‘We’re in for the patients:’ Marijuana caregivers rally against bills that would curb access in Michigan

Amber Dunn placed her tie-dye mask in her lap as she sat in her wheelchair alongside the concrete steps leading to the state Capitol, where she believes lawmakers may try to make it harder for her to get her medicine: marijuana.

She traveled to Lansing from Pinconning because she fears losing affordable access to a simple product she believes saved her life, joining hundreds of marijuana caregivers, patients and industry representatives in a protest Wednesday.

They’re fighting efforts by some within the marijuana industry and the Legislature to severely restrict caregivers by reducing how much they may grow, where they can grow and how many patients they may care for, while adding requirements for expensive safety testing and sharing more information with police.

With support of a marijuana industry trade and lobbying group named the Michigan Cannabis Manufacturers Association, comprised of some of the largest companies in the industry, lawmakers on Tuesday proposed a series of bills known as the Michigan Cannabis Safety Act that, if passed, would reduce maximum caregiver plant counts from 72 to 24, total harvested marijuana inventory amounts from 15 to five ounces and patients limits from five to one, among other significant changes. [Read more at MLive.com]