NEGATIVE APPROACH

Is The Case Of Frederick Wayne Dagit Bad For The Medical Marijuana
Cause?

On Tuesday afternoon, the Rev. Frederick Wayne Dagit sat in a black-
and white-striped Ingham County Jail jumpsuit in 55th District Court
in Mason. He looked calm, rested and alert. It was his second
appearance in court after the Tri- County Metro Narcotics Squad
raided his Okemos house and Williamstown Township pot smokers club
and church exactly two weeks ago, allegedly finding a total of more
than 200 pounds of marijuana at both locations.

Michael Van Huysse, Dagit's court appointed attorney, asked Judge
Donald Allen Jr. to reduce Dagit's $500,000 bond and for a
preliminary examination to be moved up two weeks. Allen adjourned
Dagit's next hearing until June 22, but did not immediately reduce
his bond. Allen said he would consider it - though only reducing it
to $150,000, still outside of Dagit's financial reach - but had
concerns about Dagit's criminal history and the fact that he'd only
lived in the area for six months.

Van Huysse's pleas that Dagit, who suffers from cirrhosis, was not
healthy enough to remain in jail and that he was an important pillar
in the medical marijuana community did not seem to faze Allen. Dagit,
a medical marijuana cardholder, will remain in that striped jumpsuit
until at least June 22.

In the two weeks since Dagit's arrest, it appears that law
enforcement officials were targeting Dagit alone - not the medical
marijuana smoking club he oversaw in Williamstown Township, nor the
business partners. The club is open, and no one else has been
arrested. According to court documents, police set up a buy/best
scenario with Dagit alone.

Medical marijuana activists say that while arresting someone for
marijuana is stupid, it's the law, which still has to be obeyed.

Greg Francisco, the former executive director of the Michigan Medical
Marijuana Association, says that the state needs to start regulating
medical marijuana smoking clubs - like Dagit's - so that people are
not being arrested for violating an unclear law.

Francisco said that he and Dagit have "struck sparks" in the past and
was not surprised about the arrest. He said that before his arrest,
Dagit seemed determined to get a "test case."

"I don't want a beer drinkers club opening up down the street without
regulation. Fortunately they do have regulation; it's called a liquor
license," Francisco said. "We as an association don't object to
reasonable regulation."

Dagit's arrest could cause backlash against medical marijuana, but
Francisco feels that a visible solution would be clear regulation on
medical marijuana.

Mike Meno, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, which
sponsored the 2008 medical marijuana ballot drive, said that
Michigan's law was purposefully silent on medical marijuana
distribution. Under the administration of George W. Bush, the federal
Justice Department was vigilant about cracking down on medical
marijuana for violating federal law. The administration of Barack
Obama is doing the opposite, which is why states like Colorado and
Rhode Island are beginning to pass legislation regulating
dispensaries.

"There's a lot of the confusion resulting from the fact that
Michigan's law doesn't speak to dispensaries," Meno said. "Without
that clarity, local law enforcement is interpreting the law
differently from county to county or city to city. It sends a mixed
message about what patients can and can't do."

Meno's organization sees medical marijuana as a separate issue from
ending marijuana prohibition - that is, the arrest and prosecution of
marijuana users, buyers and sellers. So a case like Dagit's has the
potential to damage the public's perception of medical marijuana,
though it's still a mostly popular measure.

"We don't want these laws to be a mockery," Meno said. "These are
laws that are passed for sick people, not for everyone."