Marijuana dispensary owners appeal major ruling

MOUNT PLEASANT (AP) -- A medical-marijuana dispensary in Michigan that was shut down weeks ago by court order is asking the state Supreme Court to step in and decide whether the drug can be sold patient-to-patient at private shops. Lawyers for Compassionate Apothecary in Mount Pleasant filed an appeal last week, claiming that "blatant judicial activism" by the Michigan appeals court has cut off a major source of marijuana for registered users and their caregivers statewide. "Adding a price to the transfer of medical marijuana does not convert a legal activity into an illegal one," attorneys Mary Chartier and Matt Newburg wrote. Michigan voters approved medical marijuana in 2008, but the law is vague and does not explain how people can get their marijuana. Registered users or their caregivers can grow their own, but hundreds of dispensaries have also popped up to serve people who don't have the skills or patience. At those private shops or clubs, users sell marijuana to other users with the business typically getting a percentage of each sale. In August, a three-judge panel at the state appeals court stopped the practice, saying there was no mention of dispensaries in the law. Since then, many shops have voluntarily closed, though enforcement depends on the attitude of local authorities. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, a medical-marijuana critic, has urged county prosecutors to crack down. Compassionate Apothecary's attorneys argued that the ruling is hurting patients. "If the medicine at issue was an anti-nausea pharmaceutical, no one would expect a cancer patient to suffer," Chartier and Newburg said. "But because the medicine at issue is medical marijuana, those who rely on it are deemed to be somehow less worthy of the legal protections enacted by our citizens." The Supreme Court could decide to hear the case or simply reject it. The court has accepted appeals involving other parts of the voter-approved law. Approximately 100,000 people in Michigan have medical-marijuana cards. Published: Tue, Oct 11, 2011