NOTE:  To list all of the marijuana headlines would render this page useless. That is what newspapers are for. The ones below are those that are noteworthy to Michigan residents.

• April 2011. Federal DEA agents raided several facilities including a home, two medical marijuana dispensaries, and a couple of bars in the Detroit area. 
• A thought provoking article: Why the War on Drugs Must Stop
• Dec. 16, 2010. A circuit judge in Isabella County, ruled a local dispensary was not a "nuisance." The state tried to have it shuttered under civil law, claiming that it was a nuisance. See our Dispensary Page for more.
• Dec. 2010. The ACLU filed suit against various local cities and communities that passed ordinances that basically banned the use of medical marihuana. The cities of Livonia, Birmingham, and Bloomfield Hills were listed in the suit. The ACLU also joined a pending lawsuit against the City of Wyoming in Kent County, which enacted a complete ban on medical marijuana within the city November 2010.
• Nov. 13, 2010. By a slim margin of 4300 votes, Arizona voters approved a medical marijuana ballet initiative, making Arizona the 15th medical marijuana state.  Click here to read: Arizona's Marijuana Act
• August 25, 2010. August 25, 2010. Medical marijuana dispensaries in Ferndale and Hillsdale (near Detroit), were raided by masked, gun-toting police officers from Oakland County. According to news reports and eyewitnesses, the "peace officers" (yes that is why we have police) stormed the facilities with rifles and guns drawn. Patients and staff were forced to lie on the ground as the ski masked police began "tearing the place apart," according to one witness. The cops seized medical records, TV's, computers, security cameras, and medical marijuana. From accounts, it appears as though the vice squads acted as if they were busting up a multi-billion dollar international drug cartel, not a group of average citizens trying to operate a state-legal business from a known location that local authorities are said to have toured prior to the raid. The vice squad then raided the 13 homes of the owners and workers. At last count 15 people were arrested and charged with a variety of marijuana felonies. Witnesses said the police remarked that they needed a "test case." Read more: Marijuana Dispensaries page. After the raid, the Oakland County Prosecutor joined former gubernatorial candidate Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard, both of whom are elected officials, for a news conference, where she proclaimed that the MMMA does not authorize dispensaries or growing co-ops. Whether this is the correct interpretation of the Act remains to be seen. Sheriff Bouchard compared the marijuana dispensaries to an "organized crime" ring and said they are illegal.
• August 2010. The Veterans Administration announced it will not punish veterans in the 14 states where medical marijuana is legal. Veterans who follow their state's approval process will not face prosecution nor the loss of veteran's benefits.
• May 28, 2010, a gun toting narcotic squad raided a marijuana smoking club east of Lansing. The unlucky members inside were allowed to leave after they produced their marijuana ID cards.
• May 5, 2010, a medical marijuana clinic opened for business in Grand Rapids Township. Grand Rapids Alternative Care will be a full time clinic to assist patients seeking approval to use medical marihuana.
• March 31, 2010, a medical marijuana clinic opened in downtown Grand Rapids, operated by the Mid Michigan Compassion Club out of Stanton.
• March 10, 2010, the City of Grand Rapids passed an ordinance requiring registration with the City for all medical marijuana caregivers (not patients). The ordinance requires registration, a business license, and warrantless, open inspections by city officials, the fire department, and the police. Read more.
• Feb. 15, 2010, a Marijuana clinic opened for business in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Dr. David Crocker opened: "Michigan Holistic Health" to help those who qualify for the state's medical marijuana program obtain ID cards. This is the first full-time medical marijuana clinic that will be owned and operated by local resident doctor, who will only handle medical marijuana cases. Most state doctors remain wary and either have a "wait and see" attitude, or want to see more clinical studies done.
• Jan. 18, 2010, New Jersey became 14th state to legalize medical marijuana.
• Jan. 2010, the News reports a medical marijuana 'dispensary' is open in Ypsilanti (near Ann Arbor). This is NOT a California type dispensary, but a compassion club, senior center, gathering area, and place where caregivers can transfer marijuana to their patient. Read more: Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Michigan.
• Dec. 20, 2009, The Grand Rapids Press reported a marijuana compassion club is open in Montcalm County. The club plans to have a back room where registered patients can smoke and sample legal marijuana products.
• Nov. 20, 2009, a marijuana growing college has opened in Detroit; for $475 one can learn to grow pot indoors.
• Nov. 14, 2009, a "Cannabis Cafe" recently opened in Portland, Oregon. Approved medical marijuana patients pay $25 per month and can smoke marijuana in the club. 'Budtenders' serve food, non-alcoholic drinks, and free marijuana to club members. The cafe is the first of its kind in the United States.
• Nov. 10, 2009, the American Medical Association finally reversed its long-held (72 year) position that marijuana be kept as a Schedule I drug without any medical value. The AMA voted to adopt a report that affirms the medical benefit of MJ and called for further research, as studies show it reduces pain, helps appetite, and relieves pain and spasms.
• Oct. 19, 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice released a letter that directs a shift away from the former policy of prosecuting medical marijuana patients and growers. The memo urges prosecutors to pursue marijuana cases which involve violence, firearms, selling pot to minors, money laundering and other crimes. Read full text: DOJ Marijuana Memo
• July 2009, a state senator introduced a bill that would gut the Marijuana Act. Marijuana could only be dispensed with a doctor's Rx, only by a pharmacy, and only 10 growers would be allowed. Since federal law prohibits a doctor from prescribing marijuana and prohibits a pharmacy from dispensing it, this law would create a clever 'Catch-22' situation where you could neither legally grow nor obtain it. The feds used this tactic to criminalize marihuana in 1937
• Sept. 11, 2009, a district court judge in Livingston County ruled that the Marijuana Act could not be applied retroactively. The patient was issued his medical ID card on April 21, 2009 but the pot bust occurred in August 2008. That judicial circuit court for the county has decided the Medical Marijuana Act is NOT be to applied retroactively. The issue of the retroactive application of the medical marihuana act is pending in the Michigan Court of Appeals.
• Sept. 10, 2009, police seized 7 marijuana plants from a registered caregiver in Ogemaw County. The seized plants were growing outdoors inside a fenced, chain link area with a roof. The "SWAT" officers apparently felt that the marihuana should not be growing outside. They left the 4 plants that were growing inside the house.
• June 18, 2009, an Oakland County judge dismissed felony charges against a couple growing marijuana. The police broke down their door in March with a battering ram and found 21 plants. The couple who have since been issued marihuana ID cards.
• Feb. 2009, a judge in Tuscola County dismissed all MJ charges against a man who was raided in December 2007, a year before the law was voted for. The judge determined the statute was retroactive. The requirement, for some counties anyway, seems to be your case had to be pending (open) when the Medical Marihuana Act became valid on December 4, 2008.

We are Knowledgeable about Michigan's Medical Marijuana Law.

Michigan Marijuana Lawyer and Criminal Defense Lawyer Bruce Alan Block took the initiative to thoroughly study the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act and knows how to timely raise its defenses. He is a legal committee member of The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), and is experienced.

Disclaimer: It is our hope that everyone will strictly adhere to the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act's requirements. Please understand that the purpose of this webpage is strictly informational; nothing on this website or this webpage are intended to suggest that you violate any state or federal law. You are advised to seek your own personalized legal advice.