Traverse City Record-Eagle, 09 Feb 2013 – TRAVERSE CITY – Michigan’s Supreme Court ruled that medical marijuana users can’t buy their medicine at pot shops, a decision that could shut down Traverse City and Acme businesses set up for such transactions. Traverse City Police Capt. Brian Heffner said five marijuana shops in Traverse City allow the sale of medical marijuana from caregivers to patients. Typically owners take about a 20 percent cut in sales to help pay the store’s overhead, Heffner said.

The Oakland Press, 09 Feb 2013 – Opinions run the gamut around Oakland County on Friday’s Michigan Supreme Court ruling on medical marijuana sales. In a 4-1 decision, the state’s highest court affir med an Appeals Court finding that Michigan’s 2008 medical marijuana law does not allow people to sell pot to each other, even if they’re among the tens of thousands who have state issued marijuana cards.

The Oakland Press, 06 Feb 2013 – Michigan took in nearly three times as much money as it costs to administer the state’s medical marijuana program last year. In order, Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, and Washtenaw counties list the most qualified medical marijuana patients and caregivers.

Metro Times, 06 Feb 2013 – Re: Larry Gabriel’s Higher Ground column titled "Don’t be dazed" (Jan. 30): Not only should medical marijuana be made available to patients in need, but adult recreational use should be regulated. Drug policies modeled after our nation’s disastrous experiment with alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don’t ID for age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences.

The Citizen, 30 Jan 2013 – Goodrich-New School Board President David Cramer made his first message to the district very clear-drug testing students is needed. "I’d like to test as many students as possible in the districts whether it’s tied to obtaining a parking pass, athletes or extra-curricular activities," said Cramer during the Monday night school board meeting. "I want the idea to get out there and the community to start thinking about it. I have been on the board for four drug-related expulsions, in addition to more suspensions then we’d like to have."

Metro Times, 30 Jan 2013 – New Pot Doc Shows Patients Trying to Obey the Law Michigan medical marijuana activists have a new film promoting their cause. Blazed and Confused: The War Against the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act is a one-hour documentary that examines how things are not working so well for some folks in the medical marijuana system. It was made by local film maker Jen Whalen.

Detroit News, 29 Jan 2013 – Regarding Marie Myung-Ok Lee’s Jan. 25 op-ed, if health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be legal and there would be no medical marijuana debate. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. Marijuana can be harmful, but jail cells are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents. The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican immigration during the early 1900s, despite opposition from the American Medical Association. Dire warnings that marijuana inspires homicidal rages have been counterproductive. Americans did not begin to smoke pot in large numbers until our federal government began funding reefer madness propaganda.

The Oakland Post, 30 Jan 2013 – The citizens of Colorado and Washington voted in favor of statewide decriminalization of marijuana in November. Other states are now pushing for similar legislation – and we urge Michigan to join in. Yes, the state has made progress by making marijuana available for medical use. But that’s not enough.

The Oakland Press, 27 Jan 2013 – Dear Mr. President: Congratulations on your second inauguration. Let’s talk about drugs. As it happens, today’s festivities fell on Martin Luther King Day. This isn’t the first time you and Dr. King have encountered one another on the calendar. You first accepted your party’s nomination for the presidency on the 45th anniversary of his "I Have a Dream" speech. Though King is a hero for you, one suspects you find mild annoyance in that confluence of dates, given that it draws attention to that which you have assiduously ignored. Meaning, of course, race and the milestone your presidency represents.

Holland Sentinel, 22 Jan 2013 – Holland – In response to William Hapner’s letter in Friday’s Sentinel calling for drug tests for people applying for welfare: Florida is not the first state to enact a drug testing requirement for welfare recipients. Michigan enacted such a law many years ago, as did a handful of other states. These laws are not enforced because they were consistently found to be unconstitutional. In addition to being unconstitutional, these laws have proven counter-productive. Florida already tried this before, and found that the law cost the state far more money than it saved, and that’s just in direct costs. Factor in the indirect costs associated with increased crime and burden-shifting and these laws are a fiscal disaster