Last month, officials conducted raids on medical marijuana clinics in which arrests were made as well as the seizure of marijuana and medical records. The raids were followed by a Lapeer County Sheriff's conducted search, one week later, of a medical marijuana dispensary in Dryden. Both marijuana and cash were confiscated during that search.
''To me, our dilemma is magnified by the events of the last few weeks,'' said the Mayor of Berkeley, Marilyn Stephan. ''The bottom line is: Are we going to legalize marijuana or not? If we can, then it has to be a controlled product.''
In November, the regions 180-day municipal moratorium on medical marijuana will expire.
The defendants in the case are Robert Lee Redden and Torey Alison Clark. The Madison Heights residents claim that they provided police with documentation they say authorized them to use and possess marijuana for medical use. Previously, in 2009, the pair had manufacturing charges dismissed against them when police found more than 20 marijuana plants growing in their house. However, the charges were reinstated by an Oakland County Circuit judge.
Radden, a chronic pain sufferer, expressed frustration over the circumstances. ''All we want is a safe place to get our medication,'' he said.
Judge O'Connell expressed his approval of reinstating the charges in the 30-page document, but also said that the laws must be restructured and clarified for Michigan citizens who would like to use the substance in the future, as well as for doctors that would like to provide it.
''I have no doubt that in the minds of some voters in this state, legalizing marijuana would be good public policy,'' O'Connell said. ''Others who approved this act were under the impression that the act's specific purpose was limited to permitting the use of medical marijuana by registered patients with debilitating medical conditions.''
