Thanks to Board member, Al Arsenault
Published: Saturday, April 09, 2011, Press and Guide – Dearborn, MI
The city’s chief judge last month made a ruling that could have big implications for the state’s two-year-old medical marijuana law.
In an order denying a motion to dismiss a possession of marijuana case, Judge Mark Somers wrote, “This court finds that in consequence of the lawful designation of marijuana as a Schedule I narcotic under the Controlled Substances Act, the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act is rendered unconstitutional and void in its entirety by operation of the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.”
The Controlled Substance Act is a federal statute that classifies drugs into five categories, known as schedules, based on their potential for abuse. Schedule I drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine and LSD, are considered to be the most addictive and are not legal to prescribe.
The case stems from a traffic stop in January 2010. Dearborn police cited the defendant, Robert Brandon, for illegal possession of marijuana and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to court documents.
Brandon tried to have the case dismissed four months later based on the grounds that, after he was ticketed, he saw a doctor who issued him a “physician’s certification” for medical marijuana to treat chronic back pain. Doctor’s can’t legally prescribe medical marijuana so, under the Michigan law, a physician’s certification is the terminology used.
Somers questioned the legitimacy of the claim, however, noting that Brandon’s doctor only met with Brandon for about 20 minutes before writing the certification, did not perform any physical examination, and had no previous patient-doctor relationship, which is part of the criteria for medical marijuana certification.
Moreover, Somers wrote, Brandon’s certification came after the traffic stop, meaning that it couldn’t be used as a defense.
But what was most significant in the order was that Somers, an outspoken critic of marijuana and skeptic of the medical marijuana law, declared the medical marijuana law void. The case is scheduled for a pretrial conference April 12.
Somers declined comment Thursday because the case remains pending. The city’s chief judge last month made a ruling that could have big implications for the state’s two-year-old medical marijuana law.
In an order denying a motion to dismiss a possession of marijuana case, Judge Mark Somers wrote, “This court finds that in consequence of the lawful designation of marijuana as a Schedule I narcotic under the Controlled Substances Act, the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act is rendered unconstitutional and void in its entirety by operation of the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.”
The medical marijuana law has been a legal quagmire since Michigan voters adopted it in 2008. Because marijuana remains illegal under federal law, local governmental bodies in Michigan have been forced to interpret how to apply it.
Somers’ ruling doesn’t mandate Dearborn’s two other district judges to take the same view.
