Supreme Court to Rule on MMA Cases
The Michigan Supreme Court has agreed to hear two medical marijuana related cases in which the defendants believe that the state’s medical marijuana laws should protect them from prosecution. Both individuals claim that having legally issued medical marijuana cards is reason enough to avoid criminal charges, even if neither person was actually abiding by the law.
In one case, the defendant was legally certified under state law to grow and provide medical marijuana to two patients. However, the person in question was arrested and charged when he sold marijuana to an undercover police officer who posed as a patient.
In the second case, the cardholder had more medical marijuana than the law allowed. Also, the plants were not kept in a separate, locked location. Under Michigan’s Medical Marihuana Act, a licensed caregiver may produce up to 2.5 ounces of usable medical marijuana per patient. They may also grow up to 12 individual plants per patient, which must be kept in “an enclosed locked facility”.
Both defendants claim that the state’s voter-approved medical marijuana laws should provide legal card holders with protection from criminal charges. However, Michigan case law is full of examples of people with legally issued state caregiver cards, allowing them to grow marijuana, who then did not follow the law while pursuing their caregiver duties.
However, the Michigan Supreme Court has already overturned rulings made by the Court of Appeals claiming that a patient could only assert a Section 8 affirmative defense if they were in complete compliance with Section 4 requirements governing the limits of possession and cultivation. According to the supreme court, both registered and unregistered patients may assert the affirmative defense, which protects against criminal charges.
A section 8 affirmative defense provides legal protection by stating that the medical purpose for using marijuana is a defense against any prosecution involving marijuana, as long as certain criteria are met.
Michigan’s medical marijuana laws were approved in 2008. Currently there are more than 130 thousand residents of Michigan who have registered for state-issued cards.