Immediate contact needed in opposition of four Michigan Medical Marijuana bills

Michigan Senate Judiciary Committee Will Hold Hearings For Proposed Medical Marijuana Legislation

Dan Riffle, Marijuana Policy Project

The morning of August 15th, 2012, the Michigan Senate Judiciary Committee will hold hearings on four bills that would change the state’s medical marijuana law. In most cases, the bills call for changes that restrict access to medical marijuana. Here’s the full summary of each, but in short:

HB 4834 — Gives law enforcement officers direct access to patient registry information through the Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN) — which federal agencies can access — without requiring a warrant.

HB 4851 — Creates a “bona fide physician-patient relationship” that would be necessary before a doctor could recommend marijuana, including that doctors continue to monitor the efficacy of marijuana for each patient.

HB 4853 — Provides sentencing standards for the crime of selling medical marijuana in violation of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act.

HB 4856 — Requires patients transporting medical marijuana to carry it in a case in the trunk of their vehicle.

There are a few positives in the details of some of the bills, but overall, the bills propose radical restrictions not supported by Michigan’s voters that would make life harder for patients who need medical marijuana. For that reason, MPP opposes the legislation. Please write the members of the committee and ask them to oppose these bills.

Here is the pre-written email and link to the MPP email system to email Michigan Senate Judiciary Committee:

Four bills that recently passed in the House would make a few changes to our medical marijuana law. I am asking you to oppose HB 4834 and HB 4851 if they are not amended and to oppose HB 4856. One provision of HB 4834 I wanted to call your attention to is a section that would allow law enforcement officers to directly access the registry through the Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN) to determine whether someone is a patient or caregiver if the officer thinks there is probable cause to believe a crime has occurred. I believe a warrant should be required.

The vast majority of cops are good, honest police just doing their job. But there are some officers who are very zealous in their pursuit of arrests — perhaps too zealous — and might feel justified in searching the database when they merely have a suspicion. Even an honest cop might think a situation gives rise to probable cause when a judge might feel differently. For that reason, police should have to prove probable cause to a judge or magistrate before gaining access to this information, rather than simply determining unilaterally whether they should have access or not. In addition, cardholder information must not be included in LEIN, which is accessible to federal agents. The medical use of marijuana is still a federal crime, and it would be a grave breach of patients’ privacy to put their information in LEIN.

I support other parts of some of the bills, such as extending the registration period from one year to two and making sure LARA acts on petitions to add to the list of debilitating medical conditions. Still, I believe the passage of HB 4834 in its current form would be destructive to the privacy protections patients are entitled to.

Thanks for your attention and your service.