Referenced: The concurring opinion
http://coa.courts.mi.gov/documents/OPINIONS/FINAL/COA/20100914_C295809_45_295809C.OPN.PDF

Referenced: Michigan's law http://drugsense.org/url/8mvr7sW8
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Robert+Redden (Robert Redden)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Michigan+medical+marijuana

MEDICAL POT USERS FIGHT CHARGES

Lansing - An Oakland County couple certified to use medical marijuana
under state law is asking the Michigan Supreme Court to dismiss
felony drug charges against them.

Robert Redden and Torey Clark, who became certified under the
Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, were charged with drug possession
after police found 21 marijuana plants in a raid at their home in 2009.

Prosecutors allege the couple possessed more than the allowable
amount of plants and they did not keep the plants in an enclosed
locked facility as required.

Their case received attention last month after a state appeals judge
wrote a 30-page opinion urging state lawmakers to take action on the
"inartfully drafted" law that he said clashes with other Michigan laws.

Judge Peter O'Connell, who agreed with the majority's opinion to
reinstate drug possession charges against the couple, wrote in this
opinion that until the state Supreme Court provides a final
comprehensive interpretation of the act, it would be "prudent" for
citizens to avoid all use of marijuana if they do not wish to risk
violating state law.

"I again issue a stern warning to all: Please do not attempt to
interpret this act on your own," O'Connell wrote in his appeal.

The couple's attorneys filed a formal appeal with the Supreme Court
last week. In his plea to reverse the appeals court and dismiss the
charges, attorney Robert Mullen said the Michigan judiciary must
resolve interpretive issues that, according to Court of Appeals and
district court judges, are "beleaguering" government officials in
general and law enforcement officials "in particular."

"All at the expense of otherwise well-intentioned and unwitting
medical marijuana patients that are proceeding like proverbial lambs
to the prosecutorial slaughter," Mullen wrote.

Voters approved the use of marijuana for medical purposes in a
citizen-initiated petition placed on the 2008 ballot.

Lawyers for Clark and Redden provided documents showing the couple
each obtained a recommendation from a state-licensed physician, which
stated each was qualified to use marijuana for medical purposes under
the act. They did not receive state-issued ID cards until after the
raid. Madison Heights Police used a battering ram to knock down their
front door.

In August, Oakland County authorities seized medical records and
marijuana at dispensaries in Ferndale and Waterford Township.
Criminal cases against more than a dozen defendants are moving
through the courts.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard and Oakland County Prosecutor
Jessica Cooper have said that dispensaries are illegal under Michigan law.