Michigan Joins Local Effort To Close Medical Marijuana Dispensary

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette's campaign to strictly enforce his state's medical marijuana law is picking up momentum. A judge in Midland, Mich., has granted his request to join an effort by Midland County Prosecutor Michael Carpenter to close the Twinn Bridges Compassion Club marijuana dispensary in the city.

Carpenter filed an ex parte petition to have the dispensary declared a public nuisance and closed on the grounds that Midland County Circuit Court Judge Jonathan E. Lauderbach recently declared the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act unconstitutional, and because the act does not authorize dispensaries. 

"Michigan voters didn't count on pot shops springing up across from their schools and churches," said Schuette.  "That's why I'm joining Prosecutor Carpenter to support his efforts to close an illegal marijuana dispensary."

Effort to close dispensaries

Schuette said the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act does not authorize dispensaries and said he supports efforts by prosecutors to shut them down.  In March 2011, Schuette joined Isabella County Prosecutor Larry Burdick in People v. McQueen, another case involving efforts to close a Mt. Pleasant dispensary that is currently pending before the Michigan Court of Appeals. 

In McQueen, Schuette argued that the plain language of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act does not allow patient-to-patient transfers or for dispensary owners to possess amounts of medical marijuana above and beyond established limits for qualified patients and caregivers. 

Because dispensaries violate state law, Schuette argues they can be declared a public nuisance and closed to protect public health and safety.

Hopes to revise law

Since shortly after taking office, Schuette has targeted Michigan's medical marijuana law for major revision, calling it too vague and poorly written. He's backed the efforts of two Republican state lawmakers to re-write the statute in the next session of the legislature.

Schuette has even questioned the validity of the state's law, noting that it is pre-empted by federal law, which holds that any use on marijuana is illegal. The federal government, for example, does not officially recognize state laws legalizing medical marijuana, but has chosen so far not to make an issue of it.

Two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, from opposite ends of the political spectrum, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), have introduced legislation to remove the federal prohibition on possession of marijuana, leaving it up to the states to decide whether it should be legal or not.