Justice CAVANAGH, dissenting, disagreed with the majority’s interpretation of the MMMA and would have held that when a qualified patient transfers marijuana to another qualified patient, both individuals have the right to assert immunity under § 4 of the act. The presumption that a qualifying patient or primary caregiver is engaged in the medical use of marijuana may be rebutted with evidence that the conduct related to marijuana was not for the purpose of alleviating the qualifying patient’s medical condition. The majority reasoned that the reference to “the” qualified patient requires the conclusion that only the recipient of marijuana is entitled to § 4 immunity for a patient-to-patient transfer of marijuana. The majority’s interpretation was inconsistent with the rules of statutory interpretation and with the purpose of the MMMA. The reference in § 4(d)(2) of the act to “the” qualifying patient simply requires that one of the two qualified patients involved in the transfer of marijuana have a debilitating medical condition that the transfer of marijuana is intended to alleviate. The majority’s erroneous interpretation of § 4(d) further led it to an incorrect conclusion that any facilitation of a patientto-patient transfer of marijuana was enjoinable as a public nuisance.
Justice MCCORMACK took no part in the decision of this case.
