Pubdate: Wed, 16 Jan 2002
Source: Ann Arbor News (MI)
Copyright: 2002 The Ann Arbor News
Contact:  http://aa.mlive.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/20
Author: Karessa E. Weir
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

NEW MARIJUANA ARREST FOR MEDICAL-USE ACTIVIST

Local medical-marijuana activist Renee Emry Wolfe was arrested on 
drug charges again this week, even as she awaits sentencing on a 
previous charge of delivery and manufacturing marijuana.

Ann Arbor Police officers took Wolfe, 41, from her home Tuesday and 
charged her with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute it.

The arrest stemmed from an incident in November when officers 
detected the odor of marijuana while accompanying her husband into 
Wolfe's home so he could retrieve some belongings. Wolfe gave them a 
bag of marijuana and the officers found a number of leaves and stalks 
that Wolfe described as trash.

Wolfe, who says she uses marijuana to ease the pain of multiple 
sclerosis, charged the arrest was retaliation for her outspoken views 
on the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

"They have targeted me and continue to harass me and I'm tired of 
it," she said Thursday. "I intent to file a lawsuit against the city 
of Ann Arbor and I'm going to win. And then I'm going to buy lots of 
pot with the money I win."

Wolfe spent Tuesday night in jail before she was arraigned Wednesday 
and released on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond. A preliminary 
hearing is set for Jan. 23 in Washtenaw County District Court. If 
convicted of the felony charge, Wolfe faces four years in prison.

Ann Arbor Police Sgt. Michael Logghe scoffed at Wolfe's harassment claims.

"Obviously, she is incorrect. We were called to her home. The idea 
that there is somehow a conspiracy against her is preposterous," 
Logghe said.

Before her most recent arrest, Wolfe was awaiting sentencing on drug 
charges. Wolfe was accused of selling marijuana for $10 to a police 
informant in June 2000. She was charged with two counts of delivery 
and manufacturing of marijuana. Both charges are punishable by up to 
four years in prison.

In December, Wolfe pleaded guilty to one of the charges in exchange 
for the other charge to be dismissed. She was scheduled to be 
sentenced on Jan. 29.

Wolfe was convicted in 1995 on misdemeanor marijuana possession 
charges and in 1996 on two felony charges of delivery of marijuana. 
She received no jail time in either case.

In 1999, Wolfe was convicted in U.S. Superior Court in Washington on 
a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession. The charge stemmed from 
Wolfe lighting a marijuana cigarette in the Washington office of Rep. 
William McCollum, R-Fla., in September 1998.

News reporter Liz Cobbs contributed to this report
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