What the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association does

Monday, January 26,2009

Marijuana Journal

What the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association does

by Greg Francisco

The Michigan Medical Marijuana Association (M3A) was organized as an umbrella group to serve the entire state of Michigan. We are incorporated as a non-profit and aspire to be Michigan’s leading advocate for medical marijuana patients and the community. We provide education, advocacy and open communication to our members, uniting ourselves into one community and one state. But we are not a substitute for local action.

To serve those local communities M3A Compassion Clubs have began meeting in libraries and back rooms around the state. The first meeting of the Lansing Compassion Club met recently at Hydrobiz along Barnes Avenue with plans to continue meeting bi-weekly. A second group expects to begin meeting soon at Gone Wired Caf. And activists from surrounding counties attended the kick-off to learn how to launch Compassion Clubs in their own communities. It only takes a spark.

M3A Compassion Clubs are patient support groups. A place for medical marijuana patients, their caregivers and those who care about them to safely meet and offer mutual support — no different than any other condition-based patient support group. Compassion Clubs are sources of information, emotional support and referrals. Things people do as a community.

M3A Compassion Clubs are neither medical marijuana hook-up sessions nor are they a place to swap seeds or clones. It wouldn’t be appropriate for patients at an HIV/AIDS support group to break out their medications and start swapping around. It’s not appropriate at our meetings either. Transfers of medical marijuana and genetic material are private matters best done in private. By the same token, what members talk about or do in private away from the meeting is none of our business either.

Any recreational marijuana user attending an M3A Compassion Clubs looking to score will be sorely disappointed. Our meetings are open to the public and are often held in public places. The Michigan Medical Marijuana Act prohibits smoking medical marijuana in public and smoking anything — just like tobacco products — is illegal inside public buildings anywhere in Michigan. These are not smoke sessions; they are a place where people who have lived in the shadows for too long can finally come together and openly support each other.

To find out the time, date and location of M3A Compassion Clubs, visit our website at: www.MichiganMedicalMarijuana.org or contact us at: info@MichiganMedicalMarijuana.org

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