By Steve Elliott of Toke of the Town
A suburban Detroit area judge claims that Michigan’s medical marijuana law is illegal, and is trumped by federal drug laws which classify cannabis as a Schedule I substance.
Dearborn District Judge Mark Somers ruled in March in a case involving a man who was caught with pot before he received a medical marijuana card, reports The Associated Press. The patient, Robert Brandon, unsuccessfully tried to have his case dismissed.
The decision by Somers — one of three judges in Dearborn — isn’t binding on other judges in Dearborn or in Michigan. “But anyone appearing in Somers’ court and arguing a medical marijuana defense will lose,” AP reports.
Judge Somers claims that Michigan can’t allow the medical use of marijuana legally when Congress has made it illegal.
Bill DeBiasi, a Dearborn city prosecutor, said the illegality of Michigan’s medical marijuana law was one of his arguments, though not the main one.
Sixty-three percent of Michigan voters overwhelmingly approved the legalization of marijuana for medical uses in 1998. Every county in the state voted for the measure.
Article From Toke of the Town
