Van Buren District Court

MARIJUANA DEFENDANT CLAIMS HE WAS TARGETED

Ex-Bloomingdale School Counselor Has Called for Legalizing Drugs

SOUTH HAVEN - A former Bloomingdale elementary and middle school
counselor claims he has been targeted unfairly for prosecution on a
marijuana charge because he has been a vocal advocate of legalizing drugs.

"This is very much about my standing up against an unreasonable
search and standing up against harassment," said Greg Francisco.

Francisco, 48, of Michigan 43, Paw Paw, will face a jury trial within
the next several months on a misdemeanor charge of possession of
marijuana on May 5 in Bloomingdale.

Francisco claims his truck was illegally targeted when a dog trained
to sniff out controlled substances was brought to the middle school
parking lot for a routine search. The search found a stem and some
"roach" material in the truck that tested positive for marijuana.

After a hearing on Wednesday in South Haven, Van Buren District Court
Judge Arthur Clarke III ordered that a trial date be scheduled within
60 to 75 days.

During the hearing, Francisco's lawyer, Matthew Abel of Detroit,
argued unsuccessfully that the charges should be dismissed because
there was no probable cause for the search and because the federal
categorization of marijuana as illegal is unconstitutional because it
has a medicinal purpose in relieving pain.

He also argued that causing Francisco to have a criminal record under
the circumstances was cruel and unusual punishment.

Clarke did grant Abel's motion to allow a private expert to analyze
the drug evidence. He also ordered the prosecutor to turnover copies
of all pertinent lab and police reports. That information is expected
to include videotape of the search at the school parking lot.

Francisco said he was charged because of his "high profile" effort to
legalize drugs.

"I write lots and lots of letters to the editor and I send them all
over the United States and Canada and Europe on the efficacy of the
war on drugs. It is not that I advocate using drugs, it is just that
what we are doing is just making the problem worse. I use the analogy
that we abandoned Prohibition in this country not because we realized
that alcohol was not dangerous but because our grandparents came to
learn that by criminalizing it we were just driving it underground."
Assistant Prosecutor Cory Johnson said Francisco has not been
targeted and that prosecution in the case is a routine matter.

"Until the case was brought to my attention I had never heard of Mr.
Francisco," Johnson said.

Francisco said he was active in organizations that advocated
legalizing drugs. He is a former board member and treasurer of
Michigan NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana
Laws) and was a founding board member of Educators for Sensible Drug Policies.

He said the school district received complaints about his political
activities, and he resigned from his position on the state NORML
board in January 2005.

Francisco said he has cooperated in the past and allowed searches
when detection dogs had alerted on his vehicle, but decided to refuse
a search in May based on principle. Francisco said dogs from private
companies were unreliable and not a legal reason for a probable cause search.

He also noted that on the same day the dog alerted on five other
teacher vehicles and nothing was found in those vehicles.

A law enforcement dog was brought in after a private detection dog
singled out the truck. The police dog also alerted on the truck.

Francisco said he was forced to resign from his counselor job after the search.

Bloomingdale Public Schools Superintendent Dale Schreuder said
Francisco resigned last May, but the resignation was voluntary. He
said Francisco was with the district for five years.

Francisco said if he were convicted he would permanently lose his
credentials to work with students.

"This will take his livelihood, and all because of a stem the size of
a toothpick on the floor of his truck," said Francisco's wife, Amy.

The case has attracted advocates for drug law reform from across the state.

"This is a free speech case," said Charles Ream, a trustee in Scio
Township near Ann Arbor and member of Michigan NORML, who attended
the hearing. "It has nothing to do with drugs."