The Michigan Attorney General, Bill Schuette, recently issued an opinion (available at http://www.ag.state.mi.us/opinion/datafiles/2010s/op10340.htm) concerning three issues posed by the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act (MMMA): (1) Whether the Michigan Smoking Ban applied to Marihuana; (2) Assuming that the Smoking Ban does not apply to Marihuana, does the MMMA’s prohibition on public smoking apply to food service establishments, hotels, and apartments; and (3) If neither the Smoking Ban nor the MMA apply, may the owner of a food service establishment, hotel, or apartment still prohibit the smoking of medical marihuana.
The Attorney General first concluded that the Smoking Ban does not apply to marihuana. The Smoking Ban does not apply because the Smoking Ban applies only to tobacco products and marihuana is not a tobacco product. After dismissing the notion that the Smoking Ban applies to marihuana, the Attorney General concluded that the MMMA does ban the smoking of marihuana in the public areas of food service establishments, hotels, and apartments. Next, the Attorney General concluded that the MMMA does not prevent an owner of a food service establishment, hotel, or apartment complex from prohibiting either the smoking of or growing of marihuana within on the property.
Although the Attorney General has released this opinion, it is important to note that his opinions are neither legally binding nor are they precedent. As a result, the Michigan courts may come to other conclusions. That said, the Attorney General’s position is well stated and supported by the case law and statutes.
As a business owner, depending on your goals and concerns, it is important to realize that prohibiting just the smoking and growing of marihuana does not guarantee that marihuana will not be consumed on your property. It is important to understand that marihuana may be consumed in other manners. For example, marihuana may be consumed in food and through beverages as well as ingested via vaporizer. Thus, it is important to develop policies that regulate marihuana used via these other methods.
