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The Mmma- Operation 26%


Michael Komorn

2,141 views

 

THE MMMA- OPERATION 26%

 

 

 

April 17, 2012

 

 

Regarding: HB 4834, HB 4851, HB 4853, HB 4856

 

 

Dear Medical Cannabis Community,

 

 

The above referenced bills were adopted by the House Judiciary Committee.Very soon these bills will be on the House floor for further amendments with the final vote requiring a 75% super majority.

 

 

Operation 26%’s objective is a full scale, grass roots, community response to these bills. It is aimed at reaching the Democrats that are split, undecided or uninformed on this issue and blocking a super majority yes vote. The Democrats in both the House and Senate will be asked to advance these bills;they need to hear the voice of this community's opposition in numbers.

 

 

Please join us in making a difference by contacting the below listed Representatives via phone, email, letter and visiting them in person. Each one of them has the power to stop these bills from advancing. We have provided a form letter addressing the bills directly, but please feel free to write your own. We would encourage those involved to forward to us their suggested letters as well as the responses and experiences they receive from their interactions.

 

 

Please let your voice be heard by:

 

 

1. Cutting and pasting the letter below (or your own) into an email, and then sending it to each of the Representatives' email addresses listed below.

 

2. Printing the letter and mailing it via US mail.

 

3. And most importantly call, call, call the Representatives (see telephone numbers listed below) and explain to them why the proposed amendments fail to address the real concerns of patients and caregivers, and feel free to use the specific talking points that address the proposed Bills directly.

 

 

*********************************************************************

 

 

Talking points for conversations with the Representatives:

 

1. The Judiciary Committee said that they were working with different medical marihuana groups, yet, not a single medical marihuana advocacy group approves of the bills. Watch the tapes from the hearings.

 

2. Patients and Caregivers are being denied the right to present a medical marihuana defense, despite very clear language in the initiative that allows this right. During the hearings one of the committee members was quoted as saying"that seems un-American."

 

3. Nearly three years after it was passed,the Act still has not been properly implemented, with registration cards showing up late and no new conditions having been added despite multiple submissions and petitions.

 

4. When I signed up for the program, I believed that law enforcement would not have access to the registry. HB 4834 violates our most basic rights to privacy, as outlined in the act. It is unfair to change the rules in such a drastic way after the program has begun.

 

5. Legislators and law enforcement continue to fail to realize this is a medical issue, protected by HIPAA and aimed at helping the people of Michigan experience relief from their existing medical issues.

 

6. HB 4856 criminalize behavior that that is the norm for a possessing and transferring any other medication including prescription narcotics.

 

7. HB 4853, which should require a 75% vote,criminalizes a patients' safe access for acquiring medicine and limits the protections set out in the initiative.

 

8. HB 4851 is unneeded because LARA has recently published its guidelines for medical marihuana certification,addressing this issue as a private health issue and not a public safety issue.

 

9. The issue of a “locked enclosed facility”is before the Michigan Supreme Court and effectively makes the transportation of any cannabis plant illegal.

 

10. Additionally, and for unknown reasons, the amendment to guarantee a right to present a medical marihuana defense to a jury was amended, quoting a Representative "this seems so un-American."

 

11. HB 4834 is the most horrifying yet, allowing access by the loosely defined "law enforcement official" access to the registry. Over 130,000 patients and numerous caregivers had been promised and believed that their registry information would be kept private. To honestly ensure these protections,"law enforcement officials" should instead be required to get a warrant signed by a neutral and detached magistrate. This is the procedure for obtaining a warrant for the search of someone's home, and stands as a more acceptable approach. Additionally, Law Enforcement Officers can already verify the validity of a medical marijuana patient's registry ID card through the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

 

12. In early March of 2012, LARA announced it had purchased a new printer which would be installed by the end of the month.We have yet to see it put into use, if it even exists. It has been four years and it appears to be more empty promises.

 

13. What's more is that patients and caregivers are no safer than they were prior to 2008, when 63 percent of the voters in Michigan mandated a change.

 

14. Based on the above factors and a lack of effort to keep Michigan residents, namely patients and caregivers, safe under the current law, I strongly urge you to vote “no” on all House bills relating to medical marijuana.

 

 

*********************************************************************

 

OPERATION 26 % - Letter

 

Dear Representative,

 

 

Re: HB 4834, HB 4851, HB 4853, HB 4856

 

 

Asa Michigan voter I was very disappointed to learn that this Legislature is considering amending the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act (MMMA). For the past four years we have watched the medical marihuana community beg and plead for the Medical Marihuana Program to:

 

1. End the six month delays in getting the registry cards out to patients,

 

2. Add new conditions to the program such as PTSD, and

 

3. Ensure the privacy of the patients and caregivers as they were promised in the initiative and the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act.

 

 

The proposed Bills do nothing to recognize the MMMA as a private health issue rather than a public safety issue. The four bills that recently passed the Judiciary Committee which suggest an attempt to "fix" the Medical Marihuana Act do nothing to address the real concerns of patients and caregivers. After many months of dialog through supposedly bi-partisan work groups, not one Medical Marihuana organization or group supports the Bills.

 

 

HB 4856, which should require a 75% vote, criminalizes behavior that that is the norm for possessing and transferring any other medication, including prescription narcotics.

 

 

HB 4853, which should require a 75% vote, criminalizes a patients' safe access for acquiring medicine and limits the protections set out in the initiative.

 

 

HB 4851 is unneeded legislation because LARA has recently published its guidelines for medical marihuana certification, addressing this issue as a private health issue and not a public safety issue. The Definition of "locked enclosed facility"is before the Michigan Supreme Court; the definition proposed by the legislature effectively makes the transportation of any cannabis plant illegal.

 

 

Additionally,and for unknown reasons, the amendment to guarantee of a right to present a medical marihuana defense to a jury was removed. During the hearings one of the committee members was quoted as saying "that seems-un-American."

 

 

HB 4834 is the most horrifying, allowing access by the loosely defined “law enforcement official" to the registry. Over 130,000 patients and numerous caregivers had been promised and believed that their registry information would be kept private. To honestly ensure these protections "law enforcement officials" should instead be required to get a warrant signed by a neutral and detached magistrate. This is the procedure for obtaining a warrant for the search of someone's home, and is the more acceptable approach. Additionally, Law Enforcement Officers can already verify the validity of a medical marijuana patient's registry ID card through the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and the LEIN system.

 

 

Finally,patients and caregivers are no safer than they were prior to 2008, when 63 percent of the voters in Michigan mandated a change.

 

 

These bills are a needless infringement on patient privacy and rights and I ask you to vote "no."

 

 

[Voter signature/name]

 

 

 

**********************************************************************

 

 

THE MMMA’S OPERATION 26%- The List

 

These are the People, the Representatives that need to be convinced.

 

 

Here is the link http://www.housedems.com/ if youwant to see the faces of the Government officials who will decide the future ofthe Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. Please call them now, write them a letternow or email them now. Here is the link to the contact information for yourLegislature: http://www.housedems.com/

 

Please let them know that they must vote now on these bills.

 

 

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Michael Komorn

 

MMMA- President/CEO

 

 

 

 

 

 

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