Darth Schuette

If this were Star Wars, what has happened with medical marijuana in Michigan recently would be analogous to The Empire Strikes Back — wherein Darth Vader, played by state Attorney General Bill Schuette, with the state Court of Appeals collectively playing the evil emperor in the background, has led his stormtroopers in an offensive that has his opponents on the run.

On Aug. 23, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled against Compassionate Apothecary, LLC, of Mount Pleasant, saying that patient-to-patient sales of medical marijuana were not legal. Judge Joel P. Hoekstra wrote this about the voter-approved Michigan Medical Marihuana Act: "[T]he 'medical use' of marihuana, as defined by the MMMA, does not include patient-to-patient 'sales' of marihuana, and no other provision of the MMMA can be read to permit such sales."

Apparently the only legal way for certified medical marijuana patients to get some medicine is to find some on the porch.

The next day, two dispensaries in Ann Arbor, Med Mar and Liberty Clinic, were raided, while dispensaries across the state — estimates are as many as 500 of them — closed their doors or removed all medication from the premises and only advised clients on what to do.

As prosecutors in county after county, prodded by Schuette, sent cease-and-desist letters to dispensaries operating in their jurisdictions, Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton made it known that he was in no hurry to shut down dispensaries in his county, telling the Flint Journal: "I don't have investigators who can go out and inspect what are called the dispensaries and see if they are in violation. The only way I would be able to review any case ... is if any communities investigate it and bring me evidence that a dispensary is in violation."

This is the latest battle in an ongoing war. Oakland County sheriffs notoriously began busting dispensaries last August. In January, police raided the facilities known as Big Daddy's in Oak Park, taking about $2,800 in cash, some marijuana products (it's not clear how much), documents and equipment. Although no charges were filed at the time, last week, in the wake of the court decision, four people associated with Big Daddy's — Rick Ferris, Stefani Ferris, Danny Stafford and Andrey Douthard — were arrested on a total of 24 charges stemming from the January raid. 

"All charges have to do with conspiracy to deliver marijuana, delivery of marijuana, and possession with intent to deliver marijuana," says attorney Paul Tylenda, who represents them. "It appears the police used actual patients for controlled buys, rather than use fake IDs for undercover cops," as police did in busting other Oakland County facilities.

"It's an informant problem," Tylenda says. "In my belief it makes it a little more challengeable. It's a snitch situation frankly. The credibility of the snitch is involved."

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