The Time for Reformation: Michigan’s 2015 hope

fter being pulled by their sponsors in the final
minutes of the last lame duck session, two bills which would have expanded on
rights thought to be protected by the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act have been
given new life in the upcoming legislature session.

HB-4209, also named “The Provisioning Centers Act,”
has been sponsored and introduced once again by Representative Michael Callton,
R-Nashville, and it would give local municipalities the right to license and
regulate medical cannabis retailers within their jurisdictions. It’s no news to
Michigan residents that cannabis dispensaries are alive and operating in many
areas of the state; however, political tug-of-war has prevented policy from
being passed, which would define these businesses as legitimate and regulate
their procedures and practices for the safety of the community. The bill, if
passed, would grant those communities, which have been respectfully waiting for
state approval, to allow for dispensaries in their area, providing access to
relief for thousands of patients in remote locations.

Unnamed bill HB-4210, which has become colloquially
known as “the concentrates bill,” was introduced by a new Republican ally,
Representative Lisa Lyons. This bill was originally drafted after a series of
court cases found the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act lacking in protections
specifically for oils, resins and other concentrated applications—applications
which have proven absolutely essential in providing relief to patients with
certain ailments. The importance of both of these bills lies in the patients
they protect, namely the young, elderly and severely sick for whom smoking
medical cannabis is not an option. Robin Schneider, the Legislative Liaison to
the National Patient’s Rights Association, believes the key to passing these
particular bills is in the communication between The People and their
representatives, “Every patient and their family members and their friends
should meet with, call and write letters to the legislators demanding that they
act now to protect patients’ rights.” 

In addition to HB-4209 and HB-4210, a comprehensive
legalization bill imitating the ballot initiative, which was passed in
Colorado, but which also affords more specific protections to patients’ rights,
has been confirmed to be circulating our Michigan legislature according to
sources close to CULTURE. If made
official, this document would be backed by a coalition of Michigan cannabis
policy reform supporters who met earlier this month in Ypsilanti to discuss the
proposed solutions to prohibition in Michigan. One such group, the Safer
Michigan Coalition, was successful in decriminalizing six Michigan cities in
the November elections and is looking forward to more success in 2015. Speaking
on the three-pronged approach to policy reform, the group’s leader Chuck Ream
has little reservations on the tenacity that will be needed from patients and
supporters alike in protecting patients’ rights this year in the political
arena.

“Our medical law is threatened in Michigan. We are
going to regain the initiative with a comprehensive cannabis law reform
initiative. It will fully protect our patients and medical system, tax and
regulate for legal adult use, and legalize industrial hemp. Our Michigan
movement will not split apart because we are combining all three
objectives in one initiative,” Ream told us in an interview. “We don’t want to
end up like Washington State, where medical marijuana has been eliminated
and everyone is tossed into the same commercial system.”

This triple threat to the prohibition of medical
cannabis in Michigan may be just what advocates need to push this issue over
the edge. The job won’t rest on the shoulders of giants, however. It will take
the support of an entire state to sway politicians who have remained stagnant
on this issue, despite contrasting public opinion. We strongly encourage anyone
invested in protecting patients’ rights to reach out to both the Safer Michigan
Coalition and the National Patient’s Rights Association to offer your support.
Here’s to the potential of Michigan cannabis reform in 2015.