Former Handy Twp. Dispensary Case Affected by RulingFormer Handy Twp. Dispensary Case Affected by Ruling

2/13/13 - A recent court ruling regarding medical marijuana will not only affect users and caregivers across the state, but also four local residents charged in connection to a raid on their now-closed marijuana dispensary. 40-year-old Alan Marshall, his 38-year-old wife Christi and 31-year-old Stephanie Lynn Baxter have been facing counts of marijuana manufacture and delivery after authorities say they sold pot to an undercover narcotics officer who had come to the Marshall Alternatives dispensary in Handy Township in February and May of 2011 posing as a card-carrying medical marijuana patient. 45-year-old April Sundie Smith was also charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. Defense lawyers maintain it’s a case of entrapment. The charges had been on hold while the Michigan Supreme Court decided an Isabella County appeal on the validity of medical marijuana dispensaries. But in a ruling last week, the justices banned patient to patient sales and transfers, essentially outlawing medical marijuana dispensaries. Court records show that no new dates have been scheduled locally. Howell-based attorney Denise Policella specializes in medical marijuana issues and says the decision may have been sparked by irritation with the Michigan Legislature for sitting on the issue for four years and not doing anything to regulate it. Policella says patients who relied on dispensaries for clean, safe lab-tested medical grade marijuana will now have a very difficult time obtaining it because there is no easy way to find a caregiver. She tells WHMI there is an urgent need to regulate dispensaries because if medical marijuana is going to be allowed to exist in Michigan, then patients need to have a means of safely accessing it without fear of prosecution. While dispensaries were outlawed, caregiver to patient sales are still considered legal and up to 2.5 ounces of medical marijuana can be sold or provided to a registered, qualifying patient. But Policella says the ruling will just push the production and sale of marijuana back into homes and subdivisions where she feels it doesn’t belong. (JK/JM)