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Mich.
House
passes
bills to
change
medical
pot law
By JEFF
KAROUB
Associated
Press
LANSING,
Mich. -
The
Michigan
House on
Thursday
passed a
package
of bills
aimed at
clarifying
the
state's
voter-approved
law
allowing
the use
of
marijuana
for
medical
purposes.
The
House
passed
four
bills -
including
the
first
legislation
that
would
amend
the 2008
law -
and they
now go
to the
Senate.
One bill
seeks to
better
define
the type
of
doctor-patient
relationship
needed
before
medical
marijuana
use
could be
certified.
Another
includes
requirements
for
photographs
to be
included
on
identification
cards
that
people
certified
to use
medical
marijuana
must
carry.
The
legislation
also
calls
for
creating
a
15-member
panel of
physicians
and
others
to
review
petitions
requesting
to add
medical
conditions
to the
list for
which
the use
of
marijuana
is
approved.
Backers
have
argued
the 2008
law
wasn't
clear
and
contained
loopholes.
Critics
say the
proposed
changes
might
make the
drug
harder
to get.
Several
medical
marijuana
advocacy
groups
oppose
the
bills or
voiced
concerns
while
they
worked
their
way
through
committee.
The
Michigan
chapter
of the
American
Civil
Liberties
Union
supported
the bill
that
aims to
better
define
the type
of
doctor-patient
relationship
and is
neutral
on the
others.
The
Prosecuting
Attorneys
Association
of
Michigan
supported
the
entire
package.
Ari
Adler,
spokesman
for
House
Speaker
Jase
Bolger,
said the
package
went
through
"a lot
of work
and
changes
over
time"
and was
a
bipartisan
effort.
The
bills,
Adler
said,
bring
"some
order to
the
chaos
caused
by the
initial
medical
marijuana
referendum."
Because
the
voter-approved
medical
marijuana
law is
part of
the
state
constitution,
the
House
needed
to
approve
two of
the
bills
that
specifically
amended
the law
by a
three-quarters
majority
of its
members.
Jeff
Irwin,
D-Ann
Arbor,
cast a
no vote
but
acknowledged
that the
bill
package
has some
positive
attributes.
Among
them, he
said,
was a
Democratic
amendment
added
this
week
that
allows
criminal
defendants
to say
they are
a
medical
marijuana
user in
court
provided
they
comply
with the
law.
Some
patients
have
been
forbidden
from
mentioning
they are
a
medical
marijuana
user in
certain
legal
cases.
Irwin
said
House
members
who
crafted
the
bills
"did not
succumb
to some
of the
`reefer
madness'
that can
accompany
this
issue,"
but he
felt the
resulting
bills
ultimately
went too
far.
"The
overall
current
is to
add
additional
restrictions
to
patients,
caregivers
and
doctors,"
he said.
"It's
contrary
to what
the
voters
approved
overwhelmingly
a couple
of years
ago."
Redford
Township
Democratic
Rep.
Phil
Cavanagh,
who
sponsored
one of
the
bills,
said the
goal was
"to at
least
try to
clarify
what the
voters
had in
mind and
to
codify
that."
"As most
tough
issues,
you're
never
going to
appease
everyone,"
he said.
"That is
why I
have
confidence
everyone
is a
little
disappointed
in this
language
... yet
I
believe
it is a
good
compromise."
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