Less than a month ago we referred to an article discussing the federal push to 'stymie' medical marijuana dating back to 1996, when medical marijuana first became legal in California.  The article discussed three phases of federal government involvement with state medical marijuana laws.  The first phase of attacks targeted doctors while a second phase took aim at landlords.  After several cases and years of litigation neither method proved successful to overcome California's medical marijuana laws.

Fast forward to present day where Michigan seems to be the stage for the reenactment of the same show:  on April 17, 2011, a Saginaw doctor, Ruth A. Buck, will be indicted on charges of aiding and abetting the distribution of marijuana, a Class I controlled substance under federal law.  Under Michigan law, a licensed health professional may recommend use of marijuana for a a number of "debilitating conditions" listed in the Act.  The wording of the Act carefully avoids reference to "prescribing" marijuana as such a prescription would place a physician in direct violation of federal law.  The federal complaint in Dr. Buck's case questions the due diligence of her patient reviews and alleges that she referred at least one patient to a Bay City dispensary to acquire marijuana.

The series of cases involving California doctors in the late 90's were typically tried and decided on somewhat different claims and grounds.  Some complaints tried to compel the physicians to disclose patient names, or sought to convict doctors as accomplices in the procurement and possession of marijuana.  The United States District Court for Northern California found these tactics to be unconstitutional in the frequently cited case of Conant v McCoffey.

It will be interesting to see if after fifteen years and fourteen states with similar medical marijuana laws, the show first played out in California will come to a different conclusion in Michigan.

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