Lawsuits part of effort to get state officials to comply with (MI) medical marijuana law

[marmar]

from the Detroit Metro Times:


Activists vs. bureaucrats
Lawsuits part of effort to get state officials to comply with medical marijuana law

By Larry Gabriel
Published: October 3, 2012


Medical marijuana laws generally get bureaucratic pushback from administrators, politicians and law enforcement unhappy with the changes made by citizens' initiatives. Michigan medical marijuana activists claim that is the case with the Michigan Bureau of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), which oversees the Michigan Medical Marihuana program (MMMP).

LARA has definitely been remiss in processing applications and issuing registration cards to patients and caregivers in the past. Although Rae Ramsdell, director of LARA's Bureau of Health Professions, claims to have caught up on a backlog of applications since buying new card-printing machines, complaints about receiving cards late still circulate among activists.

In addition, LARA has not convened a review panel to consider adding qualifying conditions to the Michigan Medical Marijuana Program registry as required by the law passed in November 2008. After nearly four years, that still hasn't happened.

On Sept. 19, the Detroit-based law office, Cannabis Counsel PLC, filed a lawsuit in Ingham County against LARA Director Steven H. Hilfinger and Ramsdell on the behalf of plaintiff Martin Chilcutt, a nearly 80-year-old U.S. Navy veteran who founded the group Veterans for Medical Marijuana Access. The suit requests a court order that would force the officials to follow the law. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://metrotimes.com/mmj/activists-vs-bureaucrats-1.1382149