By Alethia Kasben
Gongwer News Service
Michigan's regulation of recreational marijuana doesn't preclude individuals from being charged with the intent to deliver between 5 and 45 kilograms of cannabis, a Court of Appeals panel ruled Tuesday.
Judge James Redford wrote, and Judge Brock Swartzle and Judge Kathleen Feeney signed onto, the published opinion in Michigan v. Soto (COA Docket No. 370138), which allows a felony trial to proceed against an individual who was caught driving 85 pounds of marijuana into the state.
The defendant in the case argued the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act blocked the prosecution of possession with intent to deliver marijuana as a felony.
Although the MRTMA legalizes possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana, allows a person to store up to 10 ounces of the drug and provides that laws inconsistent with the act do not apply, it does not include possession with the intent to deliver in sections outlining misdemeanor violations, the court ruled.
"The broad mandate of this act makes marijuana legal under Michigan law for personal use and personal cultivation by individuals 21 years of age or older; however, as is evident from its lengthy stated purpose, this is not the only specified purpose of the act," the opinion says. "The act is also intended to prevent the diversion of marijuana into illicit markets. Possession with intent to deliver large quantities of marijuana for compensation and outside of state regulation implies an illicit dealing for profit or a contribution to the illicit market. Such conduct subverts the express purpose of the act.
The judges ruled the plain language of the law along with its stated purpose means the possession with intent to deliver should be subject to criminal prosecution under the Public Health Code.
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