Help a Lame Duck walk straight in Lansing Michigan in 2012.

Two Bills SB 321 and HB 4834 - designed to dismantle and sabotage the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act of 2008

Engaging the Michigan Senate in 2012

These are two bills that can be modified to the benefit of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Program. House Bill 4834 can have language added that will bring the program to the 21st Century regarding customer service. Program participants will be able to use the Department of Licensing and Regulations’ website to enroll, make caregiver changes, and certify patients. No more filling out of paper applications and compatible with your I pad.


Senate Bill 321 - 420 Analysis:
 
This is a request from my patients who want the following changes to the upcoming bills for the common good. First, please remove the following lines from page 3 of Senate Bill 321 as it discriminates against an entire class of Michigan Citizens.

16 (B) AN INSURER SHALL NOT BE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE COVERAGE FOR

17 THE MEDICAL USE OF MARIHUANA OR FOR EXPENSES RELATED TO THE MEDICAL

18 USE OF MARIHUANA 

Michigan is the only state that gives Drug Companies immunity to manufacture and distribute products that are faulty without fear or prosecution in a court of law. Insurance companies should not be able to dictate to people how to defy and break State and local laws voted on and supported by your constituents who are their customers. States rights and discrimination are two issues supported by the Attorney General with great passion. This is truly a States’ Rights and discrimination issue because medical marijuana patients need protection from employers and insurers from being treated like second class citizens. We need an affirmative action from the Office of Attorney General to end and prevent discrimination against the Civil Rights of law-abiding citizens who choose to use Marijuana as their medicine.

HB 4834 – Amend to add a patient photograph on the Michigan Medical Marijuana Card. 420 Analysis

How is it that the State of Arizona has pictures on their Medical Marijuana cards in less than one year and the State of Michigan is giving excuse after excuse on why we CAN’T do same the job?
Michigan was long before Arizona in Medical Marijuana reform and they have pictures on their cards already. Click Here to See the State of Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Program Information.
An Arizona resident can use their card to cash checks at a bank because it is a valid government ID similar to a Drivers License. Not bad for a State that voted for Mitt Romney.

We can do better in Michigan by adding the entire registration process to Dept. Of L.A.R.A.'s website so that citizens can apply and pay for their registration online. Do we not have the talent to do this? All of these people passed a drug test? Come on man! We spend massive amounts of money in State Government on Information Technology Services and if this is the best we can do, then it is time for an overhaul. Removing drug testing for Marijuana in a person’s body for employment with the State would cut spending and, raise revenue in the form of adding people to the workforce that can pay taxes instead of cutting all of the time.

Therefore it is high time to get the technology in order by amending bill 4834 to allow for a process to place the picture of the participant on the card. This should be done with immediate effect. Given that LARA has improved the turnaround time for processing applications, the reprinting everyone’s card with a picture on it should be less than 60 days. If you are a patient or caregiver this is of importance because you want to streamline government, create revenue to fly over the fiscal cliff.
Contact Senator Geoff Hansen in Room 420 (and his Senator Friends) at the Farnum Building in Lansing Michigan and ask him to get the State's technology needs in order to get the job done. GOP caregivers, patients, and cannabis lovers are encouraged to contact their senators. Share the medicine across party lines.

Let’s help this Lame Duck walk to the end.

Richard C. Clement – Patient Advocate - Lansing Compassionate Care Commission
Past Director of Minority Affairs and Outreach Programs 2008-2011
Michigan Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws

 

Demand States Rights support for Medical Marijuana patients and caregivers from the Office of Attorney General staff now!.

Contact your State Senator in Lansing Michigan Today at www.senate.Michigan.gov

Patients deserve protection from the State's top Law Enforcement Official.



Michigan Medical Marijuana participants deserve protection from Federal law regarding the dreaded 100 plant rule. With Marijuana being accepted by the will of the people, this artificial barrier must be removed or raised to accommodate patients. Currently, if you are in possession of 100 or more plants, you will be charged with Manufacturing and distribution of between 100-999 plants or 100-999 kilograms and a penalty between 5 - 40 years in prison. These charges may include forfeiture of property and assets. Patients in Michigan are in need of protection and support from the top law enforcement official in the State to enforce 10^th amendment of the US Constitution regarding State’s Rights.

 

 

 

This artificial rule has been used by law enforcement to arrest people and seize property with reckless abandon. The 100 plant rule is a tax or extortion fee used by county prosecutors to force people to plead guilty to something they were doing legally under State law. In some cases, driving privileges are suspended for up to 1 year and the additional cost of being monitored by a probation officer is costly to the citizen/taxpayers of the State.

 

 

It is legally impossible to be guilty of a Federal crime when the State of Michigan legally allows caregivers to have 5 patients at 12 plants each. This is a disadvantage to two or more caregivers who share utility expenses to drive down the cost of growing and maintaining a plant. The vote in Colorado, Washington State, and 5 cities in Michigan is causing the Mexican Government to rethink their opposition to Marijuana. Officials there are asking their government “why are we stopping something that is legal in the USA”?

In addition to that, recent yes votes in Detroit, Ypsilanti, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, and Kalamazoo to allow for possession and use of Marijuana has changed the legal landscape so much as to force government officials in United States to rethink their Marijuana policies. In the State of Washington, judges have been dismissed 220 misdemeanor cases of Marijuana possession at a cost savings to their government and taxpayers.

 

We need sound and competent leadership from the Office of Attorney General regarding Marijuana reform. All Marijuana manufacturing cases in the State of Michigan should be dismissed immediately on the basis of Legal Impossibility saving the Michigan Taxpayers at least 2 million dollars on a two billion dollar budget in the Department of Corrections. Purging these people from the department’s oversight is necessary to keep the State of Michigan from going off the fiscal cliff. Resources dedicated to killing jobs and disregarding the intent of your constituents can be re-directed so that no one has to suffer from poor quality cannabis, K2 synthetic Marijuana, or any other imitations to the plant from GOD.

 

If you can take 15 minutes of your time, please make clear to Attorney General Bill Schuette that State Resources must be stopped being used to dismantle and sabotage the Michigan Medical Marijuana Program. This would greatly aid in discontinuing costly recall efforts against the current occupant in the Office of Attorney General. There have been seven attempts to recall Mr. Schuette to make him aware of his conduct regarding Medical Marijuana. The states of Washington and Colorado went to full legalization this November. It is also coincidental that President Barack Obama won these states on November 6^th in a margin so big that he can show Donald Trump his Electoral College transcripts.

 

Therefore we want you to perform the following actions for Medical Marijuana Program participants:

 

Amend House Bill 4834 to allow for photographs to be placed on Michigan Medical Marijuana participant cards including online registration, card verification, renewal, and change. If it is good enough for the Secretary of State’s office then it is good for Department of LARA.

 

 

Vote no on HB 4856 regarding the lock and sealed container requirement for Medical Marijuana transportation within a car. This mean spirited legislation designed to be a cash cow job stimulus for Defense Attorneys and County Prosecutors on the backs of program participants. There is no requirement for mainstream corporate drugs to be treated like a Concealed Weapon therefore; this bill discriminates against the cannabis plant. Cannabis deserves equal treatment under the civil rights law of the land.

 

 

Finally, we want the Office of Attorney General to represent the patients and caregivers against the 100 plant rule from the Federal Government as being legally impossible.

Contact your Senator Today  www.senate.Michigan.gov

 

Richard C. Clement - Michigan Medical Marijuana Patient Advocate
Past Director of Minority Affairs and Outreach Programs
Michigan Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
 

Voting Yes for Detroit’s Proposal M may help solve the bridge loan payment crisis on the Detroit River.

“Pay for the Bridge with Weed”

by  Richard “Weed Warrior” Clement

 

Detroit Election Commission at Work

This November, the voters in Michigan will decide how the people will pay for the new bridge that is supposed to upgrade the transportation between Windsor Canada and Detroit Michigan. In the City of Detroit, the people will decide to allow the possession of one ounce or less of Marijuana on their private property without civil or criminal penalty.  What do these two topics have in common?  The answer is that the loan for the bridge from Canada will be paid off with the revenue from Industrial Hemp. This will save the taxpayers a lot of money in interest costs and help with the maintenance and repairs.

A clause written into the bridge company’s contract will give a %20 property tax reduction for Detroit residents who own a home in the City for at least 30 years and, a %60 reduction for 50 years or more of home ownership. Employees hired by the bridge company will get charged for 6 months of property tax for owning a home in the City of Detroit 14 months. The old Ambassador Bridge will once again allow foot and bike traffic across the bridge. This would include the right for Ambassador Bridge management to sell duty free cannabis products at their stores on both ends of the bridge.



Matthew Abel and Tim Beck

Michigan agriculture forces are ready to design, test, and implement Hemp for the purpose of free and fair trade with world partners in Canada and Mexico. Groups like Michigan Hemp (www.mihemp.org) and faculty members at Michigan State University’s agriculture department are ready to do research into the 25,000 products that can be made from one single plant.  This will lead to the development of urban farming in the City and the use of federal highway real estate property for growing hemp.

 

 

Hemp and Medical Marijuana are two different types of plant.  Medical Marijuana is produced from the female plant.  She can be cloned in more than 100 ways to produce strains like, Blue Cheese, Granny’s Panties, Chernobyl, White Widow, and many others.  Industrial Hemp is the Male plant that can produce more than 25,000 products such as auto body parts, fuel, fiber and clothing.  To help remember the difference you want to say that the female plant makes you feel good and, the male plant works for a living.  Both of them do a good job for you.



Detroit Police at Work

The Friends of Cushingberry support Proposal M because it will ease the strain on the Men and Women of the Detroit Police Department and the Wayne County Sherriff Department. Being a public employee is a stressful job so much so that instead of calling it public service, it is similar to being served up to the public. For instance Police and Fire Department employees have a high probability of getting injured on the job.  Massive bouts of PTSD and other debilitating injuries are a part of the job while health care services are being cut back.  It has been long documented that Cannabis is a proven remedy for ailments associated with this type of work. Therefore, we support the discontinuation of testing for cannabis as a condition of employment with the City of Detroit.

 



Bud for Bing will Pay for Everything!

By doing this as a matter of policy, unemployment in Detroit will go down by %30. On a national level unemployment will go down at least 2 percentage points and 10 points in the communities of people of color.  This is why it is urgent that you send an email, call, and make a personal visit at the State House of Representative’s office in Lansing and their office in their home district.  When your elected official hears from you in person and you live in their district, they tend to listen to you a little more.  Eaton County Michigan cannabis users and supporters need to contact Senator Rick Jones at (Click Here For Senator Jones) and tell him to leave our law alone because you support the law. Otherwise, find your Senator (Find your Senator Link) or Representative (Find your Represenative Link) here and let them have it.

Hemp Fueled education will bring gas prices down. Call President Obama today.

Be a Catalyst for Change!

Allowing Michigan farmers to ship their grown and cultivated hemp products across the border to Canada will stabilize gas prices to $2.00 a gallon.  For longer destinations like Mexico, subsidized hemp flights from Willow Run, Coleman Young International and Capital City Airports will be self funding like Michigan's Medical Marijuana program is doing now.

The following link will explain the benefit of changing federal law to allow educational institutions to research and develop hemp as a stabilizer in fuel cost.  Cutting spending is key to economic recovery. After you do your cutting there is always a surplus that shows up.   Then, you spend more money or invest in what you don't have and what you cut before.   This is one permanent loop of a spending cycle or par for the course.  To end this loop American farmers must be allowed to grow hemp with a little help from extension programs affiliated with the university.

The recent spiking in gas prices calls for action by the President to issue an executive order to direct the FDA to assist farmers and agricultural institutions to grow the male plant of the Cannabis strain for hemp research. 

On the State level encourage your Michigan State Senator to sponsor legislation to support Farmers and their efforts to create a living wage. 

The link below is a page that explains the benefit of growing hemp:

$2.00 a gallon gas tomorrow (click here)

After viewing the link Contact President Obama at Comments: 202-456-1111 or

Switchboard: 202-456-1414. You can also email him at president@whitehouse.gov

Full contact information for the White House (click here)

If you want to holler Free The Weed Mr. President, that is OK because they keep a log of calls. If enough of us call, then he will truly hear from the people.

$4.00+ a gallon gas must go!

Lansing Legislators Sabotaging the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act with HB4856 – Transporting Medicine in a vehicle.

If some legislators in Lansing get their way, the Medical Marijuana program will be a ready-made list for Law Enforcement to do a protective sweep of a patient’s home and property. If you get into your car, your medicine must be stored in the trunk like a concealed weapon. If you don’t have a trunk, the medicine must be inaccessible to the driver. Failure to comply will net you up to 93 days in jail for a misdemeanor and, a $500 fine plus court costs.  

All revenue generated in this manner will go toward a fund to benefit neighborhood public libraries at the expense of Medical Marijuana patients.

House Bill 4856 was supported by three-fourths of the Michigan House of Representatives voting to approve this and three other bills that supposedly “clarifies” the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act of 2008. This bill is being supported by defense lawyers and prosecutors as a cash cow for legal professionals and financially un-stable counties in the State of Michigan. This would encourage cities like Detroit to convert empty Detroit Public School buildings into makeshift prisons for the warehousing of “pot criminals”. The makeup of these prisons will be mostly White citizens of Michigan because there is a complaint that there are too many people of color in the corrections system now.

There is too much room for abuse of citizens in Michigan with this bill and, to infer that driving under the influence of alcohol vs. driving under the influence of Marijuana is different when there is no standard of measurement to compare the two. A suggestion for the test is to select a sample of 6 State Troopers who don’t use Marijuana and 6 patents that use Marijuana legally in Michigan. They would be all given the same obstacle course to drive with a State Car to see how they perform before and after drinking and, before and after smoking a Marijuana cigarette.

Results will be tabulated and compared to set a standard measure for being under the influence. This is the only way to resolve the impairment issue.

This bill was dastardly designed to circumvent the Michigan Medical Marijuana law by increasing the opportunity for Law Enforcement to conduct additional searches and seizures of property, thereby increasing the case load of judges and prosecutors. Along with the additional work for the defense attorneys, this bill is like a jobs stimulus package for the legal community at the expense of Michigan Medical Marijuana patients. However, there is a way to stop this madness and the way to do it is constantly call and email Senators in Lansing MI and urge them to vote NO on HB4856. Additionally, send an email to Governor Rick Snyder and ask him to veto this bill because of your concerns. We participants in the Michigan Medical Marijuana program must rise to the occasion and defeat this bill.

Shame on you elected officials.

State House of Represenatives

Michigan State Senate

Subject:Dropping the City’s lawsuit blocking the people’s vote on Marijuana in the City of Detroit.

Hon. Mayor Dave Bing
Hon. Charles Pugh – City Council President
1 Woodward Ave
Detroit, MI 48226

Open Letter to the Mayor of the City of Detroit and City Council, April 2, 2012

We are requesting that the Mayor’s office and the Detroit City Council drop their legal challenge at the Court of Appeals to the Detroit Marijuana Ballot initiative.  We want the issue to be voted on and decided by the voters in the August primary election of 2012.  The Lawyers and the fees associated with them are costing the city a lot of money that can be used elsewhere. To continue this action is a form of voter suppression that is on par with Voter ID laws, and other tactics to reduce voter participation. In the long haul, the City will lose in the Supreme Court and that would be a complete waste of resources and Detroit taxpayer’s hard earned dollars.  The issue will be on the ballot to let the people decide regardless of what the council and the Mayor have to say about it.

The State of Michigan will be taking control of the City in some way, shape or form because of money problems. Medical Marijuana has generated over 12 million dollars for the State in registration fees alone.  Empty buildings in Detroit have been revitalized by the cannabis community to have clubs, businesses, and events that bring revenue and visitors to the City of Detroit.  Unlike churches in the city, Cannabis businesses pay property taxes and pay on utilities like DTE and Consumers Power unlike the church paying NO property taxes at all.

It is imperative that the elected officials of the City of Detroit to drop all legal challenges to the city-wide ballot proposal and let the people vote in August to decide the issue.  Therefore please act on this by directing your legal counsel to withdraw the Motion for Reconsideration filed with the Michigan Court of Appeals at your earliest convenience.

 Sincerely,

Richard C. Clement

Director of Outreach & Technology Programs
Michigan Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
www.minorml.org
cc:  MINORML Board of Directors, Detroit City Council Members

Michigan Legislators seek to water down the Michigan Medical Marijuana law by proposing costly and dangerous changes to the language.

By. Richard C. Clement

On Feb. 23 a scheduled hearing in Room 519 of the House Office Building headed by Reps. Ken Horn, R-Frankenmuth, and Phil Cavanaugh, D-Redford Township. The meeting will focus on the bipartisan work on Michigan’s Medical Marijuana law.  This will include a presentation by the group to address the proposed changes.

The result of this meeting has generated four bills if enacted into a law, will increase the prison population,  bog down law enforcement resources and, add needless regulation to undermine the wishes of the people.    This meeting will attempt to address the horrendous backlog of 6 months to one year for processing applicants to the program.  Currently caregivers have to wait one year to receive a card in the mail.  New and renewal applicants have to wait up to 7 months for their physical card to arrive in the mail. 

Medical Marijuana card mailed on it's expiration date

The only explanation for this is insubordination by the Department of Licensing and Regulation management in timely processing of applications and the acquisition of resources to properly address the demand.   This program has been existence for over 3 years and as of this date, the turnaround time is getting longer by the week with no relief in sight.  Instead of serving the public as required, these employees are serving themselves through substandard use of technology and ambivalence toward the participants in the program.   If the Department of Treasury can process mailed in tax forms (Schedule 1040, Tax Credits, etc.) in 6 weeks, then the Michigan Medical Marijuana program can do better with just 3 forms to process. We have documented proof to show that a caregiver got his physical card one year to the day they applied for it. The card was expired when it arrived to the caregiver in the mail.  

House Bill 4834 is a measure requiring photo ID for registered patients and limited access by law enforcement to the medical marihuana registry; (Click Here for a full copy of the bill)

 A solution to this problem is to amend House Bill 4834 to require a timely turnaround of a maximum 20 days for a card to be in the possession of an applicant as mandated by law.  Information sharing shall be monitored by the Auditor General to insure that the Department of State Police does not receive medical information but, just enough information to say that the card is valid or not. 

(State of California Online Card Validation Link)

House Bill 4851 is a piece of legislation requiring a bona fide doctor-patient relationship to end the current practice of doctors certifying patients without even seeing the patients in person. (Click Here for a full copy of this bill)

On the surface House Bill 4851 looks legit until you compare internet use by other licensed professionals such as Judges in Ingham County and 54-A district court in Lansing.  If 54-A District Court Judge Hugh Clarke can sit at the bench with a cup of coffee, watch prisoners on TV, and send people to jail, then the internet doctors shall be afforded the same protection under the law.   Doctors have medical records online already so this is just a matter of using common sense.

House Bill 4853 is a piece of legislation amending sentencing guidelines consistent with the MMMA. (Click Here for a full copy of 4853)

By far House Bill 4853 is the most outrageous and dangerous bill ever conceived by the Michigan Legislature.  If this bill is enacted into law, the simple act of handing a marihuana cigarette to another person that is also a patient will earn up to 2 years in prison with a felony conviction.  This will guarantee an immediate rise in the number of citizens incarcerated in the Michigan prison system with the increased cost to go with it. Send an email to Rep. John Walsh and Rep. Phil Cavanaugh and tell them to remove all references to Marihuana in this bill.

House Bill 4856 a bill that is an attempt to circumvent the current Michigan Medical Marijuana law by defining the "appropriate" transport of medical marihuana. (Click here for a full reading of bill 4856)

House Bill 4856 and the word clarification shall not be used in the same sentence. If this bill becomes law a patient would have to carry their medicine in a lock-box in the trunk of the car just like their pistol.  A violation of this law will earn you a 90+ day in jail sentence, $100 fine and a misdemeanor conviction. Despite the implications of impairment under the influence of Marijuana, there are NO current studies and factual evidence that can compare the degree of impairment based on the amount of Marijuana in a person’s system.  Groups like Myth Busters often run with their heads tucked between their tails when a test of this magnitude was suggested.   A legitimate study sponsored and supported by organizations such as NORML, Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), and others will put this myth to rest. 

We the people hired these politicians with our vote and we can fire them with our vote also.  Doing a recall drive is a strong message to let your elected official know that if you continue to disregard the bi-partisan majority of Michigan voters now, you will pay for it in August and September.  Please be aware that all 83 county prosecutors and county sheriffs are up for re-election in the fall.  Furthermore the redrawing of political maps has subjected these same individuals to the pitfalls/benefits of redistricting.  If you support the Michigan Medical Marijuana law then you should do the following:

1.      Find out who is running for the new districts in the August primaries and the November general election. 

2.      Contact via email and phone State Representative John Walsh (R-Livonia) and Phil Cavanaugh (D-Redford Township) and let them know that you are a constituent that supports Marijuana reform in Michigan and tell them to vote no on House Bills 4851, 4853, and 4856.   Vote to amend House Bill 4834 to address the one year backlog by the Department of Licensing and Regulation in the processing of applications to the Michigan Medical Marihuana program.

3.      Inform your county prosecutor and county sheriff that you will vote for their removal in November if any of these bills becomes law.

Your voice needs to be heard loud and clear in Lansing and the time is now.  Make sure to sign the petition to repeal prohibition at a location near you.  Please refer to the website www.repealtoday.org  to get a location to sign a petition to repeal prohibition.  Time is of the essence and it is time to make your stand.  We are the %63 percent and it is time to represent.  Vote green in 2012 for pro-cannabis candidates in August and November.

 Contact Info:

Rep. John Walsh (Website Info)

Rep. Ken Horn (Website Info)

Rep. Phil Cavanaugh (Website Info)