V.G.I.P Update - by Kathy Hess

“If enough valid petition signatures are collected, a proposal may appear on a future election ballot relating to the issue of marijuana. The proposal would make the possession and cultivation of limited amounts of marijuana to adults age 21 or older only by stores that would be licensed by the state, and finally, it would tax the sale of marijuana by these state licensed stores. If this proposal were to appear on a future election ballot, if the election were held today, would you vote yes to approve the proposal, or would you vote no to oppose?”

This question was polled by EPIC-MRA, a full service survey research firm to Michigan residents, and the results are
looking good.

Climbing the cannabis ladder, residents approval of the Recreation Pot Proposal is up to 61%, that’s up 10 points in just 3 years. Six out of 10 Michigan voters are either strongly supporting or leaning toward supporting a ballot proposal that would legalize limited amounts of marijuana for recreational use, according to the newest poll.

“I think the most important thing is it's now hit the magic 60 percent in terms of voter support and that has just been a continual increase the past three years from 50 percent,” said Bernie Porn, president of EPIC-MRA, which conducted the survey on behalf of Michigan NORML, the state chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. The survey found that 45 percent would “definitely” vote yes, 13 percent would “probably vote yes” and 3 percent are “lean toward voting yes.” Support for legalization has increased by four percentage points since a February 2017 survey and eight percent since a March 2016 survey

Historically, ballot proposals that attain the 60 percent support level are perceived as more likely to be enacted into law than those that enter the election cycle with lower levels of support.. A total of 35 percent of those surveyed said they would oppose the proposal. Of that, 28 percent were a definite no, 6 percent a probably no, and 1 percent were leaning toward voting no. Some four percent indicated they were undecided on the proposal.

 Among younger voters, those aged 18 to 34, a total of 87 percent are supporting the proposal. Porn noted that unlike the survey conducted in 2017, Republican party voters have swung from being opposed to the proposal to a 48-48 percent split. In the 2017 survey, independent support was around 50 percent. In the 2018 survey, 72 percent of independent voters said they would support legalization. Democratic voters still remain the strongest in favor of legalization with 74 percent of all Democrats in favor.


All in all, it would appear that all of our hard work at ending marijuana prohibition is exactly where we want to be heading into November. 

But complacency is the enemy of progress. 

Be without a doubt anti cannabis groups are going to be fighting our efforts hard. The death rattles of such rearward organizations are going to be strongly funded by pharmaceutical companies.  These companies are already scared about their loss of profits in states where cannabis has been legal in one form or another, people are replacing some of those medications with cannabis, and its damaging their numbers.  In the pharma companies attempts to stem the bleeding, they have repeatedly thrown millions at anti cannabis campaigns in states where any sort of marijuana legalization measures have been on the ballot.

We cannot, must not, be complacent, if we want progress.  Do your part, GET OUT and VOTE!

World News - April 2018 - by Kathy Hess

Alcohol Firms Eyeing Cannabis Industry

CANADA- “Alcohol companies should be watching their backs.” The warning from Torsten Kuenzlen, a former executive for The Coca-Cola Co. and Molson Coors, and current CEO of Sundial Growers, a privately owned Canadian cannabis company, voiced last month. In his opinion, legal cannabis has an obvious competitive advantage over alcohol products.

“All alcohol is consumed only as a liquid. Cannabis meets more consumer needs and motivations in the way that it’s consumed,” Kuenzlen said, adding that it’s a matter of time before cannabis companies start buying alcohol makers.” When you look at the size of the opportunity, the profit pool for cannabis is as big as the entire alcohol industry in three to five years.”
“Interestingly, all alcohol is consumed only as a liquid.  Cannabis has the advantage over alcohol in that it meets more consumer needs and motivations in the way that it’s consumed.  Alcohol companies need to think about how to turn that into an opportunity rather than a threat. […]  There are needs and motivations of consumers that are similar between alcohol and cannabis. But cannabis accesses motivation and needs that alcohol can’t go after.

When asked about possible mergers between cannabis companies and alcohol companies Kuenzlen replied “There can be no doubt. We know that virtually all alcohol companies are very carefully looking at the cannabis space and looking to partner in some shape or form. Those shapes can be anything from innovation alliances with pharma and nutraceuticals – and all the way to partial ownership. […] Today, alcohol companies are buying cannabis companies. We will see a time when cannabis companies start buying alcohol companies. Definitely within the next three to five years.[…] In terms of building global brands, we believe we can build the Absolut Vodka or Coca-Cola equivalent of cannabis. When you fast-forward 10 years, consumers will be able to be anywhere in the world, and they will be able to buy a brand that has the consistent experience they expect."

When asked if Sundial was looking to partner with any companies he answered “We know that all of the big companies are looking at cannabis, so obviously we’re talking to many of them. What form that takes, would we partner with somebody, and for what reason? To be determined.[…]  You can expect that we will enter strategic partnerships in alcohol, pharma, cosmetics, food and beverage? All of those are possibilities
and opportunities."

Keunzlen was asked if he foresaw legalization in the United States and replied in kind. “In my mind, it’s a question of when, not if, federal legalization will come south of the border (the U.S). So the opportunities to build great brands, innovation and capabilities north of the border for the day it becomes federally legal in the states is a monster opportunity for Canada."

Future Global Cannabis Supplier?

COLUMBIA – Tens of thousands of Colombians died in the U.S.-backed war on drugs. But after an official about-face on marijuana, Colombia is looking to exchange gun-toting traffickers for corporate backers in a bid to become the Saudi Arabia of legal pot.

The new industry is budding here on the outskirts of Medellin, where Pablo Escobar moved marijuana in the 1970s before becoming the “King of Cocaine.” Fifteen years after his death in a last stand with the law, cannabis plants are budding in the emerald hills outside the city, this time with the
government’s approval.

“You are looking at history,” beamed Camilo Ospina, the chief innovation officer for PharmaCielo Colombia Holdings, gesturing to a sprawling greenhouse of pungent cannabis plants. His company is one of a rapidly growing number of corporations seeking to leverage the “made in Colombia” label in a new age of legalization.

“Our advantage is that the Colombian brand already has a mystique,” he said. “We want to intensify that, so that the Colombian cannabis you already know – the Punto Rojo, the Colombian Gold – is the cannabis you want to buy.”

Colombia is still a hotbed of illegal drugs: A report last year from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency showed Colombia as the source of 92 percent of cocaine seized on U.S. soil. And after 18 years and $10 billion spent on Plan Colombia, the U.S.-funded effort to counter cartels and coca farmers, cocaine production here is at all-time highs.

Yet when it comes to marijuana, Colombia is taking a new path: If you can’t beat ’em, regulate ’em.

In 2016, the country passed a landmark law legalizing medical marijuana for both domestic use and export, laying the groundwork for the new industry. The government started handing out the first licenses to grow, process and export medicinal cannabis in September, approving 33 companies so far. Legal growers such as Canadian-owned PharmaCielo are now raising test crops for upcoming product lines, with the first commercial sales and exports slated for the coming weeks
and months.

Becoming the world’s supplier of legal cannabis won’t be easy. The biggest potential market, the United States, remains closed off, even with states that have legalized use banning cannabis imports. Yet a growing group of other countries, including Germany, Peru, Italy and Croatia, are seen as fast-developing export markets for medical marijuana.

Currently, Canada and the Netherlands have started to meet that demand, with several companies already exporting domestically cultivated crops.

But Colombia, officials here say, is the logical place for the industry’s future.

With a climate well suited to the surprisingly fragile cannabis plant, the country supplied most of the illicit marijuana consumed in the United States during the 1970s and ’80s, until Mexico dethroned them. As more countries approve some form of legalization, Colombia is bent on reclaiming its global dominance, although through export licenses and customs procedures instead of surreptitious shipments in the
dark of night.
In 1986, Colombia decriminalized small-scale growth for personal use, allowing the cultivation of up to 20 plants. President Juan Manuel Santos pressed for medicinal legalization on a commercial scale as early as 2012 and hailed the 2016 legislation as a major leap of progress.

Some form of medical marijuana is now legal in more than a dozen nations – with recreational legalization close in Canada, and a reality in Uruguay and U.S. states including California. But it remains illegal in most places.

“Convincing foreign governments to allow imports” will probably be the biggest challenge for growers, said Bethany Gomez, research director for Chicago-based Brightfield Group, a market research firm.

Still, the global trade in legal pot is growing, with some experts predicting the market could be worth $31.6 billion by 2021.

To keep things on the up and up, the new regulations for commercial marijuana here strictly limit access to legal farms and impose measures – including genetic testing – to prevent illegally grown cannabis from filtering into the legal market.

Some companies, such as FCM Global, have gone a step further: opting to grow only weaker cannabis strains while refraining from the stronger ones popular with recreational users.

National News - April 2018 - by Kathy Hess

Congress Protects Medical Marijuana From Sessions In Federal Spending Bill

WASHINGTON D.C.- MM patients and businesses that follow state laws will remain protected from U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, as well as federal drug agents that work for him, under a provision contained in new in the new budget revealed on Wednesday.

The policy (federal law since 2014) bars the U.S. Department of Justice from using funds to meddle with the execution of state medical marijuana laws. Its continuation was in question after Sessions explicitly asked Congress not to extend it and House leaders blocked a vote on the matter.

However the rider, which cleared a key Senate panel last year, is now attached to a bilateral deal to fund the federal government's operations through the rest of Fiscal Year 2018, which ends on September 30. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions annulled a separate Obama-era Justice Department memo, last January, which cleared the way for states to execute their own marijuana laws without federal interference.

The new bill also continues existing provisions shielding state industrial hemp research programs from federal interference. And it extends a current ban on Washington, D.C. using its own funds to legalize and regulate marijuana sales.  There is also a bipartisan group of Congress members who are organizing to include medical marijuana protection into the Fiscal Year 2019 spending legislation.

"We believe such a policy is not only consistent with the wishes of a bipartisan majority of the members of the House, but also with the wishes of the American people," 62 lawmakers wrote in a letter to House appropriations leaders last week.

“We are concerned about the Department of Justice enforcing federal marijuana law in a way that blocks implementation of marijuana reform laws in those states that have passed such reforms,” 59 House Republicans and Democrats wrote in a separate letter on Friday. “The issue at hand is whether the federal government’s marijuana policy violates the principles of federalism and the Tenth Amendment. Consistent with those principles, we believe that states ought to retain jurisdiction over most criminal justice matters within their borders. This is how the Founders intended our system to function.”

The current medical marijuana rider was first approved by a House floor vote of 219-189 in 2014 and then again in 2015 by a margin of 242-186. The Senate Appropriations Committee has also adopted the language in a series of bipartisan votes, most recently last summer.

The provision must be reapproved annually because it concerns specific years' spending bills.

Cannabis Activists Are The New NRA,

WASHINGTON DC-The gun lobby is close to finding itself in a financial face-off with marijuana activists, according to Julie Schauer, a retired millionaire who donated $1.3 million to the campaign against marijuana legalization in California in 2016, the pot lobby will soon "own" Democratic leaders "just as the NRA controls GOP."

In fact, the cannabis lobby has been contributing far more cash to Republicans - especially GOP lawmakers who oppose the Trump administration's efforts to crack down on state-legalized marijuana industries. 

Schauer's assertion also neglects the many Republican leaders who are fighting for legalization as an alternative to the "injustice" of the War on Drugs, which "has disproportionately affected young black males" and is little more than "an excuse to send people to prison and turn a mistake into a tragedy," to use the words of Republican Senator Rand Paul.

Sharon Cooper (R) - Chairwoman of the House's Health and Human Services Committee - recently told Congress to “get off their duffs and act” on cannabis reform for the sake of patients across the country. Her message mirrors the sentiments of Republican Bryan Terry, who chairs the House Health Subcommittee in Tennessee. 

Those patients have been sheltered from prosecution thus far thanks to the hard work of Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, whose name is on the budget amendment that prevents the DEA from spending any funds on enforcing federal prohibition against state-legalized MM industries.
Rohrabacher has also introduced legislation to guard state-legalized marijuana industries, as well as his GOP colleague Thomas Garrett of Virginia. At the state level, Republican lawmakers have legalized medical marijuana in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio recently.  Kentucky could soon join the fold if Republican Senator Dan Seum's legalization of cannabis bill gets passed.
So why would cannabis activists try to "own" Democrats when Republicans are getting just as much - if not more - done for the legalization movement? The efforts of Republican legislators show that legalization is a bipartisan issue.

Capital Punishment for Drug-Related Prosecutions

WASHINGTON D.C. - Attorney General Sessions issued the following memo to U.S. Attorneys on March 21st, providing guidance regarding the use of capital punishment in drug-related prosecutions:

"The opioid epidemic has inflicted an unprecedented toll of addiction, suffering, and death on communities throughout our nation. Drug overdoses, including overdoses caused by the lethal substance fentanyl and its analogues, killed more than 64,000 Americans in 2016 and now ranks as the leading cause of death for Americans under 50. In the face of all of this death, we cannot continue with business as usual.

"Drug traffickers, transnational criminal organizations, and violent street gangs all contribute substantially to this scourge. To combat this deadly epidemic, federal prosecutors must consider every lawful tool at their disposal. This includes designating an opioid coordinator in every district, fully utilizing the data analysis of the Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit, as well as using criminal and civil remedies available under federal law to hold opioid manufacturers and distributors accountable for unlawful practices."

Leading Anti-Pot Official Is Named Sessions.

And it’s not Jeff.

TEXAS- In January, a year after he took office, Attorney General Jeff Sessions took his first shot at marijuana by repealing the Cole Memo. Though long-expected, revoking the Cole Memo nonetheless caused anxiety throughout the financially rocketing cannabis industry and established for most observers that he was the chief antagonist of legal marijuana in Washington.

The nation’s top law enforcement officer has made it clear over the years that he views marijuana as a curse equal to heroin.  However it turns out the unofficial title of Washington’s most powerful marijuana opponent belongs to someone else named Sessions: Pete, the longtime congressman from Texas’ 32nd district in Dallas. Pete Sessions holds no relations to the AG Sessions, although he shares his unforgiving attitudes toward all things cannabis.

“Marijuana is an addictive product, and the merchants of addiction make it that way,” Pete Sessions said in January. “They make it to where our people, our young people, become addicted to marijuana and keep going.” In February, at an opioid summit at the University of Texas Southwestern, Rep. Sessions stretched scientific fact when he said, today’s product is “300 times more powerful” than when he went to high school. (Later, his communications director confirmed that he meant three times more powerful.)

What Pete Sessions has that Jeff Sessions doesn’t is the power to change laws. Very quietly, but with implacable efficiency, Pete Sessions has used his position as the chair of the House Rules Committee to confound or roll back amendments that protected legal marijuana in the 29 states that have approved it. Short of changing federal drug law, legislators in the states with forms of legal pot have sought the next best protection: using the power of the purse to curtail enforcement. But Sessions, with the approval of House leadership, has thwarted his colleagues. He neutralized one amendment that sailed through with a comfortable bipartisan majority and smothered others that would pass if they were ever allowed to see the light of day.

Criticism has never troubled Pete, in his 16-year career. But recent polling indicates that 83 percent of Texas voters now favor legalizing medical marijuana, and that seems to be feeding a nascent campaign to use Sessions’ anti-marijuana influence against him in the 2018 midterm election. Even some Texas Republicans think his zealousness on the issue violates essential conservative principles of less government. “He’s got this personal viewpoint; he’s just personally against it. And there’s nothing that’s going to change his mind,” said Zoe Russell, of Republicans Against Marijuana Prohibition (RAMP). “That’s the absolute worst of big government.”

Since Pete Sessions halted congressional movement on marijuana legalization, the states have steam rolled ahead in perfect disregard of his personal beef with the plant. In November 2016, California, Nevada, Massachusetts and Maine approved full recreational use. Arkansas, Florida and North Dakota legalized medical marijuana by ballot measure, and Pennsylvania and Ohio approved medical marijuana by state legislation. In 2017, West Virginia became the 29th state to legalize medical marijuana. So far in 2018, Vermont implemented a full legal law, the first state to do so by state legislature. A legalization bill is currently working its way through the New Jersey legislature. In Michigan, full legalization is on the ballot in November, and voters in Missouri, Oklahoma and Utah will have the opportunity to vote their states into the medical marijuana club.

Signs the Drug War is thawing, even in deep-red Texas, are hard to miss.  In 2015, the Texas legislature passed an extremely limited medical marijuana program that grants access to non-psychoactive CBD concentrates to Texans suffering from epilepsy. Given that the Drug Enforcement Administration still considers non-psychoactive CBD to be a drug with no medicinal value, Texas’ testing the waters of medical marijuana legalization has been an act of civil disobedience against a federal drug enforcement policy that is staunchly defended by the likes of Pete Sessions. In Dallas County, where the majority of Sessions’ constituents reside, police no longer arrest people caught with up to a quarter pound of marijuana, opting instead for a cite-and-release program meant to unclog the jails and judicial system, following the example of similar programs in San Antonio, Houston and Austin.

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.