(MI)chigan lawmakers propose pharmacy marijuana sales

Last edited Sun Nov 10, 2013, 05:09 PM - Edit history (1)

Five years after Michigan voters legalized marijuana use for medical purposes, lawmakers say it's time the drug is brought into the fold of the health care industry so patients can buy it at their corner pharmacy.

A bill approved last week by a Senate committee would pave the way for the production and sale of "pharmaceutical-grade" cannabis. The measure essentially would create a second medical pot system in the state, one that proponents say would not interfere with the existing law under which patients can grow their own pot or obtain it from caregivers.

"Marijuana, if it's to be medical marijuana, should be held to the standard of medical safety, dosage predictability," said Sen. Roger Kahn, a Saginaw Township Republican and cardiologist. "Our medical marijuana (law) does neither of those. Yet it uses the word 'medical' predominantly or prominently in its claims."

Kahn is sponsoring legislation, now pending on the Senate floor, to move marijuana from a Schedule 1 drug in the same category as heroin and other drugs with no accepted medical use to a Schedule 2 drug like cocaine and morphine that are addictive but also used for medicinal purposes. The reclassification could not occur without federal approval.

http://www.uppermichiganssource.com/news/story.aspx?id=969444#.Un6JzZG9VS8