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Lawmakers A No-Show To Medical Marijuana Tour


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SIDNEY, Mich.– State lawmakers are considering changes to Michigan’s Medical Marijuana Act. The measures would not legalize marijuana, but would help caregivers take care of their patients. One man from West Michigan invited all 38 senators to his house to educate them on the positives that come with medical marijuana, and what it takes to make the grow operation work.


Dave Overholt held up a jar today filled with a green oil. He says thats the answer to all chronic pain patients problems. Overholt is the owner of Dave’ Alfalfa Farm Services.


“Until law enforcement and judges look at the oils and the marijuana correctly under the state guidelines, and look at this as serious medicine, we are going to be fighting this battle for a long time,” he said.


The battle he is talking about is to get law makers to look at marijuana without the stigma that it’s collected for decades.


“It’s 60 something years of people telling you it’s bad for you, and that it has nothing to help you, and no municipal values,” he said.


The bills that will go to the senate this month would allow medical marijuana dispensaries to set up shop in municipalities that would allow them with restrictions. The other bill would allow medical pot patients to use edibles.


“The senators know the urgency of this bill, they know it’s coming. From what I can tell from talking to them is they are uneducated on the subject of marijuana,” he said.


Out of the 38 senators invited to Saturday’s presentation, two confirmed they were coming, but not one showed up. Overholt says he wasn’t surprised.


“To bring out other growers and other people who do this is almost impossible they want to know me but they just don’t want to be seen with me,” he said.


Among those who did show up today were lawyers and business owners, and state representative Michael Callton.


“63% of people voted for Michigan Marijuana Act. I think an politician has to really listen to those numbers. Just from a political perspective if you’re looking to get elected or re-elected, if 63% of people want it, I want to hang out with 63 percent of people,” he said.


No senators in sight Saturday, but those who showed up didn’t want to be on camera including two people who work for the federal government, and a doctor who talked about the benefits of medical marijuana. They all declined to show their face on camera because of the stigma associated with marijuana.


“There are seizure patients out there that are on so many medications they actually can’t function, and by those patients using medical marijuana they are able to come back in a more fruitful life,” said the doctor.


The doctor who opted to remain unnamed was once a doctor for the military and has 25 years experience in the field, and when his patients need medical marijuana, he doesn’t want them to smoke it.


“I don’t want any of my patients smoking anything. What I am here to do is to help legislators understand how important it is to me as a practicing physician to allow my patients to have the non-smokeable forms of marijuana,” he said.


Susan Baxter is one of Dave’s first patients. She was prescribed pills for a pain condition she has, but they were becoming too dangerous.


“I was taking over double the amount of pain pills I was prescribed because it just wouldn’t help the pain. It was such a large amount I didn’t even know how I got to work sometimes,” she said.


Baxter never thought she would use marijuana to solve her pain problem, but she’s a firm believer now. She says her quality of life would have been significantly lower if not for marijuana.


“I am 51-years-old. I never did any drugs. I don’t even smoke cigarettes, but I tried it, and the pain just went away,” she said.


Overholt’s operation is carefully executed.


“It puts another perspective with what yo can do with a particular plant, and take it from let’s sit around a campfire and get high, or let’s use it to help people with cancer,” he said.


Overholt says he makes about $250,000 a year, but his costs to making and maintaining the medical marijuana is about $150,000.


His facilities are cleaned and ventilated properly, plants are monitored with time temperature and lighting machines, and fertilized and cared for daily.


“We are trying to take care of as many people as we can because there is nobody out there that has the ability to keep the medicine flowing for all their patients. That’s the whole thing here, without dispensaries and places for patients to go, it’s going to make it hard for patients to get what they need,” said Overholt.


 


http://fox17online.com/2014/09/06/lawmakers-a-no-show-to-medical-marijuana-tour/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wxmi-news+(WXMI+-+News)


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This is the kind of BS that really ticks me off:

 

"because there is nobody out there that has the ability to keep the medicine flowing for all their patients. "

 

I think he meant to add, "except for the 27,000 caregivers, the patients who grow for themselves and idiots such as myself".

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I agree he must be asking for another Court date 

 

 He invited all 38 senators to his house to educate them i would like to take this time to invite them over to my home and have sent an E-mail to WXMI  FOX 2 has been over before Lol

 

​How does someone get the News over to film Cannabis growing before Leo comes ?

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you'd think someone in a current court case would watch what he says to the media.

 

 

Sure. You might think that. Otherwise he is performing a good service both to patients and to the effort to move the issues forward. My hat is off to the guy. There will be a market for his service, and we will continue to see to it that we have ours. If 4271 goes down nothing changes. If it succeeds he is already in the game.

Edited by GregS
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I agree he must be asking for another Court date 

 

 He invited all 38 senators to his house to educate them i would like to take this time to invite them over to my home and have sent an E-mail to WXMI  FOX 2 has been over before Lol

 

​How does someone get the News over to film Cannabis growing before Leo comes ?

 

It's a calculated risk. Obviously he thinks that he has enough cover with Calton standing with him. If he is mistaken, LEO is apt to make a move. It remains to be seen what will happen.

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He may possess a max of 15 oz's if he has a full slate, which I assume he does.  He appears on the news with 72 plants claimed, many that are quite large outdoor plants.  Think this is all lost on LEO?

 

His zealotry while praised by some, is darn foolish in my mind.  

 

He claims big income numbers and deductions, yet the IRS 280e rule will no doubt kick out many of his deductions....

 

fools thin air...

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He may possess a max of 15 oz's if he has a full slate, which I assume he does.  He appears on the news with 72 plants claimed, many that are quite large outdoor plants.  Think this is all lost on LEO?

 

His zealotry while praised by some, is darn foolish in my mind.  

 

He claims big income numbers and deductions, yet the IRS 280e rule will no doubt kick out many of his deductions....

 

fools thin air...

 

Heh.  So.....$250,000 income, taxed at 40% with no deductions for expenses = $150,000 minus expenses of $150,000 = $0

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I can't for the life of me understand half the people on this site. It comes off a lot less like "cannabis is just a plant" and a lot more like "I wish I could do that but I can't so I'm just going to hate". If y'all are that concerned you could always call the cops on him. SMH.

Edited by slipstar059
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I can't for the life of me understand half the people on this site. It comes off a lot less like "cannabis is just a plant" and a lot more like "I wish I could do that but I can't so I'm just going to hate". If y'all are that concerned you could always call the cops on him. SMH.

 

I think the hostility comes not so much for what they're doing but from their lobbying efforts in support of what they do.

 

The dispensary lobby has been saying that home grows are not safe. According to them "marijuana grown in basements" is sub-standard moldy, insect covered and of course "not subject to inspection". The goal of which is to eventually do away with home grows and leaving them as the only source.

 

Hence his statement, "because there is nobody out there that has the ability to keep the medicine flowing for all their patients".

 

Inflating their costs so new growers will get the impression that they would need a $10,000 investment to grow a couple plants in their house and going on about how difficult it is to grow. Of course you can always buy "medical grade" from their "provisioning centers".

 

I don't think anyone would have any objection to dispensaries or large commercial grows if they would just leave the patients and caregivers grow rights alone. They see us as competition and don't want us cutting into their profits.

 

The jackass in question just provides fodder for the anti's, "Look how they're flaunting the law, I told you that would happen!". Sen. Rick Jones probably has an orgasm whenever he sees a news story like that.

 

I don't have a dog in this fight and don't really care if they succeed or not as long as they don't step on my toes.

Edited by Wild Bill
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I think the hostility comes not so much for what they're doing but from their lobbying efforts in support of what they do.

 

The dispensary lobby has been saying that home grows are not safe. According to them "marijuana grown in basements" is sub-standard moldy, insect covered and of course "not subject to inspection". The goal of which is to eventually do away with home grows and leaving them as the only source.

 

Hence his statement, "because there is nobody out there that has the ability to keep the medicine flowing for all their patients".

 

Inflating their costs so new growers will get the impression that they would need a $10,000 investment to grow a couple plants in their house and going on about how difficult it is to grow. Of course you can always buy "medical grade" from their "provisioning centers".

 

I don't think anyone would have any objection to dispensaries or large commercial grows if they would just leave the patients and caregivers grow rights alone. They see us as competition and don't want us cutting into their profits.

 

The jackass in question just provides fodder for the anti's, "Look how they're flaunting the law, I told you that would happen!". Sen. Rick Jones probably has an orgasm whenever he sees a news story like that.

 

I don't have a dog in this fight and don't really care if they succeed or not as long as they don't step on my toes.

 

Better be steel toes , OUCH ! ! !

 

DSCF0012.JPG

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I can't for the life of me understand half the people on this site. It comes off a lot less like "cannabis is just a plant" and a lot more like "I wish I could do that but I can't so I'm just going to hate". If y'all are that concerned you could always call the cops on him. SMH.

 

I think you have the "I can't do it so I'll hate instead" observation completely backwards.

 

I don't wish I could grow 72 plants and tell the media it costs me $150,000 to be a grower.  I don't wish to lobby for dispensary protections while telling the news media that I'm doing so  "because there is nobody out there that has the ability to keep the medicine flowing for all their patients." 

 

I don't wish for these things, because I don't need to wish for them.  I could do them if I wanted to.  So it isn't as if I and others hate on someone because we can't do what they do.  We call them out on their behavior/words because they are often lies and half-truths designed to cast doubt on those who are actually making  the current law work.

 

So it isn't "us" hating "them" because we can't do what "they" do.  It is THEY who hate US because the law does not allow them to do what they want to do.  And they throw us under the bus in the effort to get laws changed so they can do what they want.

 

So some guy wants to make $100,000 per year growing cannabis, and he just trashed every caregiver in the State of Michigan while making his case to the media.

 

So tell me who the hater is.

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Seems like a guy that's found his calling. Say what you want about cost. But there are a lot of costs associated with growing that nobody thinks about. If your renting a two bedroom house and the second bedroom is dedicated to cannabis, half your rental cost is being spent on weed. Property tax, materials, greenhouse materials can be upwards of 10 grand, then there's the time dedicated to growing. On a large scale working on an outdoor field can fill up a week fast, than there's the cost of labor during a harvest. Cost of processing equipment. If your running oils on a professional level you could spend 50 gs on ovens and separation equipment. Health Canada's lp's are building million dollar grow rooms with keyless entry vaults.

Just get a job in the medical industry and collect a paycheck for doing what you love. It will be a lot easier if you've been growing as a caregiver, and/or have a degree in botany. What's to stop anyone from taking a financial risk and opening up a dispensary. I don't want to see anyone get the rights we voted for taken, but if someone wants to help as many people as he can, once they lay down the rules, more power to them.

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Slipstar, it is not a question about support or nonsupport for Mr. Overholt.  It is a question of "judgement" on his part.  As I understand it, he is still involved in court proceedings that are in appeal by Mr. Overholt.  That would indicate he lost his case at least initially.  So rhetorically one must ask if being involved in court proceedings is the time to trumpet your outdoor and indoor growing on the news.  Clearly he will be harvesting more than the 15 ounces he may possess.  Clearly the oil has been made illegal by our Court of Appeals in Carruthers.  So when you hear figures like $250,000 in income, see massive plants, see his vision on oil... well I don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows (Bob Dylan).  

 

Perhaps the bills will pass.  But until they do, what Mr. Overholt is doing is brazen, at very least.  There is no final language as of today, so no one can say for certain if the business strategies Mr. Overholt is following presently, will even be allowed.

 

I have seen him at several hearings in Lansing.  I have no doubt he did in fact invite legislators to visit his place, so he certainly has made contact as is his right.  Is he a registered lobbyist?  I don't have a clue, and I have not looked it up on the State of Michigan LARA site.  I have never seen him having any involvement with language on any bill (the area we have worked in was more on HB 5104, but of late it has been on HB 4271).  I am not aware of any language his group has submitted or that has been used in the various versions the State has put out.  So in speaking of the future I would suggest he is a bit premature in his comments.

 

It is great he wishes to participate, he seems like a good fellow.  Personally, I would prefer him to stand down on his activities until the law is passed, for his own safety.  Renegade acts DO NOT help influence a legislator to vote in favor of the bills.... that is common knowledge and pragmatic strategy.  On the other hand, he has every right to exactly as he is doing.  And in turn, by being so public, it also gives me the right to call him out on his public utterances...

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wealthy, and like irradiated marijuana.

 

irridation is in the prarie plant bill sb0660 which is already law.

 

michigan law:

(7) A licensed facility shall irradiate all pharmaceutical-grade cannabis in the manner determined by the department before delivering that pharmaceutical-grade cannabis to another person.

will 4271 make irradiation mandatory? hmmmm

Edited by t-pain
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I disagree. This is a non violent resistance.  Fighters such as overholt, usually  perform what others perceive as 'radical acts' and usually serve time.  Civil rights must be fought for and are rarely handed out.


 Personally, I would prefer him to stand down on his activities until the law is passed, for his own safety.  Renegade acts DO NOT help influence a legislator to vote in favor of the bills.... that is common knowledge and pragmatic strategy.  On the other hand, he has every right to exactly as he is doing.  And in turn, by being so public, it also gives me the right to call him out on his public utterances...
 

 

Sure.  Be silent on the issue and don't educate people.  Sounds like the best way to get something done.

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