September 9, 2011 – Lansing, Michigan— They came by the busload to the Capitol lawn toting signs such as “Patients are not Criminals” and “Weed Deserve Better.”

The spirited gathering of about 1,500 people — one of the largest pro-medical-marijuana rallies in Michigan — featured the young, old and sick, some in wheelchairs.

“This has never been about cannabis,” said Robert Redden, 61, a medical marijuana cardholder whose Oakland County home was raided in 2009. “This is about our rights.”

The rally came on the heels of a Michigan Appeals Court ruling last month that shuttered many of the state’s 400-500 dispensaries and banned patient-to-patient sales for nearly 100,000 carriers of medical marijuana cards. The ruling has effectively limited safe ways patients can get marijuana and has denied them doctor-prescribed medicine, supporters said Wednesday.

Much of the anger was centered on Attorney General Bill Schuette, who has praised the August appeals court ruling. One of the biggest cheers of the rally came during a plane flyover with a banner: “Schuette: Keep Patients Off the Streets!”

Schuette’s stance on medical marijuana is one reason he faces a recall attempt. A Midland County panel Wednesday ruled recall petition language targeting the attorney general is clear, allowing opponents to start collecting signatures in an effort make the ballot as early as 2012.

At the rally, where the smell of pot wafted in the air at times, some told stories of dispensaries being raided and shut down. Others praised the effects marijuana has had on improving their health. They lamented the government’s role in attacking medical marijuana users and providers, even after Michigan voters approved its medical use 2008.

Schuette has argued marijuana is authorized in only very limited circumstances, and medical use doesn’t include sales of marijuana. He’s called the appeals court ruling a “huge victory for public safety and Michigan communities struggling with an invasion of pot shops near their schools, homes and churches.”

“The attorney general’s job is to enforce the law,” John Sellek, spokesman for Schuette, said in a statement. “We support and will enforce the court’s decision that dispensaries are illegal.”

Under the law, state-issued medical marijuana cards let holders have 2.5 ounces of “usable” pot and up to 12 plants. Registered caregivers also can grow marijuana for five people with 12 plants apiece. But that’s not enough to supply the demand, said Jack Einhardt of the Macomb Oakland Compassion Club.

Without the third-party dispensaries, patients “are not getting their meds,” said Einhardt.

Stephanie Whisman, whose Bay City dispensary was raided, said she feels her rights are under attack.

“I want our medicine to be legal,” said Whisman. “I’m tired of them shutting down dispensaries. I’ve been raided twice. I’ve never been charged with anything. But they’ve taken everything I’ve owned.”

Whisman’s boyfriend, John Roberts, who also has cancer, said: “We are not potheads; it is about medicine.”

Whisman, of Saginaw, said she doesn’t want to have to head to the streets for relief.

“I have my card. I went through my doctor. I did everything legal on my part. Why can’t I go to a safe place to get my medicine?” By Marisa Schultz/ The Detroit News Source.

April 14, 2011 – Lawmakers and enforcers are looking for guidance on how to react to an Ontario Superior Court decision quashing Canada’s marijuana laws.

On Monday, a St. Catharines judge ruled the federal medical marijuana program unconstitutional because patients are largely prevented from legally accessing the drugs they need. Justice Donald Taliano also struck down the country’s laws against possessing and producing cannabis, giving Ottawa three months to fix the program before marijuana is effectively legalized.

The government is now awaiting direction from the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, said Tim Vail, spokesperson for Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, who is currently running for re-election in Nunavut.

“We are disappointed with this decision,” Vail said in an emailed statement. “The independent Public Prosecution Service has to decide whether to appeal this decision.

“While the courts have said that there must be reasonable access to marijuana for medical purposes, we believe that this must be done in a controlled fashion to ensure public safety.”

Vail added that the government is considering “longer-term measures” to reform the medical marijuana program.

The Public Prosecution Service is studying the judge’s decision and has 30 days to appeal the ruling which it is expected to do.

In the meantime, the Ontario Provincial Police will continue to enforce marijuana laws — even though they may cease to exist in less than 90 days.

“It does create a legal grey zone,” said OPP spokesman Sgt. Pierre Chamberland. “Until that grey zone becomes a black and white, then the legislation remains status quo, and our actions in regards to enforcing the law remain status quo.”

In Toronto, police are waiting to consult with federal officials before deciding what impact the court decision will have on front-line drug policing.

“We need to read the decision, but also we need to speak with some colleagues in the criminal justice system,” said Toronto police spokesman Mark Pugash. “We’ll put out guidance to our officers so (they) know where we stand.”

Taliano made his ruling based on findings that Canadian doctors have “massively boycotted” the medical marijuana program.

Patients seeking a licence to obtain or grow marijuana for medicinal purposes must first find a doctor to support their application, a near-impossible task that forces sick people to resort to illegal measures, Taliano said in his ruling.

Toronto family physician Dr. Tsvi Gallant said most doctors are uneducated about the medicinal properties of marijuana and physicians are largely discouraged by their professional associations from participating in the program.

“I know most of my colleagues would refuse to touch it,” Gallant said. “A lot of family physicians will not even want to deal with it in the first place.”

Gallant said patients must also renew their medical marijuana licences every year but processing times are glacially slow.

“It’s much easier to go to the street and buy it illegally,” said Gallant, who encourages most of his patients to buy cannabis from compassion clubs. “Patients start breaking the law. And it happens again and again and again and again.” Source.