Earlier this month, the Court of Appeals, in a split decision, figured out that the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act does NOT protect caregivers or patients that remain in possession of wet marijuana that remains in the drying out procedure, from prosecution. The Courts ruling in the case of People v. Vanessa Mansour determined that since wet marijuana that was in the drying process was not usable cannabis, possession of wet cannabis was not protected by the MMMA.
The MMMA specifies a number of the terms of the act. The term usable marijuana is specifically defined in the MMMA. The act defines usable marijuana to indicate the following: "Usable marihuana" means the dried leaves, flowers, plant resin, or extract of the marihuana plant, however does not consist of the seeds, stalks, as well as roots of the plant. The Court found that since the act chose to use the word "dried" before the remaining components, that suggested that wet, undried cannabis was not a component of what the protections of the act were indicated to shield. Therefore, anybody in the marijuana business of caregiving, who is growing under the MMMA for themselves or other registered qualifying individuals, remains in infraction of the legislation, if they have wet marijuana, no matter the function for which you have it. Even you remain in the process of drying out the cannabis, if you are raided and the marijuana is wet, you can be in trouble.
The ruling is fairly bothersome for a number of factors. Initially, any caregiver that is currently growing under the MMMA, will, at some point, have wet cannabis that is drying however not usable. Therefore, any caregiver should recognize that if you are in possession of wet, non-usable cannabis, and the cops show up, you can be apprehended as well as the Court of Appeals has identified that you can be prosecuted and also punished for possession with intent to deliver cannabis, which the immunity provisions of Section 4 and also Section 8 of the MMMA will certainly not protect you. Second, the issue develops concerns regarding the practicality of the caregiving model, and also produces a bothersome circumstance for caregivers applying under the Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act (MMFLA) for a growing or processing license.
Knowing that you are caregiving, which the Courts are suggesting that a component of your growing process triggers you to commit, at minimum, a misdemeanor, produces prospective problems for the application review procedure. Additionally, if having wet cannabis cause for criminal arrest as well as prosecution, exactly how does that effect farmers as well as processors that are to be licensed under the MMFLA. Seemingly, both laws are not interlinked and so, there shouldn't be any type of issues. However, the MMFLA uses the same "usable" marijuana definition as the MMMA. Particularly, subsection (ff) of M.C.L. § 333.27102 specifies usable cannabis as follows: (ff) "Usable marihuana" means the dried leaves, flowers, plant resin, or extract of the marihuana plant, but does not include the seeds, stalks, and roots of the plant.
As a result, it wouldn't be a stretch to see the Judiciaries expand that MMMA definition to the MMFLA. Such a ruling in the future could put a significant kink in the medical cannabis industry under the MMFLA, most likely as a result of a feasible chilling impact. The ruling clearly causes problems for registered caregivers, as well as, possibly, for MMFLA cultivators, needs to the Court expand this analysis to cover cannabis growing as well as processing under the MMFLA. Basically, due to the fact that "wet" undried marijuana, according to the Court, does not meet the interpretation of "usable" marijuana, if authorities were to come to the area as well as discover wet cannabis, you could be looking at possible criminal liability. If you are a caregiver as well as are intending to continue growing for your patients under the MMMA, and also you have questions regarding the possible liability you have under this new judgment, do not wait to call our office for a consultation.
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