http://www.nilesstar.com/2011/03/03/...na-law-abused/
Editors Note: This is the first story in a two-part series about the use of medical marijuana in Michigan.
About 90,000 Michigan residents have received approval to use marijuana for medicinal purposes.
Since voters passed a law legalizing the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes two years ago, a reported 90,000 residents have successfully received a state-issued medical marijuana card.
But its the suspicion of Berrien County Prosecutor Art Cotter that many of those carrying cards are doing for purposes that arent what those voters had in mind.
I think it borders on fraud, Cotter said. The individuals who are getting them are not who the public intended, in opinion, to get them.
Cotter isnt alone. A review of Michigans Medical Marijuana Law is currently being done to determine whether or not tougher regulation needs to be administered to cardholders and caregivers, those who, under the provisions of the law, are allowed to grow marijuana for cardholders.
A number of state legislators are involved in that review, including Sens. John Proos and Tonya Schuitmaker.
Its an active group of state legislators, Proos said.
The primary focus of that group, he added, is to determine in accordance to the law, what is appropriate and what is not appropriate.
Proos gives an example from the perspective of someone currently on parole. That parolee could very well having been diagnosed with a medical condition in accordance with the law be given a certificate signed by a doctor allowing him or her to apply for a medical marijuana card. That card being issued to him or her would allow the person to smoke the narcotic.
But failing a drug test would be a direct violation of the persons parole, and Proos said thats just one of many areas where the law isnt very clear.
Were looking at the totality of the departments implementation of this constitutional right, Proos said, to understand if further regulation is necessary to protect those who rightfully deserve the use of this prescription drug.
The department the senator is referring to is the Michigan Department of Community Health.
The departments handling of its role as being designated with the administration and leadership of the law, Cotter said, is another area of frustration.
They could have provided a much greater leadership role, he said.
Cotter, who is also chairman of the medical marijuana committee for the Michigan Prosecuting Attorneys Association, said the MDCH has been accepting applications for state-issued cards since April 2009. Though a photo is required with the application to be used as identification on the card, those cards are still being issued without those photos.
They still havent figured out a way to put a photo on the card, he said.
The applications sent to the MDCH are another source of gray areas.
According to the law a patient seeking a state-issued card must have a certificate signed by a medical doctor in order to apply.
Since the law has taken effect, there have been the developments of clinics throughout the state where doctors are certifying patients who may come to them if their own doctor does not approve of the drug as a treatment.
And state officials are concerned over reports of doctors setting up makeshift clinics in hotel rooms, signing off on certificates at just around $200 a pop.
This kind of certification, Cotter said, is not whats intended by the law, as its questionable whether or not it constitutes a bona-fide doctor patient relationship.
Theyre seeing them for half an hour, Cotter said. Thats it. Maybe medical marijuana would help but maybe there would be some other medications or treatments that would be appropriate Thats whats happening, basically. Theyll go to these guys who will give written certificates, basically for anybody. To say that is a bona-fide doctor-patient relationship I think is absurd. Its not and that to me is one of the biggest issues the act needs to be fixed on.
Read in the second part of this series in Fridays Star about a local medical marijuana clinic.
__________________
Editors Note: This is the first story in a two-part series about the use of medical marijuana in Michigan.
About 90,000 Michigan residents have received approval to use marijuana for medicinal purposes.
Since voters passed a law legalizing the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes two years ago, a reported 90,000 residents have successfully received a state-issued medical marijuana card.
But its the suspicion of Berrien County Prosecutor Art Cotter that many of those carrying cards are doing for purposes that arent what those voters had in mind.
I think it borders on fraud, Cotter said. The individuals who are getting them are not who the public intended, in opinion, to get them.
Cotter isnt alone. A review of Michigans Medical Marijuana Law is currently being done to determine whether or not tougher regulation needs to be administered to cardholders and caregivers, those who, under the provisions of the law, are allowed to grow marijuana for cardholders.
A number of state legislators are involved in that review, including Sens. John Proos and Tonya Schuitmaker.
Its an active group of state legislators, Proos said.
The primary focus of that group, he added, is to determine in accordance to the law, what is appropriate and what is not appropriate.
Proos gives an example from the perspective of someone currently on parole. That parolee could very well having been diagnosed with a medical condition in accordance with the law be given a certificate signed by a doctor allowing him or her to apply for a medical marijuana card. That card being issued to him or her would allow the person to smoke the narcotic.
But failing a drug test would be a direct violation of the persons parole, and Proos said thats just one of many areas where the law isnt very clear.
Were looking at the totality of the departments implementation of this constitutional right, Proos said, to understand if further regulation is necessary to protect those who rightfully deserve the use of this prescription drug.
The department the senator is referring to is the Michigan Department of Community Health.
The departments handling of its role as being designated with the administration and leadership of the law, Cotter said, is another area of frustration.
They could have provided a much greater leadership role, he said.
Cotter, who is also chairman of the medical marijuana committee for the Michigan Prosecuting Attorneys Association, said the MDCH has been accepting applications for state-issued cards since April 2009. Though a photo is required with the application to be used as identification on the card, those cards are still being issued without those photos.
They still havent figured out a way to put a photo on the card, he said.
The applications sent to the MDCH are another source of gray areas.
According to the law a patient seeking a state-issued card must have a certificate signed by a medical doctor in order to apply.
Since the law has taken effect, there have been the developments of clinics throughout the state where doctors are certifying patients who may come to them if their own doctor does not approve of the drug as a treatment.
And state officials are concerned over reports of doctors setting up makeshift clinics in hotel rooms, signing off on certificates at just around $200 a pop.
This kind of certification, Cotter said, is not whats intended by the law, as its questionable whether or not it constitutes a bona-fide doctor patient relationship.
Theyre seeing them for half an hour, Cotter said. Thats it. Maybe medical marijuana would help but maybe there would be some other medications or treatments that would be appropriate Thats whats happening, basically. Theyll go to these guys who will give written certificates, basically for anybody. To say that is a bona-fide doctor-patient relationship I think is absurd. Its not and that to me is one of the biggest issues the act needs to be fixed on.
Read in the second part of this series in Fridays Star about a local medical marijuana clinic.
__________________
