This article was originally published on the Marijuana Patients Organization site on July 26, 2012.
If you were a police officer you would receive updates and newsletters on a daily if not weekly basis about Michigan’s laws and changes to them. In addition you would sit through training regarding changes to Michigan law. If you were a cop after Governor Snyder signed into law Michigan’s Motorcycle Helmet Use law in April 2012 you received a newsletter in the Michigan State Police Update, training from superiors and enough memos that would leave no doubt regarding the nuances of the new law. Makes sense, new law passes, inform cops.
So when the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act passed in 2009, law enforcement was given a small write up in the State Police Update twisting the basic language of the act, no standardized memo, no directive, no training. The most radical law to hit our State in over 100 years and no training or non bias directives in the past 4 years. We alter the criminal code and we are silent, however days within changing the Michigan Vehicle Code and education is promoteded at every station across Michigan touting the rights of motorcycle riders. Perhaps cops like motorcyclists more than patients, you think?
This is a problem nationwide, cops will not acknowledge the law and often fail to train officers properly. More than 3 times the amount of training and resources have gone in to educating police officers of this simple vehicle code change than all of the Medical Marijuana Act.
This is the only problem with marijuana in the State, not the sincere patients, the sick, the fakers, the legalizers, rather lack of education within law enforcement. Their laissez faire attitude will continue to clog our legal system with these baseless medical marijuana cases. With proper education over 90% would be avoided in the first place.
Michigan’s medical marijuana program has netted the State nearly $10 million, the helmet law, $0. Let’s reinvest this in educating our law enforcement.