Wet Marijuana Still Illegal Per MI COA

Earlier this month, the Court of Appeals, in a split choice, figured out that the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act does NOT protect caregivers or patients who are in possession of wet cannabis that is in the drying out procedure, from prosecution. The Courts ruling in the case of People v. Vanessa Mansour identified that since wet marijuana that remained in the drying out procedure was not usable cannabis, possession of wet cannabis was not protected by the MMMA.

The MMMA defines much 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, yet does not consist of the seeds, stalks, as well as roots of the plant. The Court found that due to the fact that the act chose to use the word "dried" before the remaining components, that meant that wet, undried marijuana was not a component of what the protections of the act were indicated to shield. As a result, anyone in the cannabis business of caregiving, that is growing under the MMMA for themselves or other registered qualifying patients, remains in offense of the legislation, if they have wet marijuana, regardless of the purpose for which you possess it. Even you remain in the process of drying the marijuana, if you are raided and the cannabis is wet, you could be in trouble.

The ruling is rather troublesome for a variety of reasons. Initially, any caregiver that is presently growing under the MMMA, will, at some point, have wet cannabis that is drying but not usable. Because of this, any caregiver must understand that if you remain in possession of wet, non-usable marijuana, and the cops arrive, you can be jailed as well as the Court of Appeals has actually established that you can be prosecuted and sentenced for possession with intent to deliver marijuana, which the immunity provisions of Section 4 and Section 8 of the MMMA will not protect you. Second, the issue creates concerns regarding the feasibility of the caregiving model, and additionally creates a problematic circumstance for caregivers applying under the Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act (MMFLA) for a growing or processing license.

Recognizing that you are caregiving, which the Courts are indicating that a part of your cultivation process causes you to commit, at minimum, a misdemeanor, creates prospective issues for the application review process. Even more, if having wet marijuana cause for criminal apprehension and also prosecution, just how does that impact growers and processors that are to be licensed under the MMFLA. Ostensibly, the two statutes are not interlinked and so, there shouldn't be any type of concerns. Nonetheless, the MMFLA utilizes the same "usable" marijuana definition as the MMMA. Particularly, subsection (ff) of M.C.L. § 333.27102 specifies usable marijuana 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.

For that reason, it wouldn't be a stretch to see the Courts prolong that MMMA meaning to the MMFLA. Such a ruling later on can put a significant crimp in the medical marijuana industry under the MMFLA, most likely as a result of a possible chilling result. The ruling clearly triggers problems for registered caregivers, and, possibly, for MMFLA farmers, ought to the Court expand this analysis to cover cannabis growing as well as processing under the MMFLA. Basically, since "wet" undried marijuana, according to the Court, does not fulfill the meaning of "usable" cannabis, if authorities were to come to the place as well as locate wet cannabis, you might be looking at prospective criminal liability. If you are a caregiver and also are intending to continue growing for your patients under the MMMA, and you have concerns concerning the potential liability you have under this brand-new ruling, don't wait to contact our office for a consultation.