No more Vaping in Michigan!!!

Sorry for the sensationalist headline...of course we are still vaping in Michigan. However, I woke up this morning and all dispensaries in MI are closed down.

From my understanding, 3 judges were able to overturn the will of 2/3 of Michigan voters. IMO The state wasnt getting their cut from the dispensary profits. So they shut them down. As the clich goes: Follow the money! However, it is still legal to use marijuana for medical purposes in Michigan with a doctors prescription. Now you can only legally obtain said medication from:

1. Yourself (grow your own)
2. Your Caregiver (person designated to grow for you)

So...the dispensaries, while making lots of money, were also able to keep the real trash medicine underground. Now who is going to regulate or even test each medication for pesticides, THC/CBD ratios and percentages, etc.? The caregiver? Good luck. Medically, the politicians/judges did the exact opposite of what should be happening. Whats the old line: The opposite of progress is Congress.

I am currently caring for a 65 year old MS patient who was diagnosed in 78 (not a Caregiver as described above, but medical assistant/RN work). He no longer has use of his limbs. Since 2008, when the citizens of Michigan voted to approve medical marijuana, he has not taken any prescription opiates or muscle relaxers as well as a vast self-reported improvement in cognition and mood. He only uses edibles. They are much easier and cheaper to obtain from a dispensary if you are not growing yourself (or if you are in a wheelchair all day and bed all night). Taking medicine away from sick people is wrong. No other way to say it.

This is the posting from a local dispensary (August 24 at 10am):
ATTENTION PATIENTS! Due to a recent Michigan Appeals Court ruling we cannot legally open for operation. Please donate at (blank)

For more on the subject, you can read at:
Michigan appeals court says medical marijuana can't be sold at dispensaries
http://www.freep.com/article/201108...ays-medical-marijuana-can-t-sold-dispensaries
Detroit Free Press
BY JOE SWICKARD AND JOHN WISELY
10:36 AM, Aug. 24, 2011
Detroit - A medical marijuana operation that participates in selling the drug to consumers can be shut down as a public nuisance, the Michigan Court of Appeals said in a decision announced this morning.
The three judge panel, ruling on a case out of Isabella County, said that the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act does not include the patient-to-patient sales.
The decision can be used as precedent and applied to other cases

MODs: Thanks for understanding the double posts. Some of us in MI don't quite know how to react when we get up and can't obtain our medication. Advice from others and standing together are my only strategies at this point...

I will continue to monitor and update the situation when possible.

At 9pm EST on August 24th:
It is expected that the decision will be appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court.
Most larger dispensaries willl release statements in the coming days as they read over the 17-page court decision.

Fuckin A...what a shitty start to the day. Good luck, buddy!

best of luck to you guys! that is lame!!!

Once they force enough people into repression, they will only be waiting for the opportunity to band together and do something to express their discontent. Massive protests need to be in order. Show the judicial Nazis that they need to fear the citizens, not the other way around.

I hope that this decision will be reversed immediately, not just for the people of Michigan, but for the rest of the nation. I have a feeling attorney generals of many medical states are just itching to try and reign in these programs at any cost. They need to be SHOWN that that is not the public's will.

Actions like these are why I have no faith in any politician, and would not be terribly distressed if they met with 'accidents'.

Good luck Michigan, I wish you the best.

Tom

I'm w you, Rico420.
This is a huge step in the wrong direction.
Time for Takin' It to the Streets (Doobie Brothers).

I live in MI and I am outraged. The ruling is already being appealed and dispensaries have found loopholes. Delivery is still legal.

Rico420 said:

I have a feeling attorney generals of many medical states are just itching to try and reign in these programs at any cost.

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With everything that has already occurred in Wisconson, Michigan, Ohio, etc. with workers rights and all, this is exactly my fear. The 2012 election is going to be interesting. Personally, I'm still in shock right now. I'm not sure what emotion is going to come up next...

August 25: Police raid 2 medical marijuana clinics in Ann Arbor, Michigan; all dispensaries closed indefinitely.

http://www.freep.com/article/20110825/NEWS06/110825042/1001/news

treecityrnd said:

August 25: Police raid 2 medical marijuana clinics in Ann Arbor, Michigan; all dispensaries closed indefinitely.

http://www.freep.com/article/20110825/NEWS06/110825042/1001/news

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I am disgusted. I'm almost dry, and now I'm not sure how I'm going to get meds. I hope this turns around eventually.

any word yet? I hope most of you all have a nice stockpile?

You can still get your medication directly from your caregiver. But those without designated caregivers actually can't legally buy their medication anywhere. It's insane. My 65 year old quad MS patient I take care of is almost out of medicine. He may have to switch back to opiates and muscle relaxes to control the pain. I'm so sad for all those suffering around me. It's depressing and scary. No way to live.

A friend made an interesting point today: if you can only get your medication from a caregiver or grow your own, where do we purchase the seeds as that would now be illegal also? No monetary transfers so I'm assuming they want all the caregivers to just start giving away their product for free.

As for a stockpile: MI law only permits 2.5oz. for an individual. Not much of a stockpile if you ask me even if you were completely at capacity when everything occurred.

that law is gonna get changed. i just hope sooner than later.

you will hook that old man up i hope? or you would lose you job for doing it?

GROW YOUR OWN, FTW! i for sure wish i could.

tdavie said:

Actions like these are why I have no faith in any politician, and would not be terribly distressed if they met with 'accidents'.

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Well I know this guy called Tony ...

Qbit said:

tdavie said:

Actions like these are why I have no faith in any politician, and would not be terribly distressed if they met with 'accidents'.

Click to expand...

Well I know this guy called Tony ...

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Even in jest, those type of comment should be made carefully. I'm sure that language alone qualifies you to be watched by the feds, remember they put gps trackers on the bottom of muslim students cars for no reason at all without warrants.

Or maybe I'm just paranoid. Either way the patriot act that allows this scares the shit out of me.

Update: Sunday, August 28
There are some dispensaries open around the area. Won't give names, but they are open (PM me if you're in MI and need to know). The vast majority (maybe 95% from my estimation) are still closed. Things are "cloudy" as one local reporter put it.

The raids do not appear (directly) connected to the court ruling. There was a USPS worker involved in one case. The local PD are saying there was some "other" stuff going on at these two dispenaries. If USPS is involved, that sounds like interstate/federal territory to me. I know very little, but if the raids were connected to the court ruling then why where these the only 2 in the state to be raided?

Thanks for all the support FC.
Vapers of Michigan & the World Unite!

This is a big bummer for those it effect, sorry fellas and ladies. i personally take care of myself, and was not at all overly impressed with the co-ops/dispensaries i visited in Ann Arbor, Traverse City, and Metro Detroit. That said, for those who do not have other ways of getting herb., this is a huge issue. In my experience a good care giver is much better then any co-op or dispensary i have visited. Or grow yourself, although not possible for everyone, knowing where your herb came from, what nutrients and synthetic chemicals are used (if any). This info is priceless IMO.

Good luck MI, vape on.

A big bummer is an understatement. Got a call about a dying cancer patient that can't get his meds now. Someone had gotten him an edible and he had cried it gave him so much relief. Made up a pan of brownies for him with the abv I had been saving up in the hopes it might help him. There is something seriously wrong with a system that will let patients suffer because of political policy. The voters in Michigan have spoken. Too bad the politicians and enforcement personnel aren't listening. This state needs an enema.

Are cards from other states still valid and can you still bring your own stuff that you are growing?

From what I understand you have never been able to bring your own stuff into Michigan. Anything you consume for medical purposes must be grown within the state. Under Section 4(j) of the MMMA, a registry identification card or its equivalent issued by another state government to permit the medical use of marihuana by a qualifying patient or to permit a person to assist with a qualify patient's medical use of marijuana has th same force and effect as a registry identification card issued by Michigan. I'll try and post up the pdf of the original law this weekend when I've got more time.

For now: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(k0...Object&objectName=mcl-Initiated-Law-1-of-2008

September 9, 2011: Many dispensaries have reopened! Power to the people!

I will update ASAP with how this is happening I'm curious myself.

oh great news! i am really glad to hear it!

Did I miss something? I've been "up north" and the news there isn't as good as down state. Was there a ruling or did one get overturned? Or is this a result of the demonstration they had?

momofthegoons said:

Did I miss something? I've been "up north" and the news there isn't as good as down state. Was there a ruling or did one get overturned? Or is this a result of the demonstration they had?

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Visit some of the websites for places in the SE. Lots open. Very interesting indeed. Im gonna figure out how this is possible. As long as it isn't patient to patient transfers it would have always been legal. So maybe the dispensaries are all running non-profit or your money goes directly to your caregiver with a paper trail? There are many possibilities. I'm surprised a local paper hasn't sent someone to report. Maybe no one will talk to reporters?

PM me if you're around a2.