeds for some time through mail, so that’s not that big of a concern,” he said. “It would be nice to have dispensers, but that’s something to be discussed in the future.”
Francisco said marijuana crop is worth $350 million in Michigan every year, with only corn and soy beans worth more, and so it is not hard to come by.
The Michigan Department of Community Health, which is the only place that residents can become registered to use medical marijuana, is telling patients to use their own discretion about where to obtain marijuana, said James McCurtis, spokesman for the department.
To be able to legally use medical marijuana, residents must mail in an application to the Department of Community Health, and within 15 days, the department will let the applicants know if they have been accepted, McCurtis said.
“If they’re in the program, we have five days to mail them a registration card, then they can legally possess marijuana,” he said.
Saturday is the first day applications will be accepted, he said.
Lt. Kevin Daley of the East Lansing Police Department said he does not expect the legalization of medical marijuana to have a large effect in East Lansing.
“It’s a college university, and we know that it’s there,” he said. “We’re not going to do anything different with regards to enforcement.”
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