PATIENT: CLOSING MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY WOULD BE A 'DISASTER'

Kenneth Mandeville, 60, has degenerative disc disease and walks with a
cane. His condition, he said, sends pain down his legs all the time
that feels like "fire ants."

Mandeville, of Albion, was among around a half dozen medical marijuana
patients who stopped by People's Choice Alternative Medicine Thursday
morning across the street from Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

An AnnArbor.com reporter sat in the lobby for an hour and a half to
talk to patients about their choice to get marijuana from the dispensary.

People's Choice partners say they operate a non-profit that takes
donations for services and doesn't sell medical marijuana. A Michigan
Court of Appeals ruling on Aug. 23 made the sale of marijuana at
dispensaries illegal in the eyes of the state. The establishments can
be shut down under a state public nuisance law, according to state
Attorney General Bill Scheutte. Ann Arbor is reviewing a new zoning
and licensing process in light of the court's ruling.

Mandeville said he takes medical marijuana for migraines and the leg
pain.

Ingesting marijuana that's baked or cooked into food "really takes the
pain away -- for two or three days," he said. "I use less of my
prescription pain medicine."

Dispensaries began popping up in Ann Arbor and across the state after
the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act went into effect in April 2009. The
law sets up a system under which patients can grow marijuana for
themselves or have a state-registered caregiver do it for them.

Mandeville said he doesn't grow plants for himself because he travels.
He said a friend agreed to become a state-designated caregiver for him
but doesn't know how to grow marijuana, so he hasn't been able to
obtain medical marijuana that way. That's why he comes to the dispensary.

Mark Pelton, 56, is retired engineer who lives in Canton. He drives to
Ann Arbor for medical marijuana, which he said helps him deal with
severe leg pain from a ruptured disk. When not taking marijuana he
can't stand up straight, he said.

Painkillers he took previously for his back made him too foggy-headed
to work and ripped up his stomach, he said.

Of marijuana, he said, "I could eat and concentrate. It also helps me
sleep."

A prescription sleep aid left him groggy the next day, he said, but
that's not the case with marijuana.

He doesn't grow marijuana at home because his grandchildren live with
him. He said it isn't easy to find a caregiver and that there don't
seem to be enough of them.

"This place is what saves my life. It caters to older people," he
said. "Taking it away will be a disaster."

Others who came through the doors Thursday included a 20-year-old
unemployed man from Ann Arbor who declined to provide a name. He said
restless leg syndrome gives him painful leg spasms and that marijuana
addresses the pain and helps him to sleep at night. A 44-year old man
from Milford said he is a stay-at-home dad and on disability for
rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia. He said he has
battled addictions to painkillers in the past and is currently on a
medication to treat that addiction. He's taken marijuana for three
months, he said.

On marijuana, "I feel better," he said. "I don't feel great, but I
certainly feel better."

He said caregivers are hard to find and he doesn't want to grow
marijuana at home around his children.

The dispensary where he and others obtain marijuana is being forced to
move since receiving cease-and-desist letters from the city of Ann
Arbor. Harry Cayce, a business partner with People's Choice, called
neighbor complaints outlined in the letters "mythological."

The complaints include reports of alleged drug deals in the vicinity
of the business, loud music and the location operating after business
hours.

Cayce said some neighbors call police when workers take breaks to
smoke cigarettes outside, and that they tell police customers are
loitering when passersby are just sitting at a nearby bus stop. When a
man down the street parked his car to smoke marijuana and drink, then
threw the bottle outside at 11 p.m., neighbors blamed the dispensary.
The incident was not related, according to dispensary partners.

The city attorney has a different story.

"We have discussed this matter with neighbors," City Attorney Stephen
Postema said. "They had serious concerns."

"They are not allowed to be open. Period," he added. "Our zoning
doesn't allow them in that area. The law makes clear that they are not
allowed to operate in the manner that they're operating in."

Some dispensaries around Ann Arbor closed doors this week following
raids on two dispensaries last week. Other dispensaries are still operating.

Cayce said the complaints from neighbors are ironic in a neighborhood
that endures thousands of drunken football fans every time the
University of Michigan has a home game.

"We're not dope dealers; we're medicine men, and we're here to help
people who are sick," he said.

The bank-owned property is in the process of evicting the dispensary.
Cayce said the business plans to move soon after the holiday weekend.

"We don't want to piss anyone off," he said. "We'll move. That's not
an issue. It's just been difficult to find a place in the zoning with
a landlord that was agreeable."