Wet Marijuana Still Unlawful Per MI COA

Earlier this month, the Court of Appeals, in a split choice, identified that the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act does NOT protect caregivers or patients that remain in possession of wet marijuana that is in the drying procedure, from prosecution. The Courts judgment in the case of People v. Vanessa Mansour identified that because wet marijuana that was in the drying process was not usable marijuana, possession of wet cannabis was not protected by the MMMA.

The MMMA defines most of the terms of the act. The term usable marijuana is specifically defined in the MMMA. The act defines usable marijuana to imply the following: "Usable marihuana" means the dried leaves, flowers, plant resin, or extract of the marihuana plant, yet does not include the seeds, stalks, as well as roots of the plant. The Court found that since the act chose to use the word "dried" before the remaining components, that implied that wet, undried cannabis was not a part of what the protections of the act were implied to shield. For that reason, anybody in the cannabis business of caregiving, who is growing under the MMMA for themselves or various other registered qualifying individuals, remains in infraction of the legislation, if they have wet cannabis, no matter the objective for which you have it. Even you remain in the procedure of drying out the cannabis, if you are raided and the cannabis is wet, you might be in trouble.

The ruling is quite problematic for a number of factors. First, any caregiver that is currently growing under the MMMA, will, eventually, have wet cannabis that is drying out but not usable. Consequently, any caregiver should recognize that if you are in possession of wet, non-usable marijuana, and the authorities show up, you can be detained and the Court of Appeals has determined that you can be prosecuted as well as punished for possession with intent to deliver cannabis, and that the immunity provisions of Section 4 and also Section 8 of the MMMA will certainly not protect you. Second, the issue develops inquiries about the stability of the caregiving model, and additionally produces a bothersome scenario for caregivers applying under the Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act (MMFLA) for a growing or processing license.

Recognizing that you are caregiving, which the Courts are suggesting that a part of your cultivation process causes you to commit, at minimum, a misdemeanor, produces potential troubles for the application review process. Additionally, if having wet cannabis cause for criminal arrest and also prosecution, how does that effect farmers as well as processors that are to be licensed under the MMFLA. Seemingly, the two statutes are not interlinked and so, there shouldn't be any kind of issues. However, the MMFLA uses the very same "usable" marijuana definition as the MMMA. Specifically, subsection (ff) of M.C.L. § 333.27102 specifies usable cannabis 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.

As a result, it wouldn't be a stretch to see the Courts expand that MMMA interpretation to the MMFLA. Such a ruling in the future can put a major kink in the medical cannabis industry under the MMFLA, likely as an outcome of a feasible chilling impact. The ruling clearly creates problems for registered caregivers, and, potentially, for MMFLA cultivators, must the Court increase this analysis to cover cannabis growing and processing under the MMFLA. Essentially, due to the fact that "wet" undried cannabis, according to the Court, does not fulfill the meaning of "usable" marijuana, if authorities were to come to the location and also discover wet marijuana, you could be looking at possible criminal liability. If you are a caregiver as well as are intending to continue growing for your patients under the MMMA, as well as you have concerns regarding the possible obligation you have under this brand-new judgment, don't be reluctant to call our office for a consultation.