By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-997767.mp3
LANSING, MI –
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette says he believes groups trying to legalize pot are using the state's medical marijuana law to push their cause. Schuette spent much of his first year in office working to close marijuana dispensaries and tighten enforcement of the law.
As we hear from Michigan Public Radio's Rick Pluta, Schuette says he does not intend to relent in 20-12.
Schuette supports efforts in the Legislature to add restrictions to the law, which was approved by voters in 2008. The attorney general says he does not believe the drafters of the medical marijuana law were honest about their motives, and that's one reason why he does not support an expansive interpretation of the act.
"We should not have nod-and-a-wink justice," he says.
Schuette says voters approved the law strictly to allow people who are suffering and dying to use marijuana for pain relief.
"But they didn't vote to legalize drugs. They didn't vote to legalize across-the-board marijuana. They didn't vote to have dispensaries or pot shops near schools and churches," he adds.
Schuette opposed the ballot question and led the campaign to reject it. Medical marijuana advocates say Schuette is trying to divert attention from the benefits of medical marijuana and the fact that the public supports the law.