LANSING – Proposed rules to regulate the state’s new medical marijuana law run counter to that law and are too onerous to be able to help individuals who need medicinal marijuana, witnesses told regulatory officials with the Department of Community Health at a public hearing on Monday.

Dozens of witnesses blasted proposals calling for marijuana and marijuana plants to be kept under lock and key, or for caregivers to keep inventories of marijuana, or saying the state could contact the Social Security administration to verify if an applicant eligible for reduced fees under Medicaid or Social Security Income.

One witness said some two-dozen sections of the proposed rules (ORR #2008-051) need to be changed in order to meet the requirements set out in Proposal 2008-1. The proposal was approved by the voters in November and allows for the use of medical marijuana by patients with “debilitating medical conditions” including cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, Hepatitis C and Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Several witnesses angrily accused the state of trying to do an end run on the initiated act by implementing rules that would supersede the provisions of the new law. One other said if the rules were implemented, they would be taken to court and overturned.

Just one person testifying expressed any support for any part of the proposed rules, urging that a provision calling for marijuana be kept locked be maintained in order to prevent young people from getting access to the drug, and her comments drew hisses from some in the audience.

Even a spokesperson for the Department of State Police urged changes to the rules, particularly one that would require any unused marijuana to be turned over to police agencies. Greg Zarotney told DCH officials that neither the State Police nor any police agency wants to have deal with marijuana plants, so the rules should allow patients or their caregivers to give away unused marijuana or to burn it.

Desmond Mitchell, a policy analyst for DCH, chaired the hearing and towards its end told the crowd that the state was not “pulling a fast one or has a secret agenda” with the proposed regulations. “We are regulators,” he said. “We look at things a little differently.” The hearing was an opportunity for the state to get input and perspective on the rules so it could incorporate changes.

Mitchell said the state hoped to have the rules in place by April, but one witness, Gersh Avery of Dexter, said the law had been in place since December 4 and citizens could legally avail themselves of medicinal marijuana. He also argued the only legal thing the state could regulate under the proposed rules was the identity system specified in the initiated act.

The proposed rules call for individuals eligible for medical marijuana to pay a $100 fee (although that could be reduced to $25 for persons eligible for Medicaid or Social Security payments). To be eligible for medical marijuana, a person would have to apply and include information about themselves and their primary caregiver. That information would have to include the caregiver’s criminal history.

The rules also require the state to verify the information, which could include requiring a face to face meeting with the applicant, and contacting Social Security.

The rules also require that marijuana be kept locked and that an inventory be kept of marijuana plants held for a patient’s use.

But Dennis Hayes, a lawyer for the Michigan Medical Marijuana Patients Association, said he would urge none of his clients to comply with the rules because they could violate their federal constitutional rights against self-incrimination.

Karen O’Keefe, another attorney out of Maryland, said none of the other states that allow for medical marijuana require individuals to keep an inventory of their stash.

A number of people worried that having the state check whether a person was receiving Social Security benefits could mean that person would lose benefits, since federal law prohibits using marijuana.

Since individuals are not required to keep clearly dangerous prescription drugs such as Oxycontin locked up, it made no sense to require that marijuana be kept locked.

Witnesses also worried that the proposed rule on using medical marijuana in a public place was written in such a way that an individual’s home would be considered a public space.

But Melissa DiPirro with CARE, a substance abuse group in Macomb County, said that because marijuana was still considered by some a gateway drug to other drugs, it was important to keep young people from having access to the substance. Since the law passed, many people presume that means marijuana is now legal in the state, she said.

Some people hissed at DiPirro, which drew a rebuke from Mitchell who said that everyone’s testimony should be respected.

Zarotney also said the rules should allow law enforcement officers the ability to check 24 hours a day if someone has a legitimate identity card to have access to medical marijuana.

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com

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