Articles Posted in Medical Marijuana

The Court of Appeals has ruled that Courts have the power to restrict the use of medical marijuana for persons on probation following a criminal conviction. Courts have been divided on whether a person on probation may use medical marijuana. Some Courts have respected the medical aspect of marijuana while others have continued to believe…

The Michigan Court of Appeals has determined the Illegal Transportation of Marijuana law is invalid. This decision has been long overdue and is welcome in the medical marijuana community. District Courts all around Michigan have already ruled the Illegal Transportation Law to be unconstitutional, although some continued to affirm the law. The Illegal Transportation Law…

A bill that would have allowed for Michigan communities to decide whether they wanted medical marijuana dispensaries was defeated today in the Michigan Senate. The dispensaries allowed under the bill would have been subject to certain restrictions, such as ensuring the quality of the marijuana. Individual communities could have added further regulations at their discretion.…

In a case from Munising in the Upper Peninsula, Paul Heminger was convicted of growing about two dozen marijuana plants. On appeal from his conviction, Heminger argued that the prosecuting attorney on the case made improper statements that influenced the jury. In the closing arguments of the trial, the prosecutor went on a rant against…

The Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that employees fired for using medical marijuana cannot be denied unemployment compensation benefits. This Court of Appeal’s case is actually a combination of three lower court cases, including Kemp v. Hayes Green Beach Hospital, which appeared in an earlier Blog article on this website. In each of the three…

The Flint city council has voted to allow medical marijuana dispensaries. For the past several years, the city has had a moratorium on the opening of new dispensaries, which the law refers to as provisioning centers. Dispensaries in Flint will be subject to zoning laws and high licensing fees. The Flint City Clerk has said…

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder has been added to the list of medical conditions for which medical marijuana can be used under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act. This is the first condition to be added to the law since it was approved in 2008. PTSD is an anxiety disorder that results from a traumatic event, such as…

In the first court challenge to a city’s ability to enforce zoning laws concerning medical marijuana activity, the Washtenaw County Circuit Court held that the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act does not preempt city zoning ordinances. Previous challenges to city zoning laws regarding the MMMA, such as in Ter Beek v. City of Wyoming, were based…

House Bill 4271, to be introduced into the Judiciary Committee, seeks to legitimize and regulate medical marijuana dispensaries. The bill follows the Michigan Supreme Court ruling in People v. McQueen, which essentially made the operation of a commercial dispensary impossible under the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. The bill envisions legal dispensaries, which it refers to…

In Ter Beek v. City of Wyoming, the Michigan Court of Appeals voided a city ordinance that would prohibit activity that is permitted under the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. In November 2010, Wyoming, Michigan, a town of about 70,000 people in suburban Grand Rapids, enacted a zoning ordinance that prohibited any land use that would…