Here and There, But Not Everywhere

Oct. 5, 2014

Medical Marijuana in Michigan

There are no medical marijuana storefronts in Petoskey or Charlevoix, while several dispensaries compete for customers in Traverse City, Kalkaska and Gaylord. In Wexford County, five marijuana businesses were recently raided by police and shut down.

Why do medical pot shops thrive in one town and not exist in another? Jesse Williams, an attorney who specializes in medical marijuana cases, asks himself that all the time.

“Some dispensaries are open and some aren’t and some have been raided multiple times and some have never been,” Williams said. “Tell me how this isn’t selective enforcement?”

WHEN ONE DOOR CLOSES…

Marijuana businesses exist in a legal netherworld, somewhere between street corner dope slingers and upstanding chamber of commerce members.

In some communities, whether they exist at all comes down to how prosecutors interpret what’s happened in the courts and legislature.

The confusion dates back to a Michigan Supreme Court ruling issued February 2013 that effectively outlawed the sale of medical marijuana through dispensaries.

The justices decided the 2008 voter-supported medical marijuana initiative did not authorize dispensaries. Medical marijuana users would have to grow their own or get it from a caregiver who could supply a maximum of five patients.

This would seem to have signaled the end of those pot-leaf decorated businesses where “budtenders” peddled strains branded with names like Venom and Super Lemon Skunk.

But just as the courts were tamping down medical marijuana sales, the state House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill to legalize dispensaries — a signal to some in law enforcement to back off.

‘I’M SCRATCHING MY HEAD’

Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Robert Cooney said law enforcers keep getting mixed signals.

“As soon as that decision came out, it seemed like we had a definitive answer from the Supreme Court that [the dispensaries] can’t go on,” Cooney said.

Then the legislators passed the bill to allow dispensaries.

“That bill passed overwhelmingly in the House, and it was introduced by some of the most conservative members,” Cooney said. “This has been the problem with the medical marijuana law all along. I’m scratching my head. What do I do?” Cooney said he decided to leave dispensaries alone while the bill is pending in the Senate.

Cooney is no marijuana booster, however. He believes pot’s wider acceptance has led to an increase in use among high school students. And he notes that most people with medical marijuana cards are under 40 (the average age is 27) — indicators, he believes, of abuse of the law.

‘HE LET THE DOGS LOOSE ON US’

Wexford County Prosecutor Anthony Badovinac took a different approach.

Badovinac gave the go-ahead for Traverse Narcotics Team officers to raid five dispensaries and serve them cease and desist notices in July.

Badovinac could not be reached for comment, though there have apparently been no criminal charges filed in the wake of the raids.

Don Koshmider operates Best Cadillac Provisions, one of the places busted.

Koshmider said he believes authorities changed the rules in the middle of the game.

“The prosecutor who was OK with these places decided he wanted to flip flop and he wanted to raid us,” Koshmider said. “He let the dogs loose on us: TNT. I don’t hate TNT. I understand that they’re needed; there’s a meth scourge in our community. But TNT — they take and seize things.”

The owner of another of the raided dispensaries, who also runs dispensaries in Traverse City and Kalkaska, believes the raids were political.

“In my opinion, it was a politically motivated move by the prosecutor who is eyeing a judgeship,” said the owner, who goes by the name Cooper. “Basically, what took place that day as far as money and product goes was nothing more than a smash-and-grab with a warrant.”

Cooper said the raid cost him $10,000. Koshmider said the raid cast a dark cloud over the medical marijuana community in Cadillac.

“I don’t want to go to prison,” he said. “I’m just a businessman.”

A LIMITED AND UNCERTAIN SUPPLY

The uncertain legal environment caused many dispensary owners to decline public comment.

Mark Turnbull at Superior Green Collective in Gaylord said many patients would not be able to get marijuana if there were no dispensaries.

“Unless you personally know somebody, it’s almost impossible,” Turnbull said. “I think it’s made it hard for people. Some people have to travel distances that their car may be too old to make.”

The marijuana sellers said they believe in the health effects of their product.

“There are a lot of people that are dying of cancer; there’s a lot of people that need their meds,” Koshmider said. “People are driving all over the state to get meds.”

“I can’t tell you how many cases of cancer I’ve seen cured with Simpson oil,” said Cooper, referring to a concentrated THC product.

A VICTIMLESS CRIME?

Williams said that in all of the criminal marijuana cases he’s defended, he’s never come across a crime victim.

“In my opinion, dispensaries are selectively prosecuted and I would challenge anyone to show me the victim,” Williams said. “It’s been my experience that registered patients are purchasing medication at the dispensary which a medical doctor recommended they use.”

Cooney believes there are victims. He said as a prosecutor he sees a correlation between crime and marijuana use. He said pre-sentence investigation reports for defendants convicted of felonies reveal a commonality among criminals — most began as marijuana users.

“You can’t help but notice the pattern, over and over. It’s not just felonies, it’s misdemeanors, too. They have marijuana use in their background,” he said. “People want to think it’s a victimless crime, but then you see people who are injured.”

He said marijuana growers also attract crime; he could think of two recent cases where someone broke into a house or a business to steal marijuana.

“I never thought when I started as a prosecutor 22 years ago that I would now be bringing charges to protect a grow operation,” Cooney said.

Cooney acknowledged he also sees a correlation between alcohol and other drug use and crime.

Cooper countered, “There’s still very strong ‘Refer Madness’ left still to this day,” referring to a 1936 film that exaggerated the danger of the drug. “We were lied to then and the lie is actually starting to unravel.”

CHANGE IS EXPECTED

Big changes are in store for users and sellers of medical marijuana, said Robin Schneider, legislative liaison at the National Patients Rights Association.

Schneider expects the bill that prompted Cooney to hold off taking action on dispensaries will pass the state Senate by year’s end and take effect April 1.

The bill would establish guidelines for medical marijuana provisioning centers, leaving local governments the right to decide whether allow them, where they should be located, and how many they want.

Schneider expects the law will make medical marijuana safer and more available for patients.

“I think this is going to create clarity for both the medical marijuana community and law enforcement, and I think that’s a good thing,” she said. “I think it’s going to be clear, once this bill passes, who is operating legally and who is not.”

ZONED OUT OF LITTLE TRAVERSE

Some communities have already decided they do not want medical marijuana shops.

Under the new bill, it appears those localities will be allowed to maintain the prohibition, though the legalized provisioning centers may prompt a new debate in cities and townships across northern Michigan.

In Charlevoix and Petoskey, local zoning has prevented dispensaries from opening.

Charlevoix County Prosecutor Allen Telgenof said he suspects the reason there are no dispensaries in the Little Traverse region is because the area is conservative.

“I think some of it is partly cultural — this is a more conservative area of the state than Ann Arbor or Lansing,” he said.

CLARITY WANTED

Everyone, it seems, would prefer clarity. Detectives have been trying to figure it out since the law took effect, Cooney said. In the early years, there were busts of marijuana grow operations where officers were certain they had interdicted illegal activity, only to learn that they had busted a medical marijuana caregiver whose dozens of large marijuana plants were legal.

“It’s been very difficult for law enforcement and prosecutors to figure out what they’re supposed to do,” Cooney said.

Medical marijuana users and sellers would also like to know how to conduct business without risking jail.

“I think [the provisioning center and edibles bills] will do what the voters originally intended,” Cooper said.