On January 11, 2011, the Michigan Court of Appeals issued a published opinion in People v Kolanek, No. 295125, where, in a case of first impression, the court addressed when a doctor must provide his or her written recommendation to allow an individual to assert the Medical Marihuana Act's affirmative defense.

MCL 333.26428(a)(1) provides that a patient may assert the affirmative defense to any prosecution involving marihuana if the patient can show that a physician "has stated" the patient is likely to receive a benefit from the medical use of marihuana.  The Court interpreted "has stated" to mean that the patient must receive the recommendation before the patient was arrested.  The recommendation must also be obtained after the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act was passed.  This opinion effectively limits the time period in which a physician's recommendation may be used to assert the defense allowed by the MMMA.