DISMISSAL SOUGHT IN MARIJUANA CASE

An Ingham County judge will decide whether to throw out charges
against a man accused of illegally dealing medical marijuana in what
could be a test case for how the herb can be dispensed in Michigan.

Circuit Judge James Giddings said Friday he would render his decision
in the coming weeks after the attorney for the Rev. Frederick W.
Dagit, 61, contended charges should be dismissed under a provision of
the nearly two-year-old law on medical marijuana. Prosecutors asked
Giddings to declare that provision unconstitutional.

Dagit, of Meridian Township, is charged with two counts of possession
with intent to deliver between 11 and 99 pounds of marijuana; growing
20 or more marijuana plants; maintaining a drug house and misdemeanor
possession of marijuana.

The key question is whether Dagit, who admits he supplied marijuana
to the Green Leaf Smokers medical marijuana club in Williamstown
Township, ought to stand trial on allegations that he agreed to buy
50 pounds of marijuana May 26 from an undercover police informant and
kept 41 marijuana plants in his home. Dagit said 12 of the plants
were to treat his own ailments.

The statute clearly sets limits on the amounts of marijuana allowed.
Patients can grow up to 12 marijuana plants and have 2.5 ounces of
marijuana for themselves, or a caregiver to grow up to 12 plants for
up to five patients each.

But James White, Dagit's attorney, said the statute also states a
judge "shall" dismiss charges if he or she finds the quantity of
marijuana seized was necessary to medically treat a patient's ailment.

How much marijuana this means is unclear -- most witnesses Friday
agreed -- but Dagit testified that the club dispensed "least 4 or 5
pounds" of marijuana daily at the club.

"These are very sick people. ... A hundred to 120 people used the
facility on a daily basis," White said. "Was Mr. Dagit's behavior
criminal? The marijuana the police brought to his house was going to
be taken to the club."

But Assistant Prosecutor Guy Sweet dismissed the statute provision as
"crazy," "ridiculous," vague and unenforceable, saying the judge
should declare it unconstitutional.

"Somebody could park a pickup truck in their garage filled with bales
of marijuana and say, 'This is amount of marijuana I need for
treatment until I die,' " Sweet said. "This statute isn't fair to
anybody. Nobody knows what it means, and nobody can enforce it."

Giddings questioned whether Sweet had standing to ask that the
provision be declared unconstitutional because he isn't a defendant
in the case.

Since the state implemented the marijuana act in April 2009, both
patients who use medical marijuana and authorities have criticized
the law as being overly vague. This year, a number of medical
marijuana dispensaries have sprouted in Ingham County -- such as the
Green Leaf Smokers Club -- although critics have maintained that the
statute doesn't authorize their creation.

The Green Leaf club was raided by police the same day that Dagit was
arrested, but authorities allowed the club to continue to operate.

Before the hearing, Terry Clark, a Williamston man who used to
frequent the club as a medical marijuana patient, said he believes
authorities unfairly targeted Dagit.

"The only reason they went after him was because they're mad the law
was passed," Clark said. "(Dagit) is outspoken. They don't like it
when you're outspoken."