Michigan News - April 2018 - by Kathy Hess

Police, Pot & Traffic Stops

MICHIGAN- State Police made a traffic stop and then a drug arrest last month on Interstate 275 in Wayne County.  This is becoming more and more common as folks are not following laws in regards to how much someone can transport at one time. Troopers often stop vehicles for speeding on the freeway and then smell marijuana while collecting the driver's information.

In this particular incident last month on 275, searching the vehicle, the trooper found 3 pounds of marijuana, 4.7 ounces of shatter, 54 hash oil cartridges and 23 grams of marijuana wax.
Michigan State Police posted a photo stating the driver was indeed arrested. "Unfortunately, we see this quite a bit, mostly opioids, marijuana, and heroin," Shaw said adding the sentence varies by the prosecutor, court and previous convictions.
After the drugs are confiscated, as required, police incinerate it.

Green Goggles?

LANSING-The Michigan State Police (MSP) is in the market for marijuana impairment goggles -- 70 pairs.  According to the official invitation-to-bid document from the state procurement website, the goggles must "provide an experience of cognitive impairments associated with marijuana use."

Further, the goggles "will let users experience the simulated effects of distorted processing of visual information and alteration of visual perception, slower decision making and loss of short term memory."

The MSP's Office of Highway Safety Planning only has one pair of such goggles right now, which are used in "interactive ways with teens and adults" including in driving simulators, said MSP spokesperson Shanon Banner.

They're similar to alcohol goggles, which are also used for educational purposes to help motorists understand the effects of driving under the influence.

Unfortunately with just a single pair the marijuana goggles, they can't make it to many impairment seminar events because they're already in use at another event, Banner said. MSP is bidding for 70 more pairs of goggles, which will be shared among other law enforcement agencies in the state besides
the MSP.

Banner said the purchase would be made with federally restricted transportation funds specifically for impaired driving.  The invitation-to-bid document also stipulates the purchase must be for "plastic goggles with green lens" and a "durable elastic strap." 

“We can understand the request for durable elastic strap,” said one patient when asked about his feelings on MSP’s request, “but why are the lenses required to be green?  I’m not sure who wrote this request up, but clearly they have never sampled marijuana.  Cannabis users don’t view everything as “green” after taking meds.  In fact I’m not sure how well these goggles would work anyway, I remember the “alcohol goggles they had us try in high school to prevent drinking and driving and they were a joke.  It seems like another waste of money to me.”

Cease and Desists

LANSING- From  the northern cities like Traverse to southern ones like Detroit, Michigan State Police and agents of the state's medical marijuana regulatory agency have been acting to shut down non-compliant cannabis-based businesses. The action comes in the form of Cease and Desist letters directing targeted companies to halt operations or face lawsuit.

Forty medical marijuana businesses across Michigan got an unpleasant visit Thursday, March 15th, ordering them to stop operating.  And those visits are just the beginning. Hundreds more are expected to get cease and desist letters in the
coming days.

"Field personnel from the Bureau of Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Division Enforcement Section – accompanied by a Michigan State Police trooper – have begun physically serving cease and desist letters to marihuana businesses that are not in compliance with Emergency Rule 19," said David Harns, Public Information Officer, Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

The letters come after last month's expiration of a crucial deadline for existing industry compliance with the state's new Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act program.  Harns wouldn't say what businesses got the cease and desist letters or how the state had identified them, but we can safely assume most were probably dispensaries that have been operating outside of Michigan's medical marijuana laws.

The emergency rules "permits an applicant for a state operating license to temporarily operate a proposed marijuana facility under certain conditions," the cease and desist letter read. "In order to comply with this rule, a temporarily operating facility must have applied for a state operating license by February 15. ... A person that does not comply with this rule shall cease and desist operation of a proposed marijuana facility."                           
                         
Businesses who failed to obtain the letter, or who have not begun the applications process, are not in compliance with the state's regulations and are subject to closure under the authority of the MMFLA. According to eyewitness reports from those who experienced being served with the letter, the LARA agents involved cited a "list" of companies the state believes are operating in violation of the Emergency Rule 19 requirements.
Last month’s round of Cease and Desist letters is the beginning of the end for many Michigan businesses in the five industries regulated by the MMFLA program: cannabis cultivation, processing, transportation, testing and retail sale. Media reports have stated LARA anticipates issuing the first round of MMFLA licenses in April.

So far 378 applications have turned in applications to pre-qualify for a license, which means that the business owners are going through the state background check, but still need to get approval from a town that has passed an ordinance allowing medical marijuana businesses. Another 117 applications — including 43 growers, 20 processors, 49 dispensaries, 2 secure transporters and 3 testing facilities — have been turned in that include approval from a local community.

Child Abuse Charges Levied

BAY CITY- Three people are facing criminal drug and child abuse charges after allegedly smoking marijuana in a hotel room they shared with three small children.

On Feb. 16, Bay County Sheriff's deputies responded to the Econo Lodge in Frankenlust Township (located in Bay County) after someone reported the smell of  marijuana on the premises. The responding deputies smelled the distinctive odor in the first-floor hallway, which grew stronger until they identified the room it was originating from.

The deputies knocked on the room's door and were greeted by 25-year-old Amber L. Miller, who had rented the room. Deputies advised Miller of the smell, something she apologized for. She allowed deputies into the room, where they encountered Jeremy L. French, 28, and Ashley M. Briggs, 26. Miller allowed deputies to search her duffle bag. Inside it, deputies found two plastic bags containing pot, a small container with marijuana wax, a smoking pipe, and a vaping pen.

Also in the room were Miller's 6-year-old son and French's 7- and 2-year-old daughters, the elder of the two also being Briggs' daughter. On March 13 warrants were issued for the three adults related to the Feb. 16 matter. On March 19, all three appeared in Court for arraignment.  Briggs and Miller are each charged with single counts of fourth-degree child abuse and possession of marijuana or synthetic equivalents. French is charged with two counts of fourth-degree child abuse and one count of second-offense possession of marijuana or synthetic equivalents. Fourth-degree child abuse is punishable by up to one year in jail.

The Green Wave in Chesaning

SAGINAW- The County Board of Commissioners held a meeting Tuesday, March 20th where people opposed to the measure of more land allocated for the cannabis green land rush in Saginaw County were vastly outnumbered by its supporters, Chesaning’s hopefuls for a local budding marijuana industry.

The board approved annexation of 19 acres from the Chesaning Township to the village of Chesaning to further promote the business and economic development.  All commissioners except one (Dennis Krafft) voted for the annexation.

Zach Chludil, Chesaning resident and co-founder of Plant Life, said the land will be used to grow marijuana for medical reasons and then shipped to dispensaries across the state. The land, previously used by the Peet Packing Co., sits on the property line of the village and township.

"We have been trying to get annexed into the village so we can be a part of the medical marijuana ordinance," Chludil said. Plant Life LLC will run an organic medical marijuana growing operation that is projected to create 320 jobs over the next
five years.

June 2017, the Village Council opted into the state medical marijuana facilities act.

"The township is kind of archaic in their mindset and very non-progressive and they're completely against it," Chludil said. "It's just a moral issue with marijuana, so they're completely against it. They fought the annexation tooth and nail to prevent us from being able to use the Farmer Peet facility, which we own. They would rather see it stay vacant rather than have a
viable business."

"Today is a great day for the village of Chesaning the township of Chesaning, Saginaw County and the state of Michigan because everyone is going to win," Chludil said. "Everyone is going to get quite a jolt of economic stimulation out of this."

The next step for Plant Life is to submit an application to the village for a medical marijuana facility. The Village Council passed a 180-day moratorium on new applications for medical marijuana facilities that will go into effect on July 1, but the council will still accept applications until then.

As of February, the Village Council approved licenses for two provisioning centers or dispensaries and several grow/process facilities.

Cannibals of Freedom: Bigotry in Law Enforcement - by Daniel L. Price, Esq.

I previously wrote about law enforcement hiding evidence and committing fraud/perjury.  Now I will share information about two cases, one without a victim, the other with a victim.   

The first case: People v. John Moyer, case #’s 16-004913-FY, and 16-004972-FY, in Berrien County.  The Berrien County Sheriff Dept., (yes, the same dept., where deputies commit perjury when writing speeding tickets), had surveillance set up on Moyer, a medical marijuana caregiver.  After deputies observed a person go in and out of Moyer’s home, they followed him (Moyer’s friend who recently had back surgery), and pulled him over for failing to use his turn signal.  They found marijuana, and determined he did not possess a medical marijuana card.  The man confessed he bought it from Moyer.   Deputies then executed a raid on Moyer’s home, took his plants, marijuana and any cash.  Moyer was charged with several felonies, including manufacturing and distributing marijuana, as
well as resisting arrest.

The second case: People v. Lisa Blanchard, case # HU-17-075942-SM, in Ottawa County.  Blanchard had been having sex on and off for a couple of months with a man who repeatedly told her he did not want to see her, because she badgered and threatened him in to continuing to have sex with her, even while she was seeing other men.  Indeed, she was texting him in excess of 1,500 times per month.  Blanchard was on a date with another man that apparently went bad one Friday evening in September. She then drove while intoxicated to the first man’s home offering food and sex, after he had said no earlier that day. He asked Blanchard to leave, and said she was neither invited nor welcome.  Blanchard still illegally entered his home stating he could not keep her from doing so.  He talked her out of his home, locked the door and refused her re-entry.  Blanchard became enraged and attempted to pry windows off the hinges so she could get in to physically attack the man, as she had previously attempted to scar him so that, “no woman will want to date” him.  Ultimately Blanchard damaged the home and other property in excess of $2,000.00, which is chargeable as a felony, before she finally left.

The next day the man called the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Dept., to report the incident. The deputy who called back refused to come to the home and take a report because he was investigating a possible drunk driver who had left his/her vehicle.  Ultimately, the deputy wrote the man’s complaint as a disturbing the peace case.  The man then had to go to the sheriff’s dept., and file a lengthy, detailed report of the incident with pictures of the damages.  The man did get a PPO, but it was reduced to a period of 6 months, rather than the statutory 1 year.  Blanchard was also criminally charged, but with only misdemeanors. 

In State v. Moyer, after a full pre-sentence investigation and recommendation from the probation department, Moyer received a 90 day jail sentence, with 30 days served, 60 days on tether, and 1 year of probation.  His total costs, fines and fees were approximately $2,500.00, not including the $1,260.00 the jail billed him for the pleasure of being caged for exercising his freedom, not harming a single person or anyone’s property. 

While in Blanchard’s case, no pre-sentence investigation took place, and the probation department did not receive the victim’s impact statement from the prosecutor.  However, a notation in the court file mentioned: “quickie sentencing”, full restitution, a $500.00 fine, and no probation recommendation.  Ultimately, the victim filed a victim’s impact statement supplement with the court, provided a copy to the judge, and attended Blanchard’s sentencing.  Blanchard had to pay full restitution, but received only 9 months’ probation, and was fined approximately $1,000.00, when it could have been thousands more. 

Similarities between Moyer and Blanchard: For both it was a first offense; and both are educated
professionals.  Differences between Moyer and Blanchard:  Moyer is a man, Blanchard a woman; Marijuana was involved in Moyer’s case, but not with Blanchard; Moyer caused no harm to anyone’s life, liberty, or property, Blanchard terrorized and attempted to harm a man, violated his home and freedom, and caused extensive property damage.

Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines bigotry as an, “obstinate or intolerant devotion to one's own opinions and prejudices”.  I cannot state with certainty that bigotry caused the differences in the severely disproportionate outcome in these cases.  But, I can state with certainty that Moyer’s actions did not violate the principles of freedom (Life, Liberty and Happiness), nor was there a victim.  In short, he was victimized for exercising freedom.  While, Blanchard’s crime did violate the principles of freedom that harmed a victim.  In short, she was destroying the freedom of another.  Yet Blanchard received penalties and suffered far less than Moyer. WHY?

Till next month, as always, keep rolling on.

Disclaimer:  This is an informational article only.  It is not to provide individual legal advice.  If you need legal services, feel free to contact me, or any attorney of your choosing.

MMMR Recipe: Gummy Canna Chews - by Annette Nay-Nay

Ingredients:

3 packages of unflavored gelatin

2 packages jello, any flavor will do, sugar-free if dieting

1 cup of boiling water*

2-3 teaspoons of your favorite cannabis tincture

1 pack kool-aid, any flavor will do

1/4 cup of white sugar


Directions:

Place all of the ingredients except for the sugar in a bowl.Stir mixture until completely dissolved. Pour mixture into a non stick 8" square pan. Spray pan with oil if pan is not non stick. Place in refrigerator for 2-3 hours or until firm. Cut Canna Gummys into cubes and place in bowl. Sprinkle with sugar and gently toss cubes until covered with light coating of sugar. Eat now or place in air tight containers for later use. Store in a cool place.

www.mmmrmag.com

Green River Meds Goes for the Gold! - by Ben Horner

“Compassion First” is the mission statement for Detroit’s
most elite Medical Marijuana Provisioning Center, Green
River Meds. Green River Founder, Trevor LaFond, is one of
the few Detroit dispensary owners to make the cut both
with the city and the State of Michigan, by turning in the
extremely invasive and cumbersome set of applications
for a Michigan Medical Marihuana Provisioning Center
License.

LaFond explains seriously, ”This love and passion of
cannabis and the ability to help cancer patients, as well
as patients of all ailments, live a longer, healthy life is
why we are here. Also, we are dedicated to giving back
to the City of Detroit.”

Connoisseurs prefer top shelf and Green River puts
the very best in their shop. There are a couple factors
which Green River looks for when giving their patients
options. Hand selected phenos of different strains
are crossed to create exotic flavors bursting with
terpens and flavor. Weed snobs know that once you get
accustomed to great taste and potency it’s hard to go
back.

Located on Detroit’s west side on Grand River, just
west of Telegraph, Green River Meds has an ideal
spot. Plenty of parking, polite security and a relaxed
contemporary interior design. Trevor spent many
sleepless nights preparing for the city and state licensing
process, only 45 dispensaries turned in
applications on time.

Green River has exclusive brand. Precious extracts,
the premier brand consisting of a smorgasbord of
concentrates, delicious vape cartridges, pure CBD
isolate and gooey buckets of distillates. The viscosity
of the vape cartridges is so thick because they are
between 70%-90% pure.

Trevor is planning a social club for Detroit in the
future. He wants a full time place for patients and
caregivers to be able to come together. “People need a
place to medicate together in peace,” Trevor explains.
“We need a place for people to be able to share
information, genetics and techniques, as well as a
place to socialize without fear.

If you are in the D, you need to check out Green River,
if you want the best.

Grow Tip: Fungus Gnats - by Ben Horner

Fungus Gnats are pesky little flying insects that can devastate a crop of medical marijuana if gone untreated. These tiny flies have two small clear wings and thin long legs. These bugs have a 25-35 day life cycle, most of which is in larva form. Adults lay eggs in the grow media, and/or roots. After the eggs hatch, the larvae feast on the fungus in the soil and on the roots
of the plants.

To determine how bad your infestation is, place a few slices of potato on the top of your medium
for 5 hours then remove and observe under a microscope. If the is many larva (see picture) you are going to have to treat your soil. To do so, don’t water for a couple days and allow the topsoil to dry. Then mix Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) with water, 1:4 ratio. Hang yellow fly strips to kill the adults. The same ratio should be used for hydro systems.

Often, store purchased peat soils have fungus gnats eggs dormant in the bag, adding coco to your
mix can help. Uncovered drains and pooled water can also be breeding grounds for these pests. Keeping your grow clean is very important. Neem oil solutions are an excellent organic preventative, and will keep away most bugs if used regularly. Neem oil should be sprayed on stalks and fan leaves every three weeks.

Over the counter pesticides are not recommended for obvious reasons, but may be the only hope for seriously infested situations.

www.mmmrmag.com

Free the Weed 85 - by John Sinclair

Highest greetings from New Orleans, the cradle of American civilization as we know it, where I’ve made my annual pilgrimage for the Mardi Gras and as much time after Lent begins that I can get away with.

For the past few years I’ve headed back to Detroit in mid-March to take part in the annual THC Expo at the Roostertail, and this year will be no exception as I intend to be on hand to celebrate the Detroit Caregiver Cup with my friend & publisher, Ben Horner and the people from MMMReport, as well as the rest of the festivities for the weekend.

It won’t be long after that when the 47th annual Hash Bash takes place on the UM campus in Ann Arbor, followed by the 2nd annual Hash Bash Cup at a hotel just outside of town that turns into Cannabis Central for the weekend. I’ll be able to share more information about this great event in next month’s column.

Everything else considered, this is going to be a very special year for me before it’s over because in November we’ll be voting to legalize marijuana in Michigan at last and finally eliminate the fear of arrest for smoking weed and getting high. It’s all but certain that Michigan voters will continue to express their support for the sacred weed, although for some reason—at this writing—the state Board of Canvassers has not yet certified the petition submitted by MILegalize and the Committee to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol although the specified period for the announcement has long passed.

It’s not entirely out of the question to anticipate some sort of ugly extralegal hanky-panky on the part of the State of Michigan with respect to allowing the citizens to vote on this issue in the November election. They changed the rules in the middle of the game in 2016 and prevented the issue from reaching the ballot, and of course the entire history of the marijuana laws is one big lie from start to finish.

Michigan is a place where the state government determined that marijuana was a narcotic drug and created a punitive structure that called for a prison sentence of 20 years to life for selling, distributing or giving away the weed and ten years in prison for simple possession of marijuana.

This law held sway until March 9, 1972 when the Michigan Supreme Court, ruling in the case of People v. Sinclair, declared that marijuana was not a narcotic and the prescribed prison sentences constituted cruel and unusual punishment. Anticipating this ruling, the Michigan legislature reclassified marijuana on December 9, 1971 and created a new class of drug called a controlled substance that carried a one-year maximum for possession and four years for sales or dispensing. This new statute took effect on April 1, 1972 and was greeted by the derision and disrespect of the smokers gathered on the Diag at the University of Michigan to smoke weed openly at what became the first annual Hash Bash.

Soon the cities of Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and East Lansing passed local ordinances that reduced the penalties for marijuana crimes of all sorts to the issuance of a ticket carrying only a $5 fine, and Ann Arbor State Representative Perry Bullard attempted to legalize marijuana in the state legislature. But both Democrats and Republicans, spearheaded by African American legislators from Detroit like Rep. Daisy Elliott and Sen. David Holmes, resisted all reasonable arguments and scientific claims advanced by the marijuana legalization proponents and held fast to the anti-marijuana idiocy that’s held every since.

We’ll hear more anti-marijuana propaganda from the opponents of the 2018 legalization proposition because it’s worked so well for them for so many years and they’re more desperate than ever to keep their ill-founded legal system and the vast police-state apparatus they’ve developed in place even if the voters force them to give up their arrest and imprisonment powers.

I’ve said all these things many times before, but they can never be repeated enough until we have wrested the marijuana culture completely out of the hands of the police and their backers in the pharmaceutical complex, the alcohol manufacturers, the court and prison system, the drug rehabilitation industry, the federal and state legislatures and the corporations and lobbyists who own them—the whole gruesome mechanism of an oppressive social order that has grown so powerful on the backs of American marijuana smokers and the brave and resourceful people who supply us with what we need to get healthy and get high.

Once again it is important to note that it is the governmental bodies at all levels, from city councils to the federal legislature, that have created and enforced the depraved legal strictures against marijuana for the past 80 years, and that indeed remain the sole resistant force standing in the way of freeing the weed at all levels. They will never provide the solution to the problem of freeing the weed, and they will always seek ways to keep us from succeeding in our goal.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but take the ultimate bad example of the Detroit City Council, which is showing its ugly ass again in the face of the citizens’ vote against the draconic ordinance it passed to limit severely the access of medical marijuana patients to their medicine at designated cannabis caregiver centers. A ballot initiative last November to replace this 2016 ordinance was overwhelmingly passed by Detroit voters but has now been overturned by Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Robert Colombo Jr., who claims that citizens are not allowed to alter zoning ordinances by voter initiative.

I must point out here that it was this guy’s father, Detroit Recorders Court Judge Robert J. Colombo, who presided over this writer’s marijuana possession trial and sentenced your reporter to a prison sentence of 9-1/2 to 10 years without appeal bond on July 28, 1969, despite the fact that my appeal was successfully upheld by the Michigan Supreme Court and the marijuana laws declared unconstitutional—but only after I had been imprisoned for 2-1/2 years.

The former police officers and church officials who make up the majority of the Detroit City Council are committed way beyond reason to defying the citizens’ wishes with respect to making marijuana available to people in the City of Detroit and surrounding communities who want and need it. They’ve shut down scores of compassionate care centers under the dictates of a gangsteristic licensing scheme and continue to oppose the views and expressed wishes of the majority of their citizens who want to be able to get their weed when and where they want it.

The elected state officials aren’t any better, and who knows how far they will go to prevent full legalization from taking effect. Even our own forces have constructed the proposed new law along the lines of alcohol regulation and expressly bar citizens from smoking in public. This means we still have some way to go in order to Free The Weed for real, once and for all, and I can promise you this: I’ll be there upholding the banner of freedom for the weed as long as I’m blessed with my life on this earth.

—New Orleans

February 25-26, 2018

© 2018 John Sinclair. All Rights Reserved.

The Jeff Sessions Era Begins in Michigan - by Tim Beck

Tim Beck

Chairman of the Safer
Michigan Coalition


On January 4, a hammer from Washington DC hit the anvil.

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, to the surprise of some and the expectation of others; rescinded the famous Cole Memo which instructed US Attorney's across the USA to respect state decisions to legalize medical and recreational marijuana. The Cole memo was the creation of former President Barack Obama. Gutting the memo means federal attorneys anywhere in the USA can prosecute violators of federal marijuana laws anywhere, any time, at their discretion.

What does all of this mean for medical marijuana patients, caregivers and canna businesses in Michigan?

 Theoretically, it means all medical patients, caregivers, dispensaries, or legal grow operations are at risk of being busted down the road, unless federal law changes for the better. As of this writing we are safe; at least until March 23rd since the old federal budget restricts funding for federal prosecution of medical marijuana. The proposed new Trump budget, if it is passed as expected, does not contain such protective language. That is when the federal noose can tighten and choke.

Will such a thing really happen in Michigan?

Well, that all depends upon the whims of Michigan's interim United States Attorney's Matthew Schneider of the Eastern District in Detroit and interim United States Attorney Andrew Birge of Michigan's Western District, whose headquarters is in Grand Rapids.

The Eastern District consists of the counties of Alcona, Alpena, Bay, Cheboygan,Clare, Crawford, Genessee, Gladwin,Gratiot, Huron, Iosco, Isabella, Jackson, Lapeer, Lenawee, Livingston, Macom, Midland, Monroe, Montmorency, Oakland, Ogemaw, Oscoda, Ostego, Presque Isle, Roscommon, Saginaw, St. Clair, Sanilac, Shiawassee, Tuscola, Washtenaw and Wayne.

 All other counties in Michigan, including the entire upper Peninsula are in the western district.

Matthew Schneider and Andrew Birge were appointed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions this January, as "interim" appointees for the next 120 days, pending a presidential nomination and confirmation by the US Senate of a successor. Whichever comes first.

Prior to his elevation, Mr. Schneider was chief of staff to Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette.

When questioned as to how he will enforce federal marijuana laws, he told  Frank Beckmann, on WJR Radio, that his office "will review marijuana cases in terms of where those cases fit within our priorities and our limited federal resources. In every criminal case, we will rely on the Justice Departments long-established principles of federal prosecution, as all US attorneys have done
since 1980."

As far as Matthew Birge, chief of the western district is concerned, he too was appointed by Jeff Sessions to an "interim" role. Unlike Mr. Schneider, he has refused to make any comment about marijuana to the media. Two calls and voice mail messages to Birge's press spokesperson Kay Hooker, by MMM Report Magazine, were not acknowledged or returned.

Since 2007 Mr. Birge served as chief of staff to western district US Attorney's Donald Davis, Charles Gross and Patrick Miles Jr. Schneider and Birge's responses to the marijuana question were not unusual.

In a survey by "Cannabis Business Times" of all thirty states where medical or recreational cannabis is legal, 21 of the 50 US Attorney's questioned refused to make any comment. Most other statements were very carefully worded, similar to Mr. Schneider's response--- which can be interpreted to mean practically anything, good or bad.

Nonetheless, at a conference in Portland, Oregon on February 2nd, attended by some US Attorneys, state officials and cannabis industry representatives to discuss Sessions new policy there seemed to be a consensus. Specifically, nothing too radical will happen to canna businesses operating strictly according to state law. However, anything else could mean big trouble.

The consensus was described in an article published on February 8 by the "National Law Review" which covered the Portland event. That is "a crackdown on illegal overproduction in states where cannabis is legal and a focus on reducing the amount of cannabis being diverted to states where it is illegal " is all but guaranteed to happen.

Finally, in what could be a hopeful development, US Senator Cory Gardener (R-Colorado) agreed to partially end his blockage of Justice Department nominees. Gardener said he was lied to by AG Jeff Sessions who indicated prior to his Senate confirmation,  there would be no change in federal policy regarding the right of states to do things their way when it came to the cannabis issue.

According to the Associated Press (AP) on February 15, Senator Gardener had talks with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstien and he has been pleased with negotiations so far. Department leaders have "shown good faith in their willingness to provide what I think will be hopefully the protections we sought and as a good faith gesture on my behalf, I will be releasing a limited number of nominees" Gardener said.

So what is the real deal in Michigan so far?

Between now and March 23rd federal budget approval deadline, nothing changes. Beyond that, anything else is pure speculation.

Interim US Attorney's Matthew Schneider and Andrew Birge hold all the cards. It is their call as to what if anything will be done. They do not have lots of resources and they cannot expect to have any support from local police or prosecutors who only enforce state law. Come what may, the Michigan medical marijuana caregiver system is still intact and it is impossible for federal authorities to root it out. In a worst case scenario, medicine may not be as readily available as it is now, but it will still be there.

And oh yes. Mark my words. The vast majority of Michigan voters do not like this federal interference one bit. They will say YES to full blown legalization of cannabis in Michigan this coming November. That will only make the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency's (DEA) job
even tougher.