OAKLAND COUNTY RAIDS MEDICAL MARIJUANA COMPLEX, SEIZES $20,000

Oakland County authorities raided the Oak Park headquarters and
retail complex of medical marijuana entrepreneur and advocate Rick
Ferris, 46, of Berkley but made no arrests "because none of us were
breaking the law," Ferris' spokesman Rick Thompson said.

"It seemed more like intimidation than anything else," Thompson said
after the raid Wednesday.

About eight sheriff's deputies presented a search warrant as they
burst into the Michigan Medical Marijuana Magazine office, the
adjoining registered nonprofit Big Daddy's Compassion Club and the
Big Daddy's Hydro shop that sells equipment for indoor plant
cultivation, he said.

The raid cemented the Oakland County Sheriff's Office as hard-liners
in the statewide debate about whether medical marijuana patients and
establishments have abused the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act.
Oakland deputies raided establishments in Ferndale and Waterford last
year, making dozens of arrests. Oakland County authorities could not
be reached for comment Wednesday night.

In Wednesday's raid, officers wore bulletproof vests, and one wore a
mask, said attorney Jim Rasor, who represents Big Daddy's
Enterprises. But they took nothing except about $20,000 in cash,
gathered from receipts, the offices and wallets of about 10 employees
and patients, he said.

The sheriff gets 80% of the money seized, under state drug forfeiture
laws that give the rest to the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office,
said Rasor, who also is an elected Royal Oak city commissioner.

"I know, as a public official, that the public sector is running out
of money. But it's just plain wrong to finance your operation on the
backs of people who are ill (or) providing a safe alternative to
obtaining medical marijuana on the street," Rasor said.