ALDERMANIC CANDIDATE CHARGED WITH FELONIES

Hageman Says He Gave The Plants Away For Medicinal Purposes

Aldermanic candidate Michael O. Hageman was charged Tuesday with two felony
drug counts stemming from the seizure of more than 500 marijuana plants from
the basement of his south side novelty store and home last week.

Hageman, who is running against Ald. Suzanne Breier in the 14th District,
said he has no intention of pulling out of the aldermanic race because of
his arrest.

Hageman was charged in a criminal complaint that says investigators raided
his building after an undercover agent visited the store and "immediately
smelled a strong odor of unburned marijuana" and noticed a "continuously
operating box fan" connected to ductwork.

During a second visit, according to the complaint, Hageman commented to the
agent on the merits of various types of marijuana and said he intended to
advocate legalization of various narcotics and drug paraphernalia if
elected, the complaint says.

After the conversation, the agent from the state Justice Department obtained
a search warrant for the building, and he and other agents seized 237 living
and 270 dead marijuana plants ranging in size from 1 inch to 7 feet,
according to the complaint.

Hageman was free on bail Tuesday night, scheduled to make his initial court
appearance on the charges this afternoon.

Back at his home and place of business in the 2500 block of S. Howell Ave.,
Hageman led journalists on tours of the basement below his shop, known as
Merlin's Lair. The marijuana he grew there, he said, he gave away to people
to treat the pain of cancer, AIDS and other ailments.

"If nothing else, the stuff I did downstairs shows I care about people," he
said.

Hageman said his "mikajuana," his name for the hybrid plant, has relieved
the pain of about 100 or so people he provided the plant to freely over the
last several years.

"Most of my people with pain smoke it to separate the mind from the pain,"
he said. "You know the pain is still there, but you don't give a damn.

"I've made it possible for those people to work normal jobs and have a
normal life."

Plant remnants lay scattered over the shop's worn wooden floors and basement
stairs as he pulled open a heavy plywood door that led to two basement
growing rooms.

"If you got caught with this, you'd probably go to prison," he said, holding
up a dead, foot-long piece he scooped up from the stairs.

Hageman said he does not smoke cigarettes or do illegal drugs, although he
admits to drug and marijuana use in the 1960s.

"I even inhaled," he said. "Deeply."

The 16 largest plants seized Friday, ranging in height from 4 to 7 feet,
were growing in a cinder block retaining wall system, the complaint says,
and agents seized harvested marijuana that was stored in bags.

Also seized, according to the complaint, were several 400-watt lamps,
timers, plant food and "operation notes."

Hageman, who was arrested and searched at the scene, told investigators
after he was taken into custody that he had been growing marijuana for the
past two years, the complaint says.

"We need an alderman who cares," he said Tuesday night.

A department spokesman has estimated the street value of the seized
marijuana at $500,000.

Hageman, 56, was charged with manufacture of more than 50 marijuana plants,
which carries a prison term of up to 15 years, and possession of more than
500 grams of marijuana with intent to deliver, which carries a term of up to
4 1/2 years.

Agents began investigating Hageman after receiving an anonymous tip,
according to the department spokesman.