Medical marijuana patients protesting legislation that could close dispensaries by June 1

WALLED LAKE, Mich. (FOX 2) - As the legality over marijuana changes, the debate over access is now amplifying.

For those that use the drug medicinally, concerns are setting in over their ability to find cannabis. 

"Oh my god, it would hurt me so bad," said Linda Rodriguez, who has breast cancer, "because I need this for pain."

Under new legislation, all dispensaries could close by June 1 unless they sell tested medical marijuana. Patients think laws like that infringe on their rights.

"The guys growing right now with licenses, they're creating Vape pens and gummy bears and that's it," said Jerry Millen, owner of the Greenhouse of Walled Lake. "(It's) to get high."

Millen wants patients to be able to get their cannabis even if it's untested, as long as they sign a release form. He was in attendance Wednesday afternoon to protest the legislation. The protest was also a rally - an attempt to allow non-licensed dispensaries to distribute non-tested medical marijuana to the end of the year. A judge will weight in at a Thursday hearing in Lansing.

Selling safe marijuana isn't the problem for Michelle Donovan, an attorney for a cannabis group. The issue comes from there not being enough facilities that test weed.

"...there are only four licensed testing facilities in the state of Michigan and if we were to allow testing, there would be a bottleneck until the end of the year," she said.

Stevie Cuttitta wasn't in attendance for herself, so much as for her 4-year-old. The mom administers a CBD-infused supplement to help her child with cerebral palsey. She made a plea for any unsure about access to cannabis to consider the alternative:

"I want you to try and stop a child from banging his head on the floor and I want you to take his hand out of his mouth while he's clenching down on it so hard that it's breaking the skin," she said.