By: James Dickson
AnnArbor.com Staff
Posted: Oct 6, 2009 at 3:20 PM [Oct 6, 2009]
Ron Klug was enjoying a peaceful day at home on Sept. 10 when police officers from the Strike Team Investigative Narcotics Group, or STING, rolled up to his front door.
Despite the copy of his medical marijuana card, which Klug had posted outside his home, the officers inspected Klug's West Branch residence and uprooted a marijuana grow station he had going outdoors.
The card, which was meant to prevent such raids, offered no more protection than a fig leaf.
That's why Klug and his friend John Wells, of Lewiston, decided to organize the Medical Marijuana Freedom March, which will take place tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on the steps of the Capitol Building in Lansing.
Becky Fonfara, of Sterling Hts., holds up a pair of signs to show her support for the legalization of marijuana - for both medicinal purposes and otherwise - at the 2009 Hash Bash in Ann Arbor. Up to 1,000 protestors are expected at the rally in Lansing tomorrow.
Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com
While Klug tries to only take his prescribed painkillers "when the side effects aren't worse than the pain itself," he has found smoking marijuana brings him comfort and allows him to sleep at night.
After obtaining a medical marijuana card from the state, he set up an outdoor grow station so he'd have unfettered access to his medicine. When police showed up, Klug had 11 plants and 5 grams of pot on the premises - all within legal limits.
Legally recognized medical marijuana patients are allowed to possess up to 12 plants or 2.5 ounces of pot. Caregivers, who can grow marijuana for up to five patients, are allowed to possess up to 60 plants or 12.5 ounces.
Following the state's rule that marijuana grows must be kept in "enclosed, locked" facilities, Klug grew his plants in a large dog cage to keep children and others away.
Since the seizure, Klug's been able to get by with the help of his friends. Still, he believes unlawful searches and seizures by law enforcement are far too common for a state where 63 percent of voters, majorities in every House and Senate district, approved medical marijuana in November 2008.
John Wells is neither a patient nor a caregiver. But seeing how marijuana improved his brother-in-law's quality of life in his last days of fighting small cell lung cancer taught him pot can have a palliative effect. He joined the movement to defend the rights of patients who can't defend themselves.
"Law enforcement has a Pavlovian response to marijuana: they see it and they want to get rid of it," Wells said. "But it's the law, and should be respected."
But Dennis Hayes, who has built an Ann Arbor law practice around defending clients in marijuana cases since the 1970s, said that while the rally provides a platform for patients and caregivers, chances are that'll be the same reason it goes ignored by politicians.
"Politicians are scared to death to touch this issue," Hayes said, despite Michigan voters' support for medical marijuana. "We don't have majority government," he argued. "We have a government that responds to minorities" such as the powerful and well-connected.
Every spring, thousands gather at the Diag to rally for the legalization of marijuana for recreational use.
Too much grey area
Ask medical marijuana advocates or officials with the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) what's wrong with Michigan's medical marijuana law and the words "grey area" are soon to follow. The MDCH administers Michigan's medical marijuana program.
Protestors will rally tomorrow in the hopes of bringing Attorney General Mike Cox to bear on the issue and to get law enforcement to stop raiding legally recognized patients. Meanwhile, MDCH attorneys have been huddling to determine what, exactly, needs to be clarified in the law, and whether to ask Cox to intercede, said James McCurtis, spokesman for the department.
While attorney general opinions carry the force of law in Michigan, Cox can't issue them unilaterally, but only at the behest of a state official or a legislator. Cox's office did not return AnnArbor.com's phone calls by press time.
"Is there a lot of grey area in the law? Yes," said McCurtis, who added that the department hasn't yet decided its next step.
The Legislature's hands are somewhat tied since the measure was passed by voters, he said.
But in an Oct. 7 letter to MDCH Chief Deputy Director Kurt Krause, Chief Deputy Attorney General Carol L. Isaacs, from Cox's office, said that responsibility for the law's implementation rests with MDCH and the Legislature.
Michigan lawmakers can only amend the medical marijuana law with three-fourths of the vote of both houses of the Legislature, the letter said. And "when the law is 'doubtful or obscure,'" Isaacs wrote, courts use the implementing agency's rules as a guide to the law's intent. The attorney general's office also offered to provide legal advice to the department if need be, but responsibility for clearing up the state's rules rests with MDCH, the letter indicated.
Attorney General's letter to the Department of Community Health.pdfAl Brennan, press agent for the Medical Marijuana Freedom March, said the group is expecting hundreds of protestors - possibly 1,000 - to make the trek to Lansing.
There is a concern among organizers, though, that the point of the freedom march will be lost in the haze of the ongoing budget battle in Lansing. Legislators still have yet to approve a budget for the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. Until the budget is passed, it is priority number one in Lansing.
Still, the freedom march's organizers thought it better to start the dialogue now, even with limited participation, than allow unlawful marijuana raids to go on unchecked.
Wells, for his part, doesn't see Michigan's budget issues as unrelated to marijuana raids that he says cost too much money and offer too little benefit.
He cites the case of a raid 64-year-old woman's home. By the time the raid was said and done, Wells said law enforcement officials only found two small marijuana plants and half of a joint on her premises.
"How much taxpayer money do we need to spend to keep grandma from smoking pot?" he asked.
That's not to mention an individual has to be verifiably sick to even get a medical marijuana card. Qualifying conditions for the card include AIDS, cancer, and Crohn's Disease. These patients often lack the resources and the will to put up much of a fight. Their rights as patients need to be reinforced by Cox and respected by law enforcement, Wells said.
"At the end of the day, this is about what the people want," Wells said. "We've already voted in medical marijuana, now we need to get law enforcement and prosecutors around the state to follow the law. The attorney general can compel that."
James David Dickson reports on human interest stories for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at JamesDickson@AnnArbor.com, or at Twitter.com/JamesDDickson.
Get the Ann Arbor RSS Feed
AnnArbor.com
grimdaddy1
Posted Oct 6 2009
Mike Cox will not stop the raids he will continue his agenda no matter what the people of michigan want, we pass laws and he enforces them (if he agrees with them). mabye a few more raids on little old ladies and we can be a clean and pure christian state.
Heather
Posted Oct 6 2009
Just what we need, more unproductive members of society. Join the real world
BigAndy2
Posted Oct 6 2009
Geez, just re-legalize, regulate and tax it already. It's the obvious answer to our budget woes.
"For years prohibitionists, including our own Drug Enforcement Administration, have claimed — falsely — that the tolerant marijuana policies of the Netherlands have made that nation a nest of crime and drug abuse. They may have trouble wrapping their little brains around this:
The Dutch government is getting ready to close eight prisons because they don’t have enough criminals to fill them. Officials attribute the shortage of prisoners to a declining crime rate.
Just for fun, let’s compare the Netherlands to California. With a population of 16.6 million, the Dutch prison population is about 12,000. With its population of 36.7 million, California should have a bit more than double the Dutch prison population. California’s actual prison population is 171,000.
So, whose drug policies are keeping the streets safer?"
Also, what's with the censored comments over at the Indigenous Diorama Museum story? Don't like differing views to be expressed much?
Guess I'll just have to document what the original Ann Arbor News has devolved into and share with people in the community over at 318 South Main Street, Ann Arbor on Wednesday, October 14, at 5:30 p.m. and discuss it with Veronica Pasfield and Gwyniera Isaac.
Andy Fowler
Posted Oct 6 2009
"Since the seizure, Klug's been able to get by with the help of his friends."
I *really* hope the Beatles reference was intentional. It had me laughing!
uawisok
Posted Oct 6 2009
Until "We the People" take to the streets on a regular basis not just once a year to demand our rights poiticians will always take the path of least resistance.
Billy
Posted Oct 6 2009
"the officers inspected Klug's West Branch residence and uprooted a marijuana grow station he had going outdoors."
I'm sorry, throw the book at this fool. He knew DAMN well that outdoor growing is PROHIBITED within our medical grow laws. The law SPECIFICALLY states that your grow operation MUST be behind a locked door and secured at all times. An outdoor grow is NOT secure...period. There is no possible way he didn't know this, so he was intentionally skirting the line, and thus should get NO sympathy from anyone.
It's people like this guy that help hinder the progress of new laws on this subject. All he's doing is helping give opponents of medical marijuana more ammunition as to why it SHOULDN'T be legalized. He's a very selfish individual.
James Dickson
AnnArbor.com Staff
Posted Oct 6 2009
As the story mentions, Klug was growing outdoors, yes, but inside of a locked cage.
wallaby
Posted Oct 6 2009
Well, Billy, letter-of-the-law or not, I can't say I agree that this CERTAINLY seems to justify a full RAID by a drug STRIKE FORCE. Also, thanks for all the added EMPHASIS, it REALLY helped me read your post.
David Briegel
Posted Oct 6 2009
Billy, please quit blaming the victim and spend your energy changing these ignorant, counter productive laws, so that sane, rational, civilized people can converse intelligently about the failed "war on drugs" and bring sanity to our society. If we continue to treat this natural herb like hard and synthetic drugs we are doomed to continue these failures. Our war has no credibility with any knowledgeable citizen! Our prisons will never, ever be large enough!
Alan Benard
Posted Oct 6 2009
More foolishness from our cowards in Lansing. As for Mike Cox -- an attorney general who fails to follow the law and covers up for Kwame Kilpatrick -- don't make him governor.
1bit
Posted Oct 6 2009
The voters have made a choice and it needs to be honored. However, "medical" marijuana is a farce. Most doctors won't prescribe it for that reason and many that do are generally doing it for profit. If you want to use marijuana, that's your business but don't pretend it is for medical reasons.
Edward Vielmetti
AnnArbor.com Staff
Posted Oct 6 2009
Here's another Medical Marihuana bust, this one in Bad Axe:
http://www.michigansthumb.com/articles/2009/10/05/news/local_news/doc4aca0fb333b06354934389.txt
"BAD AXE — The hazy Michigan Medical Marijuana Act is at issue following a recent pot bust in Bad Axe, as there’s a question of whether a West Huron Avenue home was the site of a legitimate medical marijuana growing operation or an illegal drug house.
Bad Axe Police Chief Michael H. Anderson disputes any claim the marijuana operation police uncovered Sept. 25 at the West Huron Avenue home is legitimate.
“We believe there are clear violations of the law here,” Anderson said. “Violations of even the medical marijuana law. If the operation was a legitimate medical marijuana operation, these violations (found at the home during the raid) would make (the growers’) claim null and void. At this point, our department is only part way through its investigation.”"
Basic Bob
Posted Oct 7 2009
It would be nice to see the police and prosecutors focus on some real drug crimes. People are not dying because of medical marijuana.
Top Cat
Posted Oct 7 2009
The war on drugs as we are prosecuting it is a total failure. There should be no prohibitions on people growing and consuming the weed as long as they are not behind the wheel. It should be no different than home brewing.
rusty shackelford
Posted Oct 7 2009
Targetting home growers is the LEAST effective method. Since they are not part of the international supply chain of drug gangs, they are actually not contributing to street crime at all--i.e. crime that comes as a result of turf wars, etc. Marijuana is much more like tobacco or alcohol than it is like speed or heroin. There is no reason not to allow adults to use it responsibly other than historical American puritanism and irrational fear.
ypsigal
Posted Oct 7 2009
I have an illness called "Gastroparesis" which basically means that my stomach is paralyzed. Food that I eat does not pass through me like a normal person. Instead, it sits and rots inside my stomach causing me horrible nausea and pain 24/7. I have tried EVERY SINGLE chemo medication made available to cancer patients with no success. Medical Marijuana is the ONLY thing that has helped me to eat, gain weight, and live a normal life.
I work full time - 30+ hours a week at my job. I hardly live an unproductive life and I resent anyone who makes false accusations that we as medical marijuana users are nothing more than lazy stoners or that we are just "making this up" because we want to smoke. Give me a break.
1bit
Posted Oct 8 2009
You don't treat gastroparesis with cancer "chemo medication" drugs - that's your problem. Maybe you mean anti-emetics? Marijuana does work as an antiemetic, but prescription medications work better. You happen to prefer marijuana...
ypsigal
Posted Oct 9 2009
Well first of all 1bit, You don't treat gastroparesis with anything. There is no treatment.
I am sorry for my poor choice of wording, I have tried every medication made available to cancer patients going through chemo for nausea. Is that better?
Do you have gastroparesis? I would LOVE to know what medication will work better. By all means, if there is a drug out there that will do the exact same thing without wrecking my liver - TELL ME. I'll be the first to be on it.
I'll await your advice on what medication will work better for me and my situation!
1bit
Posted Oct 9 2009
Here's a place to start lest readers here be misled into thinking that there are no therapies besides marijuana for gastroparesis:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/gastroparesis/DS00612/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs