This article was originally published on the Marijuana Patients Organization site on February 28, 2013.
While HB 4271, the dispensary bill, introduced by Michigan House Republican Mike Callton sounds great, does it actually help patients or rather help to limit the sale of the medicine?
Currently the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act works great and allows for dispensary operations.
Given the State’s resistance to any acknowledgement of the medicine, our politicians lack of courage on the issue, and the obvious lawsuits that restrictive and unconstitutional legislation like HB 4271 always brings, it is highly unlikely HB 4271 will pass both houses and Governor Snyder’s approval. Not to mention, similar bills introduced in other medical marijuana State’s went no where, perhaps they too were unconstitutional.
HB 4271 is insulting to patients. It gives the power to city officials to say “yes or no” to the sale of the medicine. Voters did this already in 2008 when the majority of Michiganders signed off on the legality of marijuana as medicine.
Let’s guess what cities would say yes and what cities say nay.
The bills chief architect Rep. Mike Callton (R) states that all dispensaries should pass the “grandma test”, meaning would you want your grandma to go in the dispensary? This sounds great, but Mike you are now limiting my grandma’s access to the medicine, limiting it to areas where my grandma nor I feel very safe. I would be less concerned about the cleanliness of the facility if Grandma was to get mugged in the parking lot.
This legislation is not good for patients, their access or their current rights afforded by the voters. We have a medical marijuana law in place, a law that works, a law that allows for sale of marijuana as affirmed by the Michigan Appeals and Supreme Courts. We need to work harder defending the Act and expanding upon it than further restricting it with goofball legislation that will go nowhere. At least that is how I see things.
Dan
[box ]View the proposed bill here >>[/box]