Wet Cannabis Still Prohibited Per MI COA

Previously this month, the Court of Appeals, in a split decision, identified that the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act does NOT protect caregivers or patients who remain in possession of wet marijuana that remains in the drying out process, from prosecution. The Courts ruling in the case of People v. Vanessa Mansour determined that since wet marijuana that remained in the drying out process was not usable cannabis, possession of wet cannabis was not protected by the MMMA.

The MMMA specifies a lot of the terms of the act. The term usable marijuana is specifically defined in the MMMA. The act defines usable marijuana to mean the following: "Usable marihuana" means the dried leaves, flowers, plant resin, or extract of the marihuana plant, however does not include the seeds, stalks, and also roots of the plant. The Court found that because the act chose to use the word "dried" before the remaining components, that indicated that wet, undried cannabis was not a component of what the protections of the act were implied to shield. For that reason, anybody in the marijuana business of caregiving, that is growing under the mmma for themselves or other registered qualifying patients, remains in infraction of the regulation, if they have wet cannabis, regardless of the function for which you have it. Even you remain in the process of drying out the cannabis, if you are raided and the cannabis is wet, you can be in trouble.

The ruling is rather bothersome for a variety of factors. First, any caregiver that is currently growing under the MMMA, will, eventually, have wet cannabis that is drying but not usable. Therefore, any caregiver has to comprehend that if you are in possession of wet, non-usable marijuana, and the authorities show up, you can be arrested and the Court of Appeals has determined that you can be prosecuted and also sentenced for possession with intent to deliver cannabis, which the immunity provisions of Section 4 as well as Section 8 of the MMMA will not protect you. Second, the matter develops concerns regarding the practicality of the caregiving model, as well as also produces a problematic situation for caregivers applying under the Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act (MMFLA) for a growing or processing license.

Recognizing that you are caregiving, and that the Courts are indicating that a part of your cultivation procedure causes you to commit, at minimum, a misdemeanor, produces prospective troubles for the application review procedure. Better, if having wet marijuana cause for criminal arrest as well as prosecution, exactly how does that effect farmers and processors who are to be licensed under the MMFLA. Seemingly, the two statutes are not interlinked and so, there shouldn't be any issues. Nonetheless, the MMFLA utilizes the exact same "usable" marijuana definition as the MMMA. Particularly, subsection (ff) of M.C.L. § 333.27102 defines usable marijuana as follows: (ff) "Usable marihuana" means the dried leaves, flowers, plant resin, or extract of the marihuana plant, but does not include the seeds, stalks, and roots of the plant.

Therefore, it would not be a stretch to see the Judiciaries expand that MMMA definition to the MMFLA. Such a ruling in the future could put a significant kink in the medical cannabis industry under the MMFLA, most likely as an outcome of a possible chilling result. The judgment plainly causes concerns for registered caregivers, and also, possibly, for MMFLA farmers, needs to the Court broaden this reading to cover marijuana growing and processing under the MMFLA. Basically, because "wet" undried marijuana, according to the Court, does not meet the meaning of "usable" cannabis, if authorities were to come to the place and discover wet cannabis, you may be looking at possible criminal liability. If you are a caregiver and also are planning to proceed growing for your patients under the MMMA, and also you have inquiries about the potential responsibility you have under this brand-new judgment, don't hesitate to contact our office for a consultation.