Central Michigan Compassion Club News

[+greaterclare]

Hello everybody, Central Michigan Compassion Club has a new temporary meeting headquarters. We will still be meeting in Mt. Pleasant once the Canna-Cafe' is up and running, which is slated for Mid-Late Summer 2015 (What's this? More info below). In the meantime, we will be meeting @ Health Associates of Michigan- Located 110 Sanborn Ave, Suite C, Big Rapids, MI  49307. Feel free to call there for more info 231-668-8016. We will be meeting this Saturday at Noon. Beverages will be provided- feel free to bring a snack to share if you wish. We will be discussing the new rule changes that went into effect on Jan. 15th 2015. We will also be talking about the death of HB 4271 and HB 5104. What do we intend to do about the inactivity and blatant disregard of cannabis users by our legislature? Let's figure out our next move together!

 

 

Now, about the Canna-Cafe (name may change)... Central Michigan Compassion Club has created a plan to provide a private membership lounge for the Card holders, their support persons, and anybody who wants to help provide a safe, stress free environment to medicate outside the home. Think Dutch coffee house without the marijuana sales. Being a private club, cardholders can enjoy medicating on premises without worry. There will be local entertainment nights (acoustic performances) books, board and card games, meetings, wi-fi access, a couple computer stations for those without a computer,  comfortable furniture, and coffee/ snacks to enjoy.

 

With the new voter approved ordnance in Mt. Pleasant allowing the use and possession of small amounts of cannabis, we SHOULD be allowed to include anybody 21 years or older who wishes to use cannabis at the club. Reality is this has not been tested and City Police has stated they will be using state law instead of the wishes of the Mount Pleasant public. Police are not allowed to kick in private property doors to see if people are using marijuana, so I would hope that their policing will remain on the public areas of the City, not private property. We will be having discussions with the prosecutors office, private attorneys,  as well as local police to get an idea where we stand on this issue.

 

We are beginning a fundraising drive to speed up the process, and make this a truly great place for our community. I'm not sure of the rules about placing a crowd funding link here, so if you want to help,  please visit our Central Michigan Compassion Club facebook page to find the gofundme link there. Any amount will help, seriously! If we get word that we can place a link here, Ill edit one in at the bottom of this message.

 

Thanks everybody for the continued work and support for the Cannabis community!

 

CMCC

[AbominableDro-Man]

It's important to ask, would patients be giving up their grow rights by entering into said "private" club membership?

[t-pain]

good question. i've seen dispensaries that just sign you up with their unregistered caregiver. so no grow rights or forms are sent to the state...

 

heres another question, the future club will allow smoking, but can you smoke at this meeting yes/no ? getting confusing talking about two different locations at once.

Edited February 10, 2015 by t-pain

[+greaterclare]

Good questions, t-pain and dro-man...

 

No to having to give grow rights. There is no sign up for caregivers or anything like that. Its bring your own- use your own. Membership would simply be a fee to maintain the lounge, pay for expenses, etc. No different from getting a cup of coffee at Biggby...you can still brew at home, or have your "caregiver" brew it for you. The difference though is the club is not a public business, therefore allowing cannabis use per the MMMP rules of using on private property. 

 

As for smoking at the open to the public compassion club meetings like the one scheduled for this coming Saturday, that's a negative. We never allow smoking at those meetings as it may deter non smoking people from coming to the meetings. There is also the situation of making an open public call for compassion club meetings, which would make the venue a public place- something the MMMP will not allow. Even when the Canna-Lounge opens, we will still conduct public meetings outside the Canna-Lounge for education, caregiver/patient connections, community service, etc. This is key for enlightening the public, giving support for those wanting to get started in the MMMP, and helping others who have questions.  Hope I answered these questions clearly. I have a tendency to ramble...

[+greaterclare]

There would be different type of memberships, yearly, monthly, etc... I would be set up as such that it falls into the category of private club, not a public establishment.

[+greaterclare]

I'm sure there are questions regarding how a club could allow cannabis smoking when smoking tobacco products is banned even in private clubs such as The American Legion, The Elks, etc... The protection is through the MMMP, the tricky one will be if we allow anybody 21 or older to use in the club. We want to be able to accommodate based on our local ordnance that decriminalizes marijuana use. There is no provision in this ordnance that  I can find that supersedes public health code or law...fortunately, that is not the case with the MMMP. There is concern about sharing a joint though, which may not allow for section 4 protection. There may have to be policies to only smoke your own to keep people protected. Much of this will have to be felt out as time goes on. What we do feel, is that there is a framework in which we can do this, we just have to navigate carefully, and within the law or what our local prosecutor interprets the law to be.

 

This is gonna be fun...