MARIJUANA ADVOCACY RALLY IN SAGINAW REHASHED

SAGINAW - Things became "a little heated" when Saginaw County Sheriff
William L. Federspiel pulled up to the stoplight at the center of a
medical marijuana advocacy protest at lunchtime Wednesday, attracting
its attention, said John Roberts, 49, of Thomas Township.

Federspiel called the protesters a "brutal group" and a "mob" and said
he pulled up to the light at Court, attempting to turn left onto South
Michigan in Saginaw, where he was stuck for three light changes while
protesters outside the Saginaw County Governmental Center shouted
profanities at him.

Federspiel was driving a department-confiscated Ford Mustang with the
words "Taken From A Local Drug Dealer" in decals on each door.

"They were calling me names I didn't even think existed," Federspiel
said. "Most of the people there, they're not from Saginaw County, and
they're ignorant to the fact that that Mustang that I'm driving was
not taken from a medical marijuana patient, it was taken from a drug
dealer."

Federspiel said one protester walked toward the car and attempted to
have him sign a recall petition against himself.

"People are genuinely upset, they're mad," Roberts said. "(Federspiel)
just smiled, did what he normally does, smiled for the camera."

The protesters - whose numbers ranged from 40 to 100 participants at
any given time between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. - waved and pumped signs
into the air urging motorists to honk in support of medical marijuana,
and many drivers accommodated.

"Free the weed," some protesters yelled.

Signs contained slogans such as "It's legal, just in case you didn't
get the memo," "Arrest my suffering, not me," "Haven't you always
wondered why marijuana is illegal," "Change this law, Mr. Obama, The
Constitution demands it," "Stop arresting patients," and "Marijuana
has never caused a death in the history of mankind, never."

Joe Cain, a veteran U.S. Marine and the chief executive officer of the
Michigan Medical Marijuana Association, who organized the rally, said
he was happy with the turnout. About 50 people, at most, turned out
for a July 1 rally outside the courthouse, and Wednesday's attendance
easily doubled that, Cain said.

He pointed at more than a dozen protesters sitting in the shade under
trees in Borchard Park, across Court from the courthouse at 111 S.
Michigan.

"You see sick people," Cain said. "You don't see 'potheads' and drug
addicts.

"We're the most boring people in the world until you kick our doors
in."

Cain said the Saginaw County Sheriff's Department will be named in an
upcoming class action lawsuit that the American Civil Liberties Union
is working on with the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association. The
lawsuit will name agencies in several counties across the state, Cain
said.

He said his organization is demanding that the Sheriff's Department
return items seized during Saginaw County raids and reimburse the
medical marijuana patients and caregivers they targeted for property
they destroyed.

The home Roberts lives at with his fiancee, Stephanie Whisman, 38, was
raided by the Saginaw County Sheriff's Department - with support Drug
Enforcement Agency - on April 15 and again by DEA agents July 6, less
than a week after the July 1 rally Roberts organized.

During that protest, state police arrested Whisman on a warrant that
was issued because of a $23 outstanding city tax bill. Whisman is not
a medical marijuana patient. Roberts has liver disease cause by
hepatitis C. The couple hasn't been charged with illegally possessing
or manufacturing marijuana.

April 15, deputies and federal agents also raided the home of Edwyn W.
Boyke Jr., 64, a Saginaw Township resident and medical marijuana
patient who has a pinched nerve in his back.

Deputies seized a number of items, including a car and lawn
maintenance equipment, from Boyke, who paid $5,000 for their return.
Boyke hasn't been charged with any crimes and said deputies never
returned his dehumidifier or TV.

Federspiel said reimbursing Boyke is out of the question.

"I'll make one promise to them, that I'll continue to uphold the law,
exactly as it's written," Federspiel said. "That I will do."