Michigan Marijuana Issues Today

The State of Michigan has legalized medical marijuana however at every turn it seems the powerful government is ignoring the will of the people. Never seen before in Michigan, over the last week it has been reported by many citizens that police agencies did Narcotics Road Blocks around the Flint, MI area. Blocking off the highway, using enormous resources including numerous offices and K-9 units they stopped traffic checking the cars by having the dogs walk through the traffic. Local officals say it was a local effort not a combination of forces and they deny signs present saying “do not exit”; while the facts are unclear one thing is for sure patients have lots of questions and little support from those who should be representing them.

To many this may sound like a good thing, law enforcement trying to stop drug trafficing; and it would be if they were looking for hard drugs but it is clear they are making a statement and attempting to intimidate patients. Recently, the Federal Government sent out a letter saying patients are not allowed to purchase or own guns and any dealer who sells a gun to a known patient could face charges. The many different angles they are using to harass and intimidate patients is costing tax payers money.

Tax payers can’t afford frivolous spending. They don’t want money to spent harassing patients. Many medical marijuana laws such as the one in Michigan had a goal of lessening the cost of prosecuting patients, keeping the courts free from frivolous cases, but the opposite is happening. Many of the important individuals in the Michigan Medical Marijuana community have been robbed, kidnapped, and had funds extorted from them by the agencies which we count on to protect citizens.

The legalized robbery of patients’ homes is happening all the time. Doors are being kicked down, patients arrested, their property stolen, and evidence to clear their name destroyed. Then, the agencies which seize property of patients and caregivers use the funds from re-selling the property to turn around and to the same thing to another patient or caregiver.

The will of the voters was clear, yet opponents want to cloud the issue with strict regulations rather than positive structuralize the industry. Michigan’s Attorney General has the duty to protect the citizens and keep these cases out of the court yet instead he continues to push for arrests, court cases, and he is setting precedent by writing opinions having the filed with courts and harassing judges so they too follow his doctrine.

The President himself said he did not want to waste funds on pursuing patient arrests yet he too is backsliding using the excuse “we have more important things to focus on” which is the standard answer of most anti-medical marijuana politicians. Clearly, it is important to the people that Marijuana Prohibition ends and it seems to be the right thing for our nation looking at our history.

What is to become of the patients who now have criminal records like Barb Argo; she lost her husband to a heart attack after the force came rampaging through her family’s homes. Others are facing major jail or prison time; some have lost everything they own fighting and paying legal fees, while most of us wonder when they will be coming for me.

Will they break down my doors and drag me into the streets two days after I get back from the hospital and can’t even move? Will it lead to my death because their force causes my surgical incision to open? Will the take my kids? Will they take my family? What is to become of me if I use medical marijuana and what is to become of me if I don’t?  Is the cost of jail worth the lifesaving effects of marijuana? For many, the fact is, the relief they find in marijuana is truly worth the risk which is why prohibition has failed. It is time our Federal government and the FDA acknowledge the science which supports medical marijuana.