Schuette says pot dispensaries illegal in the state

Bill Schuette, the Republican Attorney General and strong opponent of medical marijuana, issued an opinion on Tuesday that, in effect, makes medical marijuana dispensaries illegal in the state.

The opinion says there are only two ways patients can get their medication — they can either grow themselves or they can get it from a registered care giver. The ruling eliminates patient to patient transfers as well as marijuana dispensaries. Under the ruling, Schuette says that care givers are required to have a locked enclosed location for each separate patient they are growing for.

This interpretation is consistent with the plain language of the MMMA, and accords with basic principles of statutory construction that require this office to discern the intent of a statute from its language, and to forgo reading anything into a statute that is not within the intent of its drafters.8 Moreover, this construction ensures that the twelve-plant-per patient maximum is followed. It also protects against unauthorized access to marihuana plants because, at any given time, there is only one person responsible and accountable for a patient’s plants. The plain language of the MMMA thus prohibits the joint cooperative cultivating or sharing of marihuana plants because only the individual authorized to cultivate the marihuana plants, either the registered patient or the patient’s registered primary caregiver, may have access to the enclosed, locked facility housing the marihuana plants intended for the individual patient’s use.

It is my opinion, therefore, that the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act, Initiated Law 1 of 2008, MCL 333.26421 et seq, prohibits the joint cooperative cultivation or sharing of marihuana plants because each patient’s plants must be grown and maintained in a separate enclosed, locked facility that is only accessible to the registered patient or the patient’s registered primary caregiver.

Under the ruling, if a person is providing medical marijuana to four patients, that care giver is required to have four separate growing locations that are locked and enclosed and only accessible by that care giver. Each growing location can contain up to 12 marijuana plants.

Meanwhile, patients are required to have an enclosed, locked facility where the growing occurs. They can have 12 plants, but as with the care giver, the location can only be accessible by the patient.

An Attorney General opinion has the force of law, until and unless it is overturned by the courts.