Global Ganja Report

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette issued an opinion Nov. 10 finding that law enforcement officers are not required to return confiscated medical marijuana to a patient or caregiver—even though a state law prohibits such seizures. Schuette said the provision in the state's 2008 medical marijuana statute is pre-empted by federal law.

Longtime activist Dana Beal has suffered a heart attack while in a Wisconsin jail awaiting transfer to a state prison to begin serving a 2 ½ year term for marijuana trafficking. Beal was stricken on the morning of Sept. 27, and at last report was hospitalized in stable condition at the intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital in Madison.

The Oakland County Narcotics Enforcement Team raided sites Sept. 14 in Michigan's Commerce Township, where defense attorneys said 34 caregivers grew cannabis in 34 leased and locked units. No arrests were made in raids on properties associated with Absolute Herbal Remedies, but 500 plants and tens of thousands of dollars in growing equipment were seized.

More than 1,000 people carrying colorful home-made signs gathered on the steps of the Michigan capitol building in Lansing on Sept. 7 to protest a recent state Court of Appeals ruling that made commercial sales of medical marijuana illegal. "Marijuana smoke hung in the air most of the afternoon," one reporter wrote, while protesters chanted "Whose house? Our house! Show me what democracy is made of!" The protest—held on the first day the Michigan legislature returned for the fall session—was called by the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association to demand that lawmakers uphold the will of the voters in the Medical Marijuana Act, a ballot initiative passed overwhelmingly in 2008.

A Michigan court of appeals ruled Aug. 23 that medicinal cannabis cannot be sold at private dispensaries. The defendants were owners of the Compassionate Apothecary, a privately owned dispensary that facilitates patient-to-patient transfer of cannabis using a locker system for patients to store and trade. Compassionate Apothecary retains 20% of proceeds from each transaction, and has 345 members, all certified by the state to use cannabis for medicinal purposes. An Isabella county prosecutor filed the complaint, seeking to enjoin operations for failing to comply with the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act (MMMA). (Detroit Free Press, Aug. 25; Jurist, Aug. 24)

Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced Aug. 11 that six suspects—five Mexican nationals and one US citizen—were arrested in connection with a large-scale cannabis cultivation operation in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. Officers from federal, state and local enforcement agencies eradicated some 10,000 plants over several acres about 25 miles northwest of Park Falls. Law enforcement was alerted by a hunter’s tip last November. About 175 agents were involved in the operation, which uncovered the crops and a campsite used by the growers, where loaded firearms were reportedly found. Ashland County residents have been warned not to pick up hitchhikers as agents continue to search for four suspects.

Federal prosecutors in Dayton are wrapping up a case against 11 immigrant men charged with cultivating thousands of cannabis plants. All have pleaded guilty and seven have received sentences ranging from a year to 18 months in prison. When the arrests were announced in the fall, state Attorney General Richard Cordray said the case was further evidence of what he called "cartel-sponsored mega-marijuana farms taking root in Ohio." But defense attorneys say the defendants were poor day laborers trying to earn money for their families with no idea about what they were being hired to do.

The Ohio Patient Network has turned over of a petition with 2,143 signatures in the first step toward putting medical marijuana before voters. The proposed "Ohio Alternative Treatment Amendment" would amend the state constitution to allow patients with qualifying ailments to possess up to 3.5 ounces of cannabis, or up to 12 plants. If 1,000 signatures are validated and the language of the proposed amendment is approved, it will be before Buckeye voters on the November 2012 ballot. (WLWT, Cincinnati, Aug. 1; The Other Paper, Columbus, July 28)