I have been reading through the new legislation being produced on capital hill. Although not everything affects medical marijuana, we know the lawmakers are not friendly to our cause.
Here's a link to the Michigan legislature website.
Choose the 2011-2012 session and the controlled substance category. You will see a list of all the current legislation affecting anything from schedule 1 drugs (which marijuana is still classified as) to prescription and research chemicals.
They are working to craft legislation that when enacted will make it much harder for Michigan patients to maintain their status. Two bills that specifically make it more difficult are (presented in PDF format):
House Bill 4850
House Bill 4851
These are bills that have been introduced but not fully passed into law yet, but there are more being crafted everyday. Another bill I saw deals with transportation. In Michigan you must transport "Medicine" in a locked container in the trunk of a vehicle which is not accessible from the interior of the vehicle. Failure to do so can result in a fine and imprisonment.
I used to think that by simply knowing the Medical Marijuana act I was pretty knowledgable about the subject matter. With new bills and legislation passing each day, it is clear that myself, patients, and caregivers need to be actively involved in the legislative process if we don't want to get shut out altogether. Please help by taking action; write all the congress people you can and tell them how difficult they are making it to find safe, reliable, and quality medicine.
