CASE CHALLENGES MICHIGAN'S MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW

Ferndale- A probable cause hearing began Wednesday for nine Oakland
County residents charged in a case in which local law enforcement is
challenging the state's law that allows distribution of medical marijuana.

The accused were associated with Clinical Relief, a Ferndale
marijuana dispensary, and were arrested Aug. 25. An alleged warehouse
in Macomb County and two clinics in Waterford Township also were
raided, leading to other arrests.

All of the Ferndale defendants are free on bond, and 43rd District
Judge Joseph Longo did not decide Wednesday whether to bind them over
for trial in Oakland County Circuit Court. The hearing continues Friday.

About 50 people demonstrated outside the hearing in favor of the
medical marijuana law and against the crackdown.

Lawyers for the defendants said no laws were broken because the
clinic operated within rules established by the law that voters
passed in 2008. They said Oakland County's prosecutor and sheriff
brought the charges to test the state's law.

There have been arrests and confusion over the law statewide.

A Michigan Court of Appeals judge in September urged state
legislators to clarify the "inartfully drafted" law, which he said
has become a "nightmare."

Under the law, a doctor's approval is needed for a state-issued card
from the Michigan Department of Community Health that allows the
holder to possess and use up to 21/2 ounces of marijuana to alleviate
pain. The Michigan Department of Community Health reports it has
received 69,530 applications for medical marijuana cards. It has
approved 37,730.

A Troy police officer, who served as an undercover investigator with
the Oakland County Narcotics Enforcement Team, testified Wednesday
that in July she went into Clinical Relief with a counterfeit medical
marijuana card and lied to a clinic worker about suffering headaches
and experiencing neck pain from a car crash to get an eighth of an
ounce of marijuana.

Defense lawyers argued that because the state considers issuance of
the cards private medical information, there is no way for a
marijuana dispensary to confirm if a card is real or fake.