| Photo: Lansing City Pulse |
| Rev. Wayne Dagit before the bust: “I’m not serving pot, I’m serving the Lord.” Dagit remains in jail on $500,000 bond. |
A Michigan medical marijuana smokers club has reopened for business while its owner, the Rev. Frederick Wayne Dagit, remains in jail on $500,000 bond.
Dagit, 60, was arrested May 26 after the Tri-County Narcotics Team raided the Green Leaf Smokers Club and his home in Meridian Township east of Lansing. Police said they seized more than 100 pounds of marijuana, mostly at Dagit’s home, reports the Lansing State Journal.
“They treated us like criminals, forced us to the ground, even though I have to walk with a cane,” said patient Terry Clark, 48, who said he suffers from arthritis, seizures and chronic pain.
Clark and the one other customer in the club at the time eventually were asked to show their state-issued medical marijuana cards, which they did, according to Clark. They were then allowed to leave.
According to Dagit, he opened the club on Grand River Road in February as a place for patients to socialize and medicate.
But the Green Leaf does not dispense marijuana. It is instead a place where certified medical users can come together socially to use cannabis together, as long as they bring their own pot.
The club requests $20 annual donations from members, who must present state-issued cards that prove they are allowed to use marijuana or grow it for others, according to Dagit, who said a few members have been using the club recently before Monday’s opening.
The club features tables and couches where patients can lounge, wireless Internet for laptop computers, coffee and baked goods.
Dagit could not be reached for comment at the Ingham County Jail.
He has asked for a court-appointed attorney, but one had not been assigned to him Wednesday.
Even if Dagit posts bond, a judge has ordered that Dagit can come no closer than 500 feet to his club.