Bipartisan Congressional Lawmakers Urge U.S. To Resist International Kratom Ban

“These big money investors have taken a step in power.”

By Marla R. Miller, Michigan Advance

Several bills amending the voter-approved Michigan Medical Marijuana Act of 2008 and the state’s nursing program were pulled out of committee Tuesday and will be passed into the House of Representatives.

House Bills 5300-5302, known as the Michigan Cannabis Safety Act, tighten rules for caregivers regarding plant allowances, product testing, and growing medical marijuana. The new legislation would create a new Special Medical Grower (SMG) license for nurses that includes a variety of regulations.

The House of Representatives Regulatory Reform Committee approved Bills 5300-5302 and 5319-5321 of the House of Representatives, with most passed at 10-2 and some members abstaining. The committee adopted changes to HB 5300 and 5301 before the last minute vote, adding a language that would allow unlicensed caregivers to care for up to five patients from their primary residence. However, unlicensed keepers were only able to grow 24 marijuana plants at home.

The legislative package approved by the Regulatory Reform Committee includes:

HB 5300: Enables sales to and from licensed specialist medical breeders.

HB 5301: Creates a license for a specialized medical breeder.

HB 5302: Requires specialist medical breeders to use a tracking system.

HB 5319: Exempts the sale of marijuana by a registered primary nurse or licensed medical specialty grower to a registered qualified patient from use tax.

HB 5320: Updated a reference to the definition of a debilitating medical condition in the Public Health Act.

HB 5321: Exempts the sale of marijuana by a registered GP or licensed specialist medical breeder to a registered qualified patient from sales tax.

Under current law, medical marijuana caregivers must register with the state but do not require a license. You can have up to five patients and grow 12 plants per patient without a lot of rules for testing, labeling, or tracking their products. Caregivers can grow a maximum of 72 plants if they are also a registered medical marijuana patient.

Committee chairman Roger Hauck (R-Union Twp.) Addressed the audience briefly regarding the substitute members who were accepted during Tuesday’s hearing. The medical marijuana bills were put on the agenda Monday afternoon after the committee postponed the vote on them on October 19.

“First of all, I want you to know that it is important that Michigan’s patients, including those with cancer and other serious or incurable diseases, not be separated from their caregivers,” he said.

Hauck assured the audience that the committee would review the statements of the voters. Caregivers and patients packed the hearing on October 5th. Hauck closed the hearing before many in attendance had their say, and many who opposed the bills returned on October 19.

Lawmakers and officials from the Michigan Cannabis Manufacturers Association (MCMA) also testified at the October 5 hearing, citing concerns about the safety of unchecked medical marijuana grown by caregivers.

Proponents claim the new laws are aimed at ensuring that all cannabis in Michigan is tested, labeled, tracked, and licensed. Others expressed concerns that several caregivers are setting up farms in rural areas as well as in residential areas.

“This helps ensure that patients are not separated from their carers, and at the same time prevents large-scale cultivation operations in our neighborhood from causing devastating damage,” said Hauck. “This replacement also retains the option for caregivers to use the new specialty breeder license if they have up to 72 plants and want to sell their surplus.”

Health care workers and cannabis activists argue that those who led Michigan’s grassroots efforts to legalize medical and recreational marijuana are now being supplanted by great cannabis. They counteract the laws that create overregulation for caregivers. Even if nurses apply for a specialty medical breeder license, the regulations prevent them from continuing with just five patients.

Ryan Bringold, a Waterford nurse, organized the rally for nurses’ rights at the Lansing State Capitol on September 15 and appeared at the regulatory reform hearings in October. He claims caregivers never had a seat at the table when these legislative proposals were being drafted, and lawmakers ignored caregivers’ attempts to contact them.

“We’re not going to give up,” he told the Advance. “These big money investors have taken a step in power.”

Bringold is organizing an educational dinner for lawmakers at the Radisson Hotel in Lansing on November 9 and spent Tuesday afternoon handing out invitations to Members of Parliament in person. He has assembled a training team to explain the law and benefits to pediatric patients, veterans and other chronically ill patients.

“You don’t get the facts,” he said. “We want to tell them the truth and cover every aspect of the law.”

The MCMA represents many of the state’s largest breeders, processors, and vertically integrated cannabis licensees. All MCMA members are licensed by the Marijuana Regulatory Agency, which would also edit, approve, and enforce the medical specialty breeder licenses and related regulations. The group, led by Republican adviser and lobbyist Stephen Linder, has funded several studies on Michigan’s cannabis market, illicit sales, and voter views on cannabis testing, the results of which were also presented at the October 5 hearing.

MCMA officials praised the bipartisan legislation and now encouraged the House of Representatives to pass the legislation immediately.

“We congratulate the members of the House Regulatory Reform Committee for taking this important step in addressing the unregulated, unlicensed cannabis market in Michigan by helping ensure that all patients have access to tested, uniquely labeled, traced and licensed cannabis,” said Linder in a press release.

The bills will now be moved to the house. With the bills amending Voter-approved Proposal 1 in 2008, the bill would require a three-quarters vote from both the House of Representatives and the Senate and the signature of Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D).

With last-minute replacements on Tuesday, the proposed bills will allow unlicensed caregivers to grow for themselves and care for five patients, but the number of plants will be capped at 24 if grown at home. Caregivers who want to keep their current five patients and 12 plants per patient number would need to apply for the specialty medical breeder license.

In addition, the legislation creates new rules for where and how specialist medical breeders can grow or manufacture medical marijuana. In particular, they must move to an area that is designated for agricultural or industrial use.

SMGs would need to test, package, track, label, and use safe transportation for all medical marijuana products. It also requires that the sale or transfer of medical marijuana by SMGs be entered into the state’s METRC system.

The law only allows one licensed specialist medical grower to grow marijuana in the same location, unless local regulations “specifically” allow more than one SMG to be grown in the same location. In addition, each SMG must have a separate, self-contained system with a separate input and metered supply facilities.

State Representatives Jim Lilly (R-Park Twp.) And Richard Steenland (D-Roseville) introduced the bills, claiming that the changes are about patient and consumer safety. The bills also address what caregivers can do with their obsolescence and address Michigan’s unregulated cannabis supply.

The proposed legislation allows licensed medical specialist growers to sell surpluses to licensed medical marijuana growers, but not directly to medical marijuana supply centers or pharmacies.

This story was first published by Michigan Advance.

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