cannabisnews.com: Detroit Pot Law Raises Questions Detroit Pot Law Raises Questions Posted by CN Staff on August 04, 2004 at 22:45:20 PT By Shawn D. Lewis, The Detroit News Source: Detroit News Thinking about getting some marijuana for your chronic pain, now that Detroit’s ordinance for medical marijuana passed? You have two options: grow a green thumb or find a reputable drug dealer. While it’s now legal to use marijuana for medical purposes in the city, it cannot be legally distributed. “You have to get it the usual way: either grow it yourself or find somebody who sells it,” said Tim Beck, who chairs the Detroit Coalition for Compassionate Care, which sponsored the Detroit Medical Marijuana Initiative. The measure passed Tuesday with 59 percent voter approval, but now that the dust has settled around the highly contested proposal, some are questioning how the law will work and whether it will send the wrong message. “I think that if Detroiters had known that they had to get the marijuana from a drug dealer, they would not have passed this,” said retired Detroit psychologist William H. Marshall. Under the new law, doctors cannot legally prescribe marijuana. What they can do is write a recommendation. The patient, however, can only use the drug in Detroit and it’s up to the patient to get it. As for the recommendation, it’s only useful as proof the marijuana is for medical use. But a person riding around the city with a bag of marijuana and a written recommendation still takes a chance of running afoul of the law. The ordinance does not affect state and federal law and people can still be arrested for possessing marijuana. If there is no legal challenge to the marijuana law, the ordinance amendment could take effect 30 days after the election results are certified. If there is a legal challenge, that date would be pushed back, said Michael Karowski, assistant corporation counsel for the city of Detroit. Sajdah Muhammad, 52, a Detroit resident who has nine children ages 8-30, worries about what the new law is saying to children. “This is very bad for our community,” Muhammad said. “It sends the wrong message to our kids that some illegal drugs are OK.” Across the Detroit River, Canada approved medical marijuana in 2001, and last year the national health service began growing and selling the plant to patients with prescriptions for it. Note: Drug can't be legally purchased despite passage of proposal.Detroit News Staff Writer Sheri Hall contributed to this report. Source: Detroit News (MI)Author: Shawn D. Lewis, The Detroit NewsPublished: Thursday, August 5, 2004Copyright: 2004 The Detroit News Contact: letters detnews.com Website: http://www.detnews.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:Detroit Coalition for CChttp://www.mmdetroit.org/Voters Approve Medical Use of Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19287.shtmlDetroit OKs Medical Use of Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19286.shtmlDetroit Voters Approve Allowing Med Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19279.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #1 posted by afterburner on August 05, 2004 at 06:41:51 PT Welcome to Canada, Detroit Due to court action on medical cannabis pre-dating the recent Detroit Proposal M victory, we now have legal medical cannabis in Canada. Like many of your states, the Canadian government, Health Canada, has been very stingy about granting medical cannabis exemptions. However, under NAFTA, medical cannabis is now a legal good, qualified for international trading. Yes, the US government thinks they have control of it through their power to regulate international trade. But do they really?Look at the continuing softwood lumber dispute and the WTO rulings in favor of Canada. Look at the Mad Cow dispute. Look at the dispute regarding bulk sales of water from the Great Lakes and the recent gathering of Great Lakes states and provinces to provide a unified strategy. International medical cannabis sales under NAFTA and WTO, that's for the courts to decide. Seize the opportunity. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment