—34— O’Shaughnessy’s • Winter/Spring 2013 BeyondTHC.com Medical distribution in Michigan: The Farmers’ Market Model The not-for-profit Genesee County Compassion Club does not own, control, handle, sell or dispense Cannabis. It offers a secure space where patients and Cannabis providers can conduct transactions. By Paul Meyer, MD

I’m in Genesee Township, hard up vide limited space to sit. The only escape nabis entrepreneurs by the hundreds out of against the city limits of Flint, looking at from music, fumes, conversation, and the business, and in no position to fight back. what might be the future of medical can- general bustle of cannabis commerce is a An Interview With Jeremy Rupinsky nabis in Michigan. The Genesee County small private office. Or the bathroom. To find out what makes G3C tick —and Compassion Club (G3C) is tripling its The new space go on ticking in the face of statewide at- size by adding a larger, somewhat classier G3C’s new space has a different feel, tacks on growers and storefront, two doors down from its current and it isn’t just that it’s empty and quiet. distribution points— I interviewed Jeremy space. Both are in a small strip mall in a The booths and tables are brand new, and Rupinski, a founder and board member. semi-gritty neighborhood right across the they contrast nicely with the charcoal-gray Jeremy is an articulate 30-something street from Flint proper. composite floor. The place was a gym until with orange-reddish stubble and long, tied- The survival and expansion of G3C are a month or two ago. The addition could be back hair. After dropping out of college he cause for celebration in a city and state said to have a décor, enhanced by gleaming went into banking and ran a commercial where the Republican administration stainless steel at what will be the sizeable branch for 10 years. He currently supports elected in 2010 has made sabotage of the espresso and snack bar. himself as a caregiver. Michigan Medical Marhuana Act (MMA, The menu will feature “whatever we can We sat down at a table in the nearly-ready spelled with the “h” in the state’s law) a serve without having to deal with restau- new club space. A lunch was just ending central thrust of its program. Af- for a dozen or so members who had spent ter dispensary sale of cannabis the morning picking trash from the road- was ruled illegal by the courts in side at the club’s adopt-a-highway section. a 2010 decision —followed im- PM: Tell us how G3C got started, and mediately by a series of raids— what it was like in the beginning. most of the 400 distribution JR: We started with three volunteers and outlets then in business quickly the idea of acting on the new rights granted Caregiver with her medications. folded. us by the passage of Michigan’s medical But G3C is different. It oper- marijuana law in November 2008. The law went into effect in early Decem- ates as a “Farmers’ Market,” one G3C’s spacious new digs. PM: Were you active in getting the state ber of 2008, as specified by the constitution of a small handful of such clubs in the rant regulation through the Health Depart- ballot initiative passed? —30 days after the approval of the ballot state. Incorporated as a not-for-profit, at ment,” says Amanda, the club’s assistant initiative. Yet for a while there was total no time does it own, control, handle, sell manager, who is giving me the tour. The At first it was just a few like- confusion about what the law meant, and how it was going to be implemented. By or dispense any cannabis whatsoever. Its 4,000 square-foot space is undivided, with minded people sharing what they function is to serve patients and caregivers a feeling of expansiveness. April of 2009, the Department of Health by providing a secure space where trans- knew about the new law, and and Human Services (HHS) had their act actions can take place. Another part of its G3C now has over 6,000 members. cannabis as medication. Then together sufficiently to start sending out mission is education, and a variety of on- Things are looking up —and here in we decided to start having public applications for permits. going classes are taught. Flint, of all places, the setting for Michael The guidelines issued by the Department G3C’s original storefront is marked only Moore’s 1989 film Roger and Me, which meetings to share what we knew. were sketchy at best, although they had by lettering on a glass door which opens documented the economic devastation in- initially proposed much more extensive into the reception area, a modest room flicted by General Motors. JR: I did a little, not a lot. But as soon rules about what the program would look comprising perhaps a third of the club’s Under pro-business-as-long-as-it’s-not- as the law passed we were ready —we had like: 40 pages of them. But at a Department current 2,000 square feet. The walls are pot Rebublican Governor and been waiting for it. We had our first meet- hearing early in the process, lots of people, cinder block, the flooring vinyl. Friendly Attorney General Bill Schuette, Michigan ing in December of 2008. At first it was including some state officials, expressed staff are stationed behind glass display cas- dispensaries and growers have in the past just a few like-minded people sharing what that they didn’t like what they were see- es. Bongs and other glass paraphernalia fill two years suffered waves of raids and pros- they knew about the new law, and can- ing. People commented that, “This is far the cabinets. T-shirts with G3C logos are ecution. No matter that a May 2012 State nabis as medication. Then we decided to more detailed than we were looking for.” stacked on wall shelving. Supreme Court decision generally support- start having public meetings to share what So HHS backed off, and in a nutshell said, The first step is ID-card check. I show ed patients’ rights to possess and transfer we knew. We were advertising locally, “Well, we decided that we’re basically not my state card and buy a membership for cannabis, and undercut some of the of the and gathering in libraries and rented halls, going to have any rules. The law says what $20. No records are kept —lose my card legal rationale for much of Schuette’s cru- including the banquet room at the local it says, and that’s what it is.” and it can be replaced if I have my receipt, sade. The damage has been done, with can- bowling alley. PM: Essentially deferring to the police otherwise I’ll have to pony up again. Deal and prosecutors--especially the state AG-- and the courts to figure it out? done, I am directed through the next door The Political Context into the patients-only area. JR: Yes, So that’s why we were left in In June 2012 the Michigan Supreme Court reversed a prior appeals court ruling a sort of limbo initially. But that’s one of to affirm that a patient with a medical condition and physician certification has the Caregivers can grow 12 plants the things that helped us in the compas- right to possession and use of cannabis, with or without an ID card. Although ob- sion clubs. The state did such a poor job per patient for up to five patients taining a card is preferred for more complete protection, the patient’s right to the af- of telling us about the program —how it under Michigan law. firmative defense was upheld, with the court ruling that the patient’s right to use of works, and anything about medical canna- the herb is not and cannot be abrogated by technicalities dealing with exact numbers bis— that people were really grasping for A dozen or so restaurant booth tables line of plants, weight of medication, security of locked facilities, etc. information. So when people went looking the walls; at each sits a caregiver —autho- A pending Supreme Court case will determine the validity of an appeals court for alternative sources, we were one of the rized by state law to grow 12 plants per pa- verdict in the McQueen ruling, which effectively outlawed dispensaries. The court few places they could get informed. tient for up to five patients— with wares on ruled that dispensary ‘’’sales” of medications were illegal, despite the language of We had people coming down here to display: jars of trimmed bud, syringes of the law, which allows both “transfer” of medication, and “compensation” for it. our educational meetings from all over the dark oil extract, Saran-wrapped medibles Go figure. state, even from hundreds of miles away, in piles. Many of the product labels con- AG Schuette had travelled the state extensively in 2011, in an effort to “educate” in the Upper Peninsula. They were wait- tain information about content local law enforcement on his particular take on the law—which is legally binding ing for somebody to tell them something. and contaminant levels. There are approxi- unless and until reversed by the courts. His extremely constricted interpretation of At or first meetings I was up there going mately a dozen labs now testing cannabis the law has been repudiated to an extent by the state Supreme Court, yet the dam- hoarse, talking without a microphone. in Michigan for potency and purity. age has been done: More than 400 dispensaries and grow operations were once in Later we had a 90-minute Power Point pre- Business seems brisk at most tables, business; the great majority have now gone bust. sentation. These people would be so happy, with perhaps 20 patient/customers brows- There are numerous bills pending in the Michigan legislature, intending to clarify and they’d say, “This is great! I’m going to ing, buying green medicine, sampling, and or amend the MMA. Most of them are supported and/or initiated by opponents of go to the doctor and get my card, and get generating haze. I visited the club Saturday the law, and would have the effect of limiting its scope and restricting patient rights, my garden started!” They needed someone mid-day. Non-medicated food items are thus increasing vulnerability to arrest and prosecution. One bill removes glaucoma to tell them how the program worked. offered at a counter manned by one of the from the list of qualifying conditions. Another disallows lawsuits challenging local PM: Exciting times. club’s staff members. Imaginative hair and ordinances prohibiting weed-related activity. One would extend the duration of a JR: Yes, there was tremendous enthusi- skin decoration are in abundance. physician certification to two years--a positive step, but it also grants law enforce- asm, and it has always been the drive and The back third of the club space has an- ment automatic access to the state patient registry, without the need for a warrant, commitment of patients and caregivers other large display counter at the rear door, or even probable cause. One, introduced by a legislator-chiropractor, would allow which has made G3C successful. That’s this one for caregiver check-in. Their pro- dispensaries, but give local governments regulatory and veto power. Despite the why we are all very excited about our ex- duce is weighed on entry. A small couch few favorable elements these bills contain, they bills have been uniformly opposed pansion into the new larger facility. Many and square restaurant table and chairs pro- by the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association as detrimental to patients. —PM continued on next page BeyondTHC.com BeyondTHC.com O’Shaughnessy’s • Winter/Spring 2013 —35—

Farmers Market from previous page

of our members have no good place to use the big picture? their medicine. They live in apartments, or JR: I think we’re going to see different housing where they can’t really medicate forms of decriminalization of cannabis, but at home. The new space will greatly in- they are going to favor industry. Laws are crease our ability to meet the needs of these going be designed to appeal to the pub- people, and that has always been what we lic, with a label denoting supposed safety are all about. through grower compliance with regula- PM: How about getting set up as a non- tions, etc., etc. But it’s going to heavily fa- profit corporation? vor industry, and it’s not necessarily going JR: There were a very few people who to be better. got it started. Tom and Cheyenne were DM: This is a Republican-governed the two who helped me do it. With some state at the moment, with an administra- coaching from the Michigan Medical Mar- tion talking the line about supporting the ijuana Association (MMMA) we learned private sector. some lessons, and retained attorneys back JR: There are those who would be will- in March of 2009. Once we were an incor- ing to let a cannabis industry grow, but on a Club manager Ramona Rupinsky porated non-profit we could have a bank Former Banker Jeremy Rupinsky was the corporate level rather than at the grassroots photos by Paul Meyer account and members, and start issuing sherrif at G3C’s 4/20 costume party. There is also talk at the federal level of for your livelihood, you have a huge inter- cards, and making up T-shirts. rescheduling the cannabinoid compounds, est in seeing them thrive. Compare that to somebody getting 10 bucks an hour, work- PM: What about your relationships with ing here, coming in two-three days a week leaving the plant itself on Schedule 1. ing in a corporate grow, taking care of sixty the local authorities? to handle security, checking paperwork, DM: Cutting out small growers, and pa- thousand plants for Prairie Plant Systems. JR: We talked with them before we got running the snack bar, clean up, whatever. tients, and caregivers. Is that person always going to give plant started, the township attorney and other of- This place could not and would not have JR: Right. 463 enough love? ficials. Genesee County is not hostile to worked without all the committed people. DM: Sounds reminiscent of Sativex, an- cannabis, and we have good relationships DM: And you were here much of that The more I learn about medical other one-size-fits-all product. And I won- with law enforcement. time? cannabis... the more I am coming der how Irv Rosenfeld’s weed measures PM: What about the state’s no-smoking- JR: Yeah, board members spent a lot of up —the cannabis he has been given for in-public places law? time here initially, trying to make it work to believe that it will remain most 25 years by the government through the JR: As a private club we are exempt DM: But not anymore ? effective as a peoples’ herb: one Compassionate Investigational New Drug from no-smoking regulations. It looked JR: Not as much. I’m here maybe 25 that can be grown in the garden. Program. like it might be an issue for the township, hours a week on club business, and I also JR: That tested at about 7% cannabinoid but we argued that this was a private facil- put in some time as a caregiver. This wasn’t DM: Which isn’t surprising. The FDA content. If somebody here at G3C got their ity where people should be free to exercise about making a job for myself. We current- has never been one to oppose the needs and cannabis tested at 7%, they’d be embar- their rights, and they accepted that. ly have about a dozen employees, and they wishes of the pharmaceutical industry, and rassed to show their face. They’d end up PM: How did you first get into a space pretty much run the place. Our manager government generally hears the voice of moving it at half price just to get rid of it. of your own? Ramona’s position is a paid one, but she moneyed interests over the rest of us, espe- DM: I have seen news articles on Prai- JR: The building was vacant, like a lot has not taken any compensation to date. cially those already disenfranchised by ill- rie’s hopes to grow cannabis in Michigan of buildings around here. The owner gra- DM: we are seeing an ongoing flurry of ness and poverty, and the stigma of using a underground, in abandoned mines. Have ciously agreed to let us have it rent-free for legislative and judicial activity around the demonized herbal medicine. they got the political connections to make six months. At first it was a jury-rigged op- Michigan Medical Marijuana Act lately. But the more I learn about medical can- this happen—friends in the legislature? eration. We were working with scrounged What is your take on the law, and the ongo- nabis —by reading, attending conferences, JR: Well, enough to get a bill written card tables and folding chairs. No electric- ing controversies? ity for a while, we couldn’t afford power, and learning from my patients who benefit which would give them an opportunity to or the hookup fee. But we finally we had from it— the more I am coming to be- move into the state. It’s not like it refers to a space of our own where we could meet, There shouldn’t be debate about lieve that it will remain most effective as a them specifically, but it sets up a basis for and most importantly, medicate. it —the law is in English and it’s peoples’ herb: one that can be grown in the them to be able to operate here. They have When we first moved in —it was August clear what it says. garden. I am seeing patients and caregiv- been very vocal about what they want to of 2009— we were open once weekly for ers carrying on the ages-old work of medi- do: “We operate this system in Canada, we cal herbalism, and bringing something to meetings and medicating, then we went to JR: There is so much talk about the need know how to do it, and we’d like to do it in the job that the drug industry will never two, then three days, and then four, and fi- for “debate” over the law and how it is to Michigan too.” be able to duplicate: a level of expertise in nally five days a week. We designed and be interpreted, and I think this is the big- They are already growing different kinds the choice of a strain, sensitivity to proper began the educational program as well, gest lie of all. There doesn’t have to be, and of plants here, including underground. And technique in cultivation and harvesting, designating those times as no-medication. shouldn’t be debate about it —the law is in there are people in our state legislature who and devotion to preparation of medications It took a while for things to feel stable. I English and it’s clear what it says. The is- feel comfortable enough with a company optimally tailored to a patient’s condition. remember one winter night when the pow- sue is that there are certain people out there from our neighbor Canada that they have JR: That’s already been proven, in a er went out. I had to go across the street who don’t want to follow the rules of the brought out bills tailored to this company’s way. I was looking at data from a Cana- to Kroger and buy a bunch of candles. We law, some of them caregivers who want to objectives. dian company called Prairie Plant Systems. had a kind of vigil that evening, with 75 misuse the program, and some lawmakers DM: Do these bills deal with other as- They currently grow and provide most of people gathered in the cold, by candlelight. who don’t like the program. pects of the process as well—regulation, the cannabis medication —about 75% of But the idea was catching on like wildfire, On both sides there are people who want taxation, distribution? it— to the Canadian program Health Can- because it worked for the patients, and it to abuse it, narrow it, broaden it, redefine JR: Yes, they were careful enough to talk ada. Their product averaged 12% cannabi- worked for the caregivers. it. I say we just need to follow it. The not just about the licensing of production noids, plus or minus 2%. Our club average PM: how did membership grow? MMMA provides what patients need, and facilities, but even the creation of funds to is about 16-17%, which I’m proud to add JR: At the end of 2009 we were at maybe we should embrace it to get the most out of control and administer the license fees. It is also higher than other clubs in the state. four or five hundred. 2010 was our biggest it, individually and socially. was a 45-page bill and 25 pages deal with a This is far above what these corporate “ex- growth year. I remember the milestones; Patients need to ask, “How can I im- new legal entity—“Pharmaceutical Grade” perts” can achieve, with their supposed after 800 it started to shoot up pretty quick- prove my health with this new opportu- cannabis and the “Pharmacetical Grade mastery and control over the growing envi- ly, to 2,000, then 4,000 members. We were nity?” Caregivers need to ask “How can I Production Facility,” where it would be ronment. And their cannabis is all the same averaging ten to twelve new members a improve my patients’ lives and health, and produced. strain, doesn’t even have a name—just a day, and then it jumped to where we were my own life, if I’m willing to work hard Theoretically, this leaves the door open number-letter code. doing 25-to-30 new people a day. Now we enough at it?” Society needs to accept the so that anybody could apply and partici- So here we are, the basement growers, have over six thousand members, and we law to get the most out of it, and ask, “How pate in this system, but I can guarantee that kicking corporate butt. And we are testing currently get ten-to-twelve new members can we benefit as a community from this it won’t be the kind of thing that your aver- ourselves for pesticides and contaminants a day. new reality?” age mom and pop grower would be able as well, because we’re concerned not just DM: I see quite a few people working. The papers want to portray this as a con- to afford. It would be out of reach of most with potency, but with purity. Caregivers How do you handle staffing? troversial issue with so many things need- of us. and patients are the only ones likely to add ing clarification, but it isn’t controversial; DM: Thanks Jeremy. Smooth sailing to the intangibles, treating their plants almost most people don’t have a problem with you and G3C. And may this model find People would be hanging out, like their children; pampering them, check- this. Clearly, Michigan as a whole doesn’t. success around the state, as patient access and they’d say. “Can I help you ing on them a couple times every day. If PM: No, 63 % were in favor in the 2008 to medication becomes more and more dif- you are a grower depending on those plants out at the door for an hour or vote/referendum, with every county voting ficult. two?” yes. JR: Right. Every county! The Context of Prohibition JR: We started employing a staff less DM: And yet there seems to be some than a year ago, in September of 2011. ambiguity, and certainly a lack of informa- Until then we had been running purely on tion about the law, even on the part of law volunteer labor. People would be hanging enforcement. Much uncertainty remains out, and they’d say. “Can I help you out at about what is legal and not, with many de- the door for an hour or two?” We have had tails about the status of medical cannabis them come and go, with many incredibly depending on forthcoming court opinions. faithful and dedicated to what we are do- How do you see things going forward, in continued on next page