From The Weed Street Journal archive. This article was published before James Buddsey took over the site and is queued for review and update.
New proposals that would help to clarify medical marijuana laws were reviewed in the Michigan House on Thursday. This legislation is intended to deal with the production, sale, and prescription of medical marijuana, as well as identification of those involved in the medical marijuana industry.
HB 4834 would require a photograph for medical marijuana patient registration cards.
HB 4851 attempts to clarify the definition of “bona fide physician-patient relationship.”
One of the new proposals deals with the logistics of the doctor-patient relationship involved in the prescription of medical marijuana, and works to better define what would qualify a doctor as certified to make such a prescription. Another piece of legislation aims to add photographs to medical marijuana patients’ identification cards.
Proponents of medical marijuana say these regulations may hinder patients’ from getting the prescriptions they need, while advocates of this new legislation claim that it will secure the substance and reduce abuse of the medical system. The issue has come up as some authorities contend it’s too easy for non-qualified patients to get medical marijuana cards.
Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing, urged his colleagues to address the dispensary question.
“As legislators we need to deal with it in its entirety. We need to deal with it all at once,” he said. “I think we should produce some legislation relating to dispensaries as soon as possible.”