Wet Cannabis Still Unlawful Per MI COA

Previously this month, the Court of Appeals, in a split decision, established that the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act does NOT protect caregivers or patients that are in possession of wet cannabis that remains in the drying out procedure, from prosecution. The Judiciaries ruling in the case of People v. Vanessa Mansour figured out that because wet marijuana that remained in the drying out process was not usable cannabis, possession of wet marijuana was not protected by the MMMA.

The MMMA specifies a lot of the terms of the act. The term usable marijuana is specifically defined in the MMMA. The act defines usable marijuana to suggest the following: "Usable marihuana" means the dried leaves, flowers, plant resin, or extract of the marihuana plant, but does not consist of the seeds, stalks, and also roots of the plant. The Court found that due to the fact that the act chose to use the word "dried" before the remaining components, that indicated that wet, undried marijuana was not a component of what the protections of the act were meant to shield. For that reason, anyone in the cannabis business of caregiving, who is growing under the MMMA for themselves or other registered qualifying individuals, remains in offense of the law, if they possess wet marijuana, regardless of the objective for which you possess it. Even you are in the procedure of drying the marijuana, if you are raided and the cannabis is wet, you could be in trouble.

The ruling is rather troublesome for a variety of factors. First, any caregiver that is currently growing under the MMMA, will, at some point, have wet marijuana that is drying out however not usable. Therefore, any caregiver needs to understand that if you remain in possession of wet, non-usable cannabis, and the cops arrive, you can be arrested as well as the Court of Appeals has established that you can be prosecuted and also punished for possession with intent to deliver marijuana, and that the immunity provisions of Section 4 as well as Section 8 of the MMMA will not protect you. Second, the issue produces inquiries concerning the feasibility of the caregiving model, as well as likewise develops a problematic situation 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 showing that a component of your growing process causes you to commit, at minimum, a misdemeanor, produces possible issues for the application review procedure. Further, if having wet cannabis cause for criminal apprehension and prosecution, exactly how does that effect farmers and also processors that are to be licensed under the MMFLA. Ostensibly, both statutes are not interlinked therefore, there shouldn't be any type of concerns. Nevertheless, the mmfla utilizes the same "usable" marijuana definition as the MMMA. Especially, subsection (ff) of M.C.L. § 333.27102 specifies usable marijuana 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.

Consequently, it wouldn't be a stretch to see the Courts prolong that MMMA interpretation to the MMFLA. Such a ruling later on could place a major kink in the medical marijuana industry under the MMFLA, likely as an outcome of a possible chilling impact. The judgment clearly causes issues for registered caregivers, and, potentially, for MMFLA cultivators, must the Court increase this analysis to cover marijuana growing and also processing under the MMFLA. Essentially, due to the fact that "wet" undried marijuana, according to the Court, does not meet the meaning of "usable" marijuana, if authorities were to come to the area as well as find wet cannabis, you might be looking at prospective criminal liability. If you are a caregiver as well as are intending to continue growing for your patients under the MMMA, and also you have questions regarding the prospective liability you have under this brand-new judgment, do not hesitate to contact our office for a consultation.