NEW MARIJUANA ARREST FOR MEDICAL-USE ACTIVIST

Local medical-marijuana activist Renee Emry Wolfe was arrested on
drug charges again this week, even as she awaits sentencing on a
previous charge of delivery and manufacturing marijuana.

Ann Arbor Police officers took Wolfe, 41, from her home Tuesday and
charged her with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute it.

The arrest stemmed from an incident in November when officers
detected the odor of marijuana while accompanying her husband into
Wolfe's home so he could retrieve some belongings. Wolfe gave them a
bag of marijuana and the officers found a number of leaves and stalks
that Wolfe described as trash.

Wolfe, who says she uses marijuana to ease the pain of multiple
sclerosis, charged the arrest was retaliation for her outspoken views
on the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

"They have targeted me and continue to harass me and I'm tired of
it," she said Thursday. "I intent to file a lawsuit against the city
of Ann Arbor and I'm going to win. And then I'm going to buy lots of
pot with the money I win."

Wolfe spent Tuesday night in jail before she was arraigned Wednesday
and released on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond. A preliminary
hearing is set for Jan. 23 in Washtenaw County District Court. If
convicted of the felony charge, Wolfe faces four years in prison.

Ann Arbor Police Sgt. Michael Logghe scoffed at Wolfe's harassment claims.

"Obviously, she is incorrect. We were called to her home. The idea
that there is somehow a conspiracy against her is preposterous,"
Logghe said.

Before her most recent arrest, Wolfe was awaiting sentencing on drug
charges. Wolfe was accused of selling marijuana for $10 to a police
informant in June 2000. She was charged with two counts of delivery
and manufacturing of marijuana. Both charges are punishable by up to
four years in prison.

In December, Wolfe pleaded guilty to one of the charges in exchange
for the other charge to be dismissed. She was scheduled to be
sentenced on Jan. 29.

Wolfe was convicted in 1995 on misdemeanor marijuana possession
charges and in 1996 on two felony charges of delivery of marijuana.
She received no jail time in either case.

In 1999, Wolfe was convicted in U.S. Superior Court in Washington on
a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession. The charge stemmed from
Wolfe lighting a marijuana cigarette in the Washington office of Rep.
William McCollum, R-Fla., in September 1998.

News reporter Liz Cobbs contributed to this report