The Hubbard Law Firm has adopted a Reo Elementary First Grade Class for the 2011-2012 school year, donating Mead Primary Journals, pencils, crayons, glue sticks, notebooks, folders, hand sanitizer and other classroom supplies.

Many of Ms. Petersen's students are from families struggling to make ends meet. The majority of students attending Reo Elementary qualify for the National School Lunch Program. The Hubbard family saw this as their opportunity to make a big difference to a small group of kids.

This is the third summer in a row that Hubbard has donated classroom supplies for Lansing area children.

Kent County Circuit Court Judge Dennis Leiber recently granted the City of Wyoming's motion for summary disposition to dismiss John Ter Beek's injunction request.  Ter Beek was seeking an injunction to prohibit the City of Wyoming from enforcing its zoning ordinance, which prohibits any land uses contrary to federal law.  Ter Beek feared being found in violation of the zoning ordinance for either using or growing marihuana in his dwelling in compliance with Michigan's Medical Marihuana Act ("MMMA").  The Court noted that while the MMMA recognizes medical uses for marihuana, "Congress recognizes no accepted medical use for marijuana."  As a result, the Court determined that the MMMA stands as an obstacle to the implementation and execution of the full purposes and objectives of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), 21 USC § 801 et seq ("CSA"); and further the MMMA is preempted by Congress' intent to occupy the entire field regulated.  With this decision, the Kent County Circuit Court becomes the fourth court in Michigan to determine that the MMMA is preempted by the CSA.  Earlier this year, both the Wayne County and Midland County Circuit Courts determined that the MMMA is preempted by the CSA; and prior to that, a Dearborn District Court Judge similarly ruled.

Both Wayne County and Kent County were persuaded by the Oregon Supreme Court decision, Emerald Steel Fabricators, Inc v Bureau of Labor and Industries, 348 Or 159 (2010).  In that case the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act affirmatively authorizing the use of medical marijuana was preempted by the Federal Controlled Substances Act.

The Court of Appeal recently determined that persons are required to obtain registry cards, under the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act (MMMA), before they begin to grow marihuana for medical purposes.  Here, Defendant Reed suffers from chronic back pain, related to a surgery over a decade ago, and began to inquire about the medical use of marihuana.  On August 25, 2009, an undercover narcotics team, while doing aerial surveillance, spotted six marijuana plants at Reed's residence.  On September 16, 2009, Reed obtained a certification from a doctor to use marihuana for medical purposes.  Reed received his registry identification card from the State of Michigan on October 6, 2009.  On October 16, 2009, Reed was arrested and charged with the manufacture of marijuana.  Reed filed a motion to dismiss the charges claiming that he met all the elements of the affirmative defenses in Section 8 of the MMMA.  Section 8 of the MMMA indicates that a patient may assert the medical purpose for using marihuana as a defense to any prosecution and it shall be presumed valid, if, among other things, a physician has stated the patient is likely to receive benefit from the medical use of marihuana.  Reed also argued that he should have been immune from arrest under the MMMA, which states that a qualifying patient who has been issued and possesses a registry card shall not be subject to arrest, provided the patient doesn't have more than the permitted amount of marihuana.  The trial court denied Reed's motion and the Court of Appeals granted leave to hear the appeal.  The Court of Appeals determined that Reed's arguments fail because at the time of the offense, he did not possess a registry card; and in order for the Section 8 defenses to apply, the physician's statement must be procured before the purportedly illegal conduct occurs.  People v Reed, Published No. 296686, at 4 (2011).

Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Colleen A. O'Brien has ruled that the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act (MMMA) provides no protection from prosecution to medical marihuana dispensaries.  Defendant Vlasenko, who operates Modern Age dispensary, is being charged on three counts of delivery of the controlled substance marijuana.  He argued that he should be protected from prosecution because he is a caregiver dispensing marihuana to patients with a medical marihuana card.  The prosecuting attorney filed a motion to prevent him from asserting MMMA affirmative defenses and mentioning medical marihuana at trial.  The Court granted the prosecuting attorney's motion, relying on Section 8 of the MMMA, finding the MMMA provides for a relationship between the  patient and caregiver, and "not the dispensing of marijuana to the world at large."  The Court also determined that while a patient and caregiver may collectively be in possession of marihuana, Modern Age was selling marihuana to "anyone who walks in the door and pays a membership fee."  It should be noted that this decision is very narrowly tailored to its specific and may not be applicable to other situations.  Here, Defendant Vlasenko was selling marihuana, from a dispensary, to undercover police officers, who had not been issued valid medical marihuana cards.

In other Oakland County Circuit Court news, the ACLU has filed a complaint against the City of Birmingham and Bloomfield, claiming their ordinances are invalid, since they prohibit marihuana even for medical purposes.  These complaints were originally filed in Wayne County along with a complaint against the City of Livonia, which has a similar ordinance.  However, Birmingham and Bloomfield were successful in their request to move their cases to Oakland County Circuit Court.  The Wayne County Circuit Court recently ruled that the Livonia ordinance was preempted by the MMMA, however it also held the entire MMMA to be preempted by the Federal Controlled Substances Act.