Pubdate: Wed, 09 Jun 2010
Source: City Pulse (Lansing, MI)
Copyright: 2010 City Pulse
Contact:  http://www.lansingcitypulse.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4532
Author: Neal McNamara

NEGATIVE APPROACH

Is The Case Of Frederick Wayne Dagit Bad For The  Medical Marijuana
Cause?

On Tuesday afternoon, the Rev. Frederick Wayne Dagit  sat in a black-
and white-striped Ingham County Jail  jumpsuit in 55th District Court
in Mason. He looked  calm, rested and alert. It was his second
appearance in  court after the Tri- County Metro Narcotics Squad
raided his Okemos house and Williamstown Township pot  smokers club
and church exactly two weeks ago,  allegedly finding a total of more
than 200 pounds of  marijuana at both locations.

Michael Van Huysse, Dagit's court appointed attorney,  asked Judge
Donald Allen Jr. to reduce Dagit's $500,000  bond and for a
preliminary examination to be moved up  two weeks. Allen adjourned
Dagit's next hearing until  June 22, but did not immediately reduce
his bond. Allen  said he would consider it - though only reducing it
to  $150,000, still outside of Dagit's financial reach -  but had
concerns about Dagit's criminal history and the  fact that he'd only
lived in the area for six months.

Van Huysse's pleas that Dagit, who suffers from  cirrhosis, was not
healthy enough to remain in jail and  that he was an important pillar
in the medical  marijuana community did not seem to faze Allen. Dagit,
  a medical marijuana cardholder, will remain in that  striped jumpsuit
until at least June 22.

In the two weeks since Dagit's arrest, it appears that  law
enforcement officials were targeting Dagit alone -  not the medical
marijuana smoking club he oversaw in  Williamstown Township, nor the
business partners. The  club is open, and no one else has been
arrested.  According to court documents, police set up a buy/best
scenario with Dagit alone.

Medical marijuana activists say that while arresting  someone for
marijuana is stupid, it's the law, which  still has to be obeyed.

Greg Francisco, the former executive director of the  Michigan Medical
Marijuana Association, says that the  state needs to start regulating
medical marijuana  smoking clubs - like Dagit's - so that people are
not  being arrested for violating an unclear law.

Francisco said that he and Dagit have "struck sparks"  in the past and
was not surprised about the arrest. He  said that before his arrest,
Dagit seemed determined to  get a "test case."

"I don't want a beer drinkers club opening up down the  street without
regulation. Fortunately they do have  regulation; it's called a liquor
license," Francisco  said. "We as an association don't object to
reasonable  regulation."

Dagit's arrest could cause backlash against medical  marijuana, but
Francisco feels that a visible solution  would be clear regulation on
medical marijuana.

Mike Meno, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy  Project, which
sponsored the 2008 medical marijuana  ballot drive, said that
Michigan's law was purposefully  silent on medical marijuana
distribution. Under the  administration of George W. Bush, the federal
Justice  Department was vigilant about cracking down on medical
marijuana for violating federal law. The administration  of Barack
Obama is doing the opposite, which is why  states like Colorado and
Rhode Island are beginning to  pass legislation regulating
dispensaries.

"There's a lot of the confusion resulting from the fact  that
Michigan's law doesn't speak to dispensaries,"  Meno said. "Without
that clarity, local law enforcement  is interpreting the law
differently from county to  county or city to city. It sends a mixed
message about  what patients can and can't do."

Meno's organization sees medical marijuana as a  separate issue from
ending marijuana prohibition - that  is, the arrest and prosecution of
marijuana users,  buyers and sellers. So a case like Dagit's has the
potential to damage the public's perception of medical  marijuana,
though it's still a mostly popular measure.

"We don't want these laws to be a mockery," Meno said.  "These are
laws that are passed for sick people, not  for everyone." 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D