MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY OWNER: 'IF THE AUTHORITIES COME AND TELL
US TO SHUT DOWN, WE'LL SHUT DOWN'

Jackson-area medical marijuana dispensaries have not shut down but
will if told to by local law enforcement.

"We're not criminals. We want to be in full compliance with the law,"
John Lougheed, owner of Sweet Leaf Dispensary in Blackman Township,
said Thursday. "We're going to respect the wishes of the community and
local law enforcement, and if we have to close, we will close."

A Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday dispensaries are illegal
and a public nuisance. Attorney General Bill Schuette announced he
would instruct county prosecutors on how to shut down "pot shops" in
their communities.

Schuette will speak at the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of
Michigan's annual conference this weekend on Mackinac Island, said
spokeswoman Joy Yearout. He will bring materials about the ruling to
the conference.

Jackson County Prosecutor Hank Zavislak and Chief Assistant Prosecutor
Mark Blumer are both attending the conference.

Despite the ruling, HydroWorld Marijuana Services, 834 N. West Ave.,
stayed open.

"I'm not really worried about it. If the authorities come and tell us
to shut down, we'll shut down," owner Danny Trevino told WLNS-TV.

Lougheed closed his shop on Wildwood Avenue on Wednesday after the
three-judge panel made its ruling. He did so to protect his employees
and inventory, he said. On Thursday, Sweet Leaf, 2504 Wildwood Ave.,
re-opened. Lougheed intends to speak with his attorney today and learn
more about how the ruling could affect his business.

Blackman-Leoni Township Public Safety Director Mike Jester said
Wednesday his department would not take any immediate action against
dispensaries.

The past two days have been stressful for Lougheed, an Army veteran
who opened Sweet Leaf in June. He is deeply invested in his business
and depends on it for a living.

He said Wednesday's ruling could put medical marijuana-related
businesses in and around Jackson in jeopardy.

Lougheed said the appeals court ruling targeted patients
unfairly.

Many came into his shop Thursday and said they felt like criminals.
One patient told Lougheed he did not know where else he could buy marijuana.

Without dispensaries, illegal drug dealers on the street could become
a patient's only resource.

"Some of these people are just terrified," Lougheed said of patients.
"That's just not fair to them. It's not fair to anybody."

Lawyer Robert Gaecke mentioned the court's ruling Thursday at the
sentencing of a man who pleaded guilty to manufacturing marijuana.

The man said he was using marijuana for medicine but pleaded guilty to
get out from under a felony that would have sent him to prison.

"They are gutting the medical marijuana law," Gaecke told Circuit
Judge Thomas Wilson.

The people gave the green light to legalize marijuana, but the courts
are restricting it, he said outside the courtroom.

"Real people are getting hurt. Real patients," he said.

More patients worried about the ruling spoke with WLNS-TV. Dennis Kent
suffers from high blood pressure, which causes unbearable pain in his
hands.

"You have your caregivers, but the medicine isn't always as good. So
you end up coming to the shop, where you have a variety of different
meds," Kent told WLNS-TV.