Wet Marijuana Still Prohibited Per MI COA

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

The MMMA specifies most of the terms of the act. The term usable marijuana is specifically defined in the MMMA. The act defines usable marijuana to suggest the following: "Usable marihuana" means the dried leaves, flowers, plant resin, or extract of the marihuana plant, however does not include the seeds, stalks, and roots of the plant. The Court found that since the act chose to use the word "dried" before the remaining components, that meant that wet, undried marijuana was not a part of what the protections of the act were meant to shield. As a result, anybody in the cannabis business of caregiving, that is growing under the MMMA for themselves or other registered qualifying patients, is in infraction of the regulation, if they possess wet cannabis, regardless of the objective for which you have it. Even you are 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 quite bothersome for a number of reasons. First, any caregiver that is presently growing under the MMMA, will, eventually, have wet cannabis that is drying however not usable. Because of this, any caregiver has to recognize that if you are in possession of wet, non-usable cannabis, and the police arrive, you can be jailed and the Court of Appeals has figured out that you can be prosecuted and sentenced for possession with intent to deliver marijuana, and that the immunity provisions of Section 4 as well as Section 8 of the MMMA will certainly not protect you. Second, the issue develops questions regarding the practicality of the caregiving model, and also produces a troublesome circumstance for caregivers applying under the Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act (MMFLA) for a growing or processing license.

Understanding that you are caregiving, and that the Courts are indicating that a component of your farming procedure causes you to commit, at minimum, a misdemeanor, develops prospective problems for the application review process. Better, if having wet cannabis cause for criminal arrest and also prosecution, just how does that effect farmers and processors who are to be licensed under the MMFLA. Ostensibly, the two laws are not interlinked and so, there shouldn't be any kind of concerns. However, the MMFLA uses the exact same "usable" marijuana definition as the MMMA. Specifically, 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.

Consequently, it would not be a stretch to see the Judiciaries prolong that MMMA definition to the MMFLA. Such a ruling later on might place a major kink in the medical marijuana industry under the MMFLA, most likely as an outcome of a possible chilling impact. The ruling plainly causes problems for registered caregivers, and also, possibly, for MMFLA growers, should the Court expand this reading to cover marijuana growing and also processing under the MMFLA. Basically, because "wet" undried cannabis, according to the Court, does not fulfill the definition of "usable" marijuana, if authorities were to come to the area and also locate wet marijuana, you may be looking at potential criminal liability. If you are a caregiver and are preparing to continue growing for your patients under the MMMA, and you have questions concerning the possible liability you have under this brand-new judgment, do not wait to call our office for a consultation.

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