House Bills Aim To Amend the MMMA

Four bills designed to amend the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act passed through the House of Representatives in May with overwhelming support. If you are not already framiliar with the bills, please take a moment to review this summary. There seems to be a lot of excitement and confusion about the implications and potential implementation of these bills, so we feel that it may be helpful to clear a few things up here. For starters, these bills are not law; they passed through the House of Representatives and were then amended by the House Judiciary Committee. The House and Senate now need to pass the four bills in their amended form. The Judiciary Committee headed by Republican Senator Rick Jones made two substantial changes to the package of bills. It proposed to ban any convicted felon from being a caregiver and grant access to the medical marijuana registry to any law enforcement officer. If you are opposed to these bills, we suggest that you call or write your local representative.

If these bills pass here is what you need to know:

1. You need to establish a bona fide patient physician relationship with your certifying doctor. They need to have access to a comprehensive medical history, and they need to follow up with you to monitor the efficacy of your marijuana use.
2. Marijuana should be carefully stored in an enclosed case in the trunk of your car while driving. If you have do not have a trunk, it must be inaccessible from the interior of the car.
3. If you are in violation of the act, you will be committing a felony punishable by imprisonment for up to 2 years of prison and $2,000.
4. Any law enforcement agents will be able to check your status as a cardholder.