Previously this month, the Court of Appeals, in a split decision, identified that the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act does NOT protect caregivers or patients that are in possession of wet marijuana that is in the drying out process, from prosecution. The Courts ruling in the case of People v. Vanessa Mansour figured out that since wet marijuana that remained in the drying process was not usable marijuana, possession of wet marijuana was not protected by the MMMA.
The MMMA defines much of the terms of the act. The term usable marijuana is specifically defined in the MMMA. The act defines usable marijuana to suggest the following: "Usable marihuana" means the dried leaves, flowers, plant resin, or extract of the marihuana plant, yet does not consist of the seeds, stalks, and also roots of the plant. The Court found that because the act chose to use the word "dried" before the remaining components, that meant that wet, undried cannabis was not a part of what the protections of the act were implied to shield. For that reason, anyone in the marijuana business of caregiving, that is growing under the MMMA for themselves or various other registered qualifying individuals, is in offense of the legislation, if they have wet marijuana, no matter the objective for which you have it. Even you are in the process of drying out the cannabis, if you are raided and the cannabis is wet, you can be in trouble.
The ruling is quite problematic for a variety of reasons. First, any caregiver that is presently growing under the MMMA, will, at some time, have wet marijuana that is drying but not usable. Because of this, any caregiver has to understand that if you remain in possession of wet, non-usable marijuana, and the police arrive, you can be arrested as well as the Court of Appeals has established that you can be prosecuted as well as sentenced for possession with intent to deliver cannabis, and that the immunity provisions of Section 4 and Section 8 of the MMMA will certainly not protect you. Second, the matter produces concerns about the stability of the caregiving model, and likewise produces a problematic situation for caregivers applying under the Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act (MMFLA) for a growing or processing license.
Knowing that you are caregiving, which the Courts are suggesting that a component of your growing procedure creates you to commit, at minimum, a misdemeanor, produces prospective issues for the application review process. Further, if having wet marijuana cause for criminal arrest as well as prosecution, how does that impact cultivators and also processors that are to be licensed under the MMFLA. Seemingly, the two statutes are not interlinked and so, there should not be any type of problems. Nonetheless, the MMFLA makes use of the exact same "usable" marijuana definition as the MMMA. Especially, subsection (ff) of M.C.L. § 333.27102 defines usable cannabis 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.
Consequently, it would not be a stretch to see the Judiciaries expand that MMMA interpretation to the MMFLA. Such a ruling later on could place a major kink in the medical cannabis industry under the MMFLA, most likely as a result of a possible chilling effect. The ruling plainly creates concerns for registered caregivers, as well as, possibly, for MMFLA growers, ought 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 fulfill the interpretation of "usable" marijuana, if authorities were to come to the place and also locate wet marijuana, you might be looking at potential criminal liability. If you are a caregiver and also are intending to proceed growing for your patients under the MMMA, as well as you have concerns regarding the possible responsibility you have under this brand-new judgment, do not think twice to contact our office for a consultation.
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