The state has over 218,000 medical pot card holders, and there are now fears that an undisclosed number of those holders may be out of luck the next time they visit their favorite dispensary state-wide.

Maybe you are one of those or you know someone who is?

One cannabis organization blames the Whitmer administration for creating this “supply shortage” when it made two critical decisions last December.

After Michigan voters gave the green light to selling pot to adults in the recreational market, it was clear there would be a high demand from all those children of the 70’s who toked a joint or two while growing up.

The original plan was to put that market on hold until this spring, and the medical pot growers were fine with that. It gave them a window to produce more product for the card holders so that when the onslaught came in the other market, those folks in need of pain relief would not go without.

But then, seemingly out of nowhere, the Whitmer administration scrubbed the March-April target and moved it to December of last year, and quicker than you can say Mary Jane, the recreation users showed up in mass.

In order to satiate that demand, the Whitmer folks made another decision. They allowed the diversion of up to 50% of the medical pot supply into the lucrative pot-for-fun stores.

“I told them this would create a problem,” recalls State Senator Jeff Irwin from Weed City, a.k.a. Ann Arbor. Since it takes about six months to grow pot plants, he warned the administration that medical pot growers needed more time to harvest more product. Since that did not happen, he reports the supply shortage is real, but the Whitmer administration counters there is no shortfall of medical pot.

For those who disagree with that, there is no way to determine how many medical users are going without, but one cannabis industry leader reports some growers have run out of product, including some in Detroit.

Last December, when all this was coming down, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer conceded that “advocates” were afraid of medical pot shortages.

At the time, she explained that the stage regulators had to get this right to protect the buying public. As for speeding up the date, she said then, “that was the right thing to do.”

Her critics could counter, easy for her to say, she is not using pot to control her pain, although it should be noted her biggest pain is with the GOP legislature. However, it’s unlikely pot could help her on that front, but we digress.

Assuming the supply is iffy, Sen. Irwin and his senate GOP colleague Dr./Sen. John Bizon are worried that one of two things will unfold if card carriers can’t buy regulated pot.

They could retreat to the black market to get their high. Sen. Irwin thinks that is happening right now, and who knows what harmful ingredients may be in the street grass.

Dr. Bizon also thinks some users will switch to opioids where the pain killing power is effective but also addictive. While he is not a big fan of medical pot, he knows that it is preferable to opioids.

Contrary to what the governor’s pot folks contend, Sen. Irwin does believe the shortage is a temporary issue, but while everyone waits patiently for the plants to grow, who knows what impact it will have on the health of those who need pain relief now and supposedly can’t buy it legally?