Planned Caregiver Rally A Success Under the Sun
The planned rally was vigorously promoted by local marijuana celebrities and podcasters on social media months prior, and also received mention in local news outlets. Speakers included a host of career activists, politicians, patients, business owners, lawyers, social media personalities, and minorml board members, most of whom were caregivers, patients, or both.
News outlets reported the pre-meditated rally as being in response to HB 5301 which was introduced September 14th, the day before the event.
Protest signs included a mixed bag of sentiments, mostly focused on corporate greed and patient access. A banner displaying the logos of caregiver operated and caregiver friendly businesses waved, and free food and drinks were distributed to the crowd.
Despite obvious consumption there was minimal uniformed police presence.
Rick Thompson: The New Norml? Or Spin Doctor of the Progressive Branch of the Cannabis Industry?
Michigan- In a recent MLive article on the prospect of federal legalization, Rick Thompson, the new executive director of the Michigan Chapter of Norml (Nation Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) aligned his messaging with the MCIA (Michigan Cannabis Industry Association), and is confused by Thompson’s doublespeak. Here he seems concerned with his marijuana business buddies.
-If significant new federal taxes are imposed, “the black market will have a party like you have never seen before,” Thompson said. “It was nearly impossible to eliminate illegal cannabis sales when there was no tax; it is impossible to eliminate unlicensed sales with a 10% tax rate; and if the tax climbs to 35% or higher, the regulated market will shrink rapidly as people return to their unlicensed cannabis sources forever.”- MLive September, 24th.
That same week in a Lansing City Pulse article the connection of Thompson and the MCIA is even clearer:
The state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs is not promoting any changes. The Michigan Cannabis Industry Association (and its 300 members) also vowed in June to oppose the legislation before it was introduced. MCIA Director Robin Schneider said brands affiliated with the MCMA are “idiots” — namely for “spending a bunch of money and trying to ruin other people’s lives and your brands simultaneously,” she said on an episode of Jazz Cabbage Cafe.
Activists have argued that there is very little (if any) evidence to suggest that untested caregiver-grown pot creates any sort of public health risk. Rick Thompson, executive director of NORML of Michigan, said the bills were instead motivated by greedy corporate cannabis brands who would rather not have the competition from caregivers. -Lansing City Pulse September, 22nd
Flexing his muscle with the mainstream media, which is spun by Rick Thompson and his benefactor’s, the MCIA and the Democrats in Michigan, his lust for attention is obvious. Demonstrated in an interview with Grow-In, a new online blog, Rick Thompson, and longtime friend and member of the MCIA, Jamie Lowell carefully explained their position by attempting to define what a MMMP caregiver is.
What Thompson and friends consider grey and black-market cannabis distribution is a caregiver that is selling outside of the law; basically, illegal and disavowed if you get caught. The law that is being referred to is a case law (People vs McQueen) that law enforcement in Michigan uses to go after medical marijuana patients and caregivers that transfer marijuana to someone other than who they do not have a caregiver card for. On one hand they speak against changing the caregiver laws to reduce how much a caregiver can grow, but at the same time say that if a caregiver grows too much and distribute it then law enforcement can go in and bust them. This pandering to the cannabis cottage industry that Rick Thompson and Jamie Lowell used to supply the dispensaries they got their start at (Big Daddy’s and Third Coast, respectively) to position themselves to where they are now, comes off as disingenuous to the grand majority of cardholders and cannabis business owners that failed to show up at the Capitol Building in Lansing. This ill-fated event, that only a handful of very confused stoners showed up to, not a good look to the grassroot cannabis voters that the current administration hopes will help reelect them in 2022. Governor Whitmer and Attorney General Danna Nessel were heavily supported in 2018 by the cannabis community and the cottage industry that pioneered the way. These connections to the current administration and the Democratic party are key to the political power of the MCIA.If this is Thompson’s version of marijuana law reform, we are taking a huge step backwards in legalization.
