A proposed set of rules altering the nature of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Program (MMMP) will be considered by a Joint Committee today in Lansing.
The rules met stiff resistance from medical marijuana community members during a hearing on the proposed changes earlier this year. Members of Americans for Safe Access- Michigan, Cannabis Patients United, Michigan Moms United, The Michigan Cannabis Cancer Project, The Human Solution and others raised concerns regarding the proposed fee changes- and a first-in-the-nation all electronic registration process.
Current fees to enroll in the MMMP are $100 for two years and $25 for two years for people receiving federal assistance under the SSI program. The proposal would change the fee to $65 for two years for everyone, eliminating the discount for those financially disadvantaged ill and injured Michigan residents.
Also proposed: eliminating all paper records and creating an all-electronic database. All supporting documents- driver’s license, medical records- would have to be scanned into a computer and then transferred to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), the branch of government charged with the administration of the MMMP. Currently those records are photocopied and sent in via traditional mail delivery.
Activists complained that the most rural and most impoverished of the MMMP participants would find this standard a hardship. Others pointed out that LARA and their predecessor in controlling the MMMP, the Department of Community Health, had never competently managed to administer the issuance of cards and the conducting of background checks while using paper records. To entrust a totally new system to the people that couldn’t manage a paper records system that the state has been using for years seemed overly optimistic to the hearing participants.
Details regarding the October 1 hearing are included below.
| Committee | Joint Committee on Administrative Rules |
| Clerk Phone Number | Marge Martin 517-373-5773 |
| Location | Rooms 402/403, State Capitol Building, Lansing, MI |
| Date | Wednesday, 10/1/2014 |
| Time | 12:00 PM |
| Agenda | JCAR #14-22 Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Fire Services/Storage Tank Division, Storage and Handling of Flammable/Combustible Liquids. (2013-028 LR) JCAR #14-26 Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Fire Services/Storage Tank Division, Compressed Natural Gas Vehicular Gaseous Fuel Slystems. (2013-108 LR) JCAR #14-32 Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Fire Services /Storage Tank Division, Storage and Handling of Liquefied Petroleum Gases. (2014-012 LR) JCAR #14-33 Department of Treasury, Bureau of State and Authority Finance – School Bond Qualification Rules. (2013-106 TY) JCAR #14-23 Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs-Director’s Office, Michigan Medical Marihuana. (2013-105 LR) JCAR #14-35 Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Administrative Hearing System, Administrative Hearing Rules. (2013-100 LR) |
| Chair | Senator John Pappageorge |
www.legislature.mi.gov/
Source: TheCompassionChronicles.Com
