Medical Marijuana
August 2010

►Unless unfavorable legal considerations override sentiment, Royal Oak intends to make no accommodation for growing or dispensing marijuana intended for medical use -- except , one hopes, for home-growing by eligible patients. Certainly that is where the city stands now, a day or two after the 09 August 2010 CITCOM meeting, where 35 Public Comment Royal Oakers and out-of-towners made their pro and con pitches The city attorney has been directed to prepare language concerning options to present at the 16 August meeting.

►It immediately became obvious that most of those opposed to a proposed commercial growing-facility are unable or unwilling to grant any special consideration for medical marijuana. Pot is pot in their minds. That does not detract from the substance of their concern: Marijuana is a gateway drug. . . . Its use, especially by young people, often results in anti-social, even criminal, behavior. . . .Used by adults, marijuana dulls the mind for everything from driving to data entry. . . . The invited opening speaker cited his California experiences to paint a picture of out-of-control pot dispensaries and of street gangs. He cited sources who or which contend that no medical benefits have been proved from the use of marijuana.

►Proponents of medical marijuana included patients, caregivers, and a couple of individuals who are both patients and caregivers. One woman calmly announced that she is in chronic pain and "I'm dying." . . . They consider themselves living proof of the medical benefits. . . . A major concern of the patients is that misinterpretation of Michigan's law permitting medical marijuana will result in attempts to prohibit patients from growing their own supply at home.

Many speakers and a couple of commissioners said they voted for the Michigan law, which they considered a compassionate compromise that  would be implemented along the traditional doctor-prescription-pharmacy path. They are uncomfortable with creating a non-medical marijuana industry outside that path.

►Tangentially, there are those who see economic benefits to Royal Oak in permitting growers and dispensaries. There will be employment and more income for the city. . . . Not so, reply those who say property taxes are paid even on unoccupied property, so there's no gain for the city. . . . Actually, it was the petitioner's unsuccessful attempt to prove hardship which caused the unanimous vote to deny his request. A second petitioner will be offered a hearing at the September 20 CITCOM meeting. The decision to grant the hearing came on 4-3 vote (Andrzejak, Semchena, Drinkwine voting No), after City Attorney Dave Gillam stressed the "due process" requirement in the moratorium.

The preceding paragraphs summarize what 35 speakers had to say, beginning with a petitioner's request to be exempted from the city's Medical Marijuana Moratorium, to establish a marijuana-growing facility in which several caregivers could grow enough plants to serve the legally allowed number of card-carrying patients.

From the commissioners, the opposing positions were well presented (but, unfortunately somewhat personalized) by Chuck Semchena and Jim Rasor. Their polar positions became evident at the very beginning of the CITCOM meeting, with the unattributed inclusion on the agenda of a federal Drug Enforcement Agency representative who was granted, with no time limit, the opportunity to present a talk titled "Rising crime rates and Michigan's new Marijuana Law." It developed that Chuck had arranged the presentation. Chuck explained that the DEA agent had spoken recently at some conference on the topic. Rasor asked permission to introduce another speaker who had also made a presentation at the conference. His request was denied, and his speaker was granted an extra minute or two after his time-limited talk during Public Comment.

Semchena's basic point is that, the actions of 14 states to the contrary, medical marijuana is illegal under federal law. He opts for what he calls the "Livonia Option," and he stresses that Royal Oak must act before its  moratorium expires at the end of October. Rasor maintains that the Livonia Option seems to prohibit home-growing for medical purposes. He suggests that if Royal Oak nullifies what is permitted by state law, "We are going to be sued." Rasor is seen as pro medical marijuana and has maintained that permitting and regulating legal businesses would benefit the city economically. He smiled when one Public Comment speaker teased that Jim seems to have his own "stimulus plan" to help the city's finances. In a more serious mode, Rasor snapped at someone who attempted to interrupt his comments: "You've been talking for three hours. It's our turn."

Somewhere in all this it was discussed whether the Planning Commission should schedule another marijuana-focused hearing. I don't recall that any decision was reached.

The vote to approve Semchena's request for ordinance language which forbids any land use that is "illegal pursuant to Federal, State, or Local law" was 6-1, Rasor voting No.

Oakland County's legal department has made available to cities a 63-page report based on its research about all this. The report lists three options for each city: (1) Adopt a moratorium. (2) Regulate medical marijuana through zoning ordinances and permits. (3) Attempt to ban medical marijuana to the extent possible. (Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills have banned anything that violates federal law. L. Brook Patterson favors a ban.

August 2010
Mexico looks at legalizing drugs
The question of whether legalizing drugs would help reduce the killings in Mexico has made front page news this week and is causing unprecedented debate around the world. Last week, former Mexican President Vicente Fox called on his country "to legalize the production, distribution and sale of drugs" as the best way to weaken the drug cartels.

Acknowledging that "radical prohibition strategies have never worked," Fox's recommendation echoes another former president of Mexico, Ernesto Zedillo, as well as past presidents of Colombia and Brazil, who last year issued a ringing condemnation of the failed war on drugs, in favor of alternatives that include the removal of legal penalties for marijuana possession.

This latest endorsement of legalization also comes on the heels of current Mexican President Felipe Calderon's own announcement that, while he opposes legalization, he nevertheless supports an open debate about ending prohibition -- the root cause of the violence in Mexico that has now claimed over 28,000 lives.

Sadly, however, legalization is not even part of the policy dialogue in D.C. In fact, the U.S. drug czar has repeatedly said it's not even part of his or President Obama's "vocabulary."

Yet despite Washington's reticence to engage the topic, the debate about legalization is taking place in many communities throughout the U.S. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, like Calderon, has called for a debate about marijuana legalization, a proposal that Californians will vote on in November. In 2009, the City Council of El Paso, Texas -- directly across the border from Ciudad Juarez, the world's deadliest city and ground zero in Mexico's drug war -- passed a resolution "supporting an honest, open national debate on ending the prohibition on narcotics." -- Huffington Post

Aug 2010
Drug Developments
►"Congress narrows gap in cocaine sentences" is the headline on a report about a change in a 25-year-old law that permits longer sentences for using crack cocaine (mostly Blacks) than for using the powder form of the drug (mostly Whites). The new legislation is on its way to the President for his signature. [See Legalize Drugs]

►Pontiac's Silverdome may be the venue for a medical marijuana convention, sponsored by a California company, Medical Marijuana, Inc. The event, the "1st International Convention & Halloween Harmony and Harvest Fest," is scheduled for October 29-31. City and county officials are uneasy that Pontiac might become branded as the marijuana capital, and there is concern about the behavior of the crowd which gathers in the Silverdome. Police express a willingness to insert undercover agents to watch for the illegal possession or selling of drugs or of drug paraphernalia. [See Legalize Drugs]

VA to allow medical marijuana
DENVER — The Department of Veterans Affairs will formally allow patients treated at its hospitals and clinics to use medical marijuana in states where it is legal, a policy clarification that veterans have sought for several years. A department directive, expected to take effect next week, resolves the conflict in veterans facilities between federal law, which outlaws marijuana, and the 14 states that allow medicinal use of the drug, effectively deferring to the states.

The policy will not permit department doctors to prescribe marijuana. But it will address the concern of many patients who use the drug that they could lose access to their prescription pain medication if caught.

Under department rules, veterans can be denied pain medications if they are found to be using illegal drugs. Until now, the department had no written exception for medical marijuana. This has led many patients to distrust their doctors, veterans say. With doctors and patients pressing the veterans department for formal guidance, agency officials began drafting a policy last fall.

“When states start legalizing marijuana we are put in a bit of a unique position because as a federal agency, we are beholden to federal law,” said Dr. Robert Jesse, the principal deputy under secretary for health in the veterans department. At the same time, Dr. Jesse said, “We didn’t want patients who were legally using marijuana to be administratively denied access to pain management programs.” -- New York Times: Jul 2010