Michigan's medical marijuana law is no protection for drivers, appellate court says

2:41 PM | Posted by TheHollandCompassionClub | Edit Post

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Users of medical marijuana cannot legally drive if they have any amount of the drug in their systems, the state Court of Appeals said in a ruling issued this morning.
The appellate court said the state’s “zero tolerance” law, which prevents motorists from operating a vehicle with any amount of a Schedule 1 controlled substance in their body, still applies for drivers who legally use medical marijuana.
The ruling came in a Grand Traverse County case in which Prosecutor Alan Schneider charged Rodney Koon with driving under the influence.
A circuit judge upheld a district judge’s ruling that jurors in Koon’s trial would not be told that any presence of marijuana in Koon’s system would be enough to convict.
The circuit judge ruled that the medical marijuana law superseded the zero-tolerance law.
Schneider also disagreed with the judges’ rulings that, under the medical marijuana law, he had to prove the driver was under the influence of the drug. State law prohibits any amount of marijuana in a motorist’s body.
According to the ruling, police stopped Koon for driving 83 mph in a 55-mph zone. Koon admitted to drinking one beer after an officer detected intoxicants, and admitted he used marijuana five or six hours earlier. He told the officer he had a medical marijuana card.
A blood test showed he had active THC in his system.
The appeals panel – David Sawyer, Peter O’Connell and Amy Ronayne Krause – said the medical marijuana law recognized circumstances where medical marijuana use would be not permitted.
“One of those exceptions specifically states that the protections will not apply to operating a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana. … This is certainly not an irrational provision. For example, it is not uncommon for a medication, whether prescription or over the counter, to be accompanied by a warning not to drive while using the medication.”
The problem is, the medical marijuana law doesn’t define “under the influence of marijuana,” the justices wrote.
“What we are left with is the (medical marijuana law), which affords a certain degree of immunity from prosecution for possession or use of marijuana for a medical purpose, and the Michigan Motor Vehicle Code, which prohibits operating a motor vehicle while there is any amount of marijuana in the driver’s system.”
It said the medical marijuana law, or legislators, could have rescheduled marijuana from a Schedule 1 controlled substance.
The court said that the medical marijuana law didn’t create a right to use marijuana, but provided protection from prosecution for possessing an illegal drug.
Koon contended that he had the “right” to “internally possess” marijuana, and, if he didn’t break any laws, could go about his “day-to-day activites, including operating a vehicle.
The medical marijuana law was supported by 63 percent of voters in 2008.
The justices called the medical marijuana law an "inartfully drafted act."
E-mail John Agar: jagar@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/grpressagar
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