Cannab Rx is offline until more favorable conditions are present to provide for patients in need.
In November of 2008, the residents of the state of Michigan were heard, overwhelmingly approving the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act with a nearly two-thirds vote. More than three years later, the very provisions and protections afforded in the act — that, again, a vast majority of voters approved — are non-existent. Patients and caregivers are constantly harassed and arrested, despite going to great lengths to comply with the act.
The state’s failure to provide registration cards in a timely manner has resulted in arrests of sick and elderly patients, home raids and searches, and an immeasurable amount of stress and financial burden on those simply seeking relief from a chronic illness. Add to that the fear many doctors have of legal repercussions for approving patients and many courts’ plain refusal to hear a medical marijuana defense, and it’s clear the state is neither listening to, nor respecting its residents and their choices.
Recent efforts in Lansing to over regulate medical marijuana are a clear sign of legislators working to render the act obsolete. This legislative grappling for more regulation borders on an invasion of privacy, when the proposed requirements mandate that personal information be provided to state police. Other proposed legislation restricts patient access to medicine and requires a photo on the very same registry cards that currently take months to receive. In addition, no new conditions have been added to the registry despite multiple public submissions. Yet, legislation is quick to act on amending the law, reconvening February 23, without providing any further protections for patients or caregivers.
While legislators are willing to listen to advocacy and opponent groups, albeit in a single two-hour session, unless the final outcome supports the current act and its patient protections, the discussions will be for naught. One major issue is that the state has never truly implemented the act. This major failure on the part of both the executive and judicial branches have allowed registered patients to be arrested, many courts disallowing a medical marijuana defense and ignoring the popular vote that approved the act.
No comments
Jump to comment form | comments rss [?] | trackback uri [?]