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Michigan: Items Seized In Marijuana Bust Must Be Returned

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 15, 2010 Dispensaries, Medical

Photo: Michael P. McConnell/Oakland County Daily Tribune

Barbara Agro, office manager at the Clinical Relief medical marijuana dispensary in Ferndale, Michigan, talks on her cell phone outside the clinic on August 26, the day after police raided the facility and confiscated patient records, TVs, computers, a small amount of marijuana and even the business’s telephones.

A judge has ordered Oakland County prosecutors to provide copies of seized patient files and ID cards, and to return computer hard drives and other items to two defendants charged in the county’s largest-ever raid on medical marijuana dispensaries.

Attorneys representing the owners of Ferndale medical marijuana dispensary Clinical Relief, Nicholas Agro, 38, of Lake Orion, Mich., and Ryan Richmond, 33, of Royal Oak, Mich., argued Thursday for the return of the items, which were taken by narcotics officers with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.

Officers raided the business, along with another dispensary in Waterford Township and multiple homes on August 25, reports Jennifer Chambers of The Detroit News.

Patients Held At Gunpoint In Michigan Medical Marijuana Raids

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 27, 2010 Dispensaries, News

Photo: Oakland County Daily Tribune

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard: “This is Michigan, not some Cheech and Chong movie”

“This is Michigan, not some Cheech and Chong movie,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard bragged Thursday at a press conference where he proudly showed off seized items including bagged and candied marijuana he claimed was “worth $750,000,” hash oil, and growing equipment.

Two medical marijuana businesses were raided and 15 people were arrested in Michigan for allegedly making “illegal sales,” according to the sheriff’s department.

Bouchard, a publicity-loving Republican gubernatorial candidate, compared medical marijuana dispensary operators to “organized crime,” and is widely viewed as wanting a test case to curtail the pot shops’ activities.

The raids, during which cancer patients and elderly cardholders were forced to the ground at gunpoint, left many medical marijuana patients confused and angry, report Mike Martindale and Jennifer Chambers of The Detroit News.

“This is a very disturbing story,” said Michael Komorn of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association, which has 16,000 members.

“Patients were held at gunpoint and dragged out,” Komorn said. “This law was designed to protect patients and caregivers — not expend our resources arresting patients and caregivers.”