Pubdate: Mon, 31 Jan 2011
Source: Lansing State Journal (MI)
Copyright: 2011 Lansing State Journal
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/qbTWpGoq
Website: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/232
Author: Kevin Grasha
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Dagit
Bookmark: http://www.drugsense.org/cms/geoview/n-us-mi (Michigan)

MARIJUANA LAW'S LEGAL AMBIGUITY 'UNFORTUNATE'

61-Year-Old Man Could Become Statute Test Case

The state's medical marijuana law is often described as ambiguous and 
poorly crafted.

An Oakland County judge called it "one of the worst pieces of 
legislation I've ever seen."

State lawmakers, prosecutors and legal experts believe the law, which 
voters passed in 2008 by a wide margin, is intentionally vague - 
because its supporters and authors want complete legalization.

Among those caught in the middle is Fredrick Wayne Dagit, who is 
facing prison time and whose case is on hold while the state Court of 
Appeals decides if it will consider whether his activities were 
protected under the statute.

"The ambiguity, to me, is extremely unfortunate not only for the 
community, but also for those people who are trying to take advantage 
of the statute - they're going to be sacrificial lambs," said Thomas 
M. Cooley law professor Gerald Fisher, an expert the state's medical 
marijuana law.

"The ambiguity cuts both ways, and some of them are going to jail."

Dagit, 61, is facing charges related to supplying marijuana to the 
Green Leaf Smokers Club, a medical marijuana club in Williamstown 
Township, as well as other related entities, including the Church for 
Compassionate Care Ministries.

Dagit is charged with two counts of possession with intent to deliver 
between 11 and 99 pounds of marijuana, growing 20 or more marijuana 
plants, and maintaining a drug house. He also faces a misdemeanor 
possession charge. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.

According to court documents, Dagit bought 67 pounds of marijuana 
last May for the club, a cooperative that his attorneys say served 
more than 340 patients and 12 caregivers. He and the confidential 
informant who sold him the marijuana also agreed to set aside another 
50 pounds to be purchased for the cooperative at a later time.

117 Pounds for Club

Dagit's attorney, James White, has argued that the purchase of 117 
pounds of marijuana using the collective's money was protected under 
a provision of the medical marijuana law. That provision says charges 
should be dismissed if a patient and caregiver collectively possess 
enough marijuana that is "reasonably necessary to ensure 
uninterrupted availability" for treatment.

Dagit was protected, according to White's court filings, "when taking 
into account the amount of marijuana in Dagit's possession and the 
amount reasonably necessary to ensure the uninterrupted availability 
of medical marijuana to all of the caregivers and patients belonging 
to the ... cooperative."

The law says registered patients can possess 2.5 ounces of marijuana 
and 12 marijuana plants for personal use. Authorized caregivers can 
possess those amounts for up to five patients.

In an interview, White said the state law includes a section about 
collective possession to address situations like Dagit's.

"Why else would the language be there, but to protect individuals who 
fell outside the strict language of the statute?" he said.

Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III - who said he supports 
medical marijuana - is among those who believe the creators of the 
legislation wrote a vague and ambiguous law with the hope of 
eventually legalizing marijuana in the state. The result, Dunnings 
said, has been chaos, where nearly every issue has to be litigated, 
and "people are trying to use these gray areas to drive an armored 
tank battalion through the loopholes of the law - because the 
loopholes are that big."

The creators of the medical marijuana act, he said, "put their 
political agenda ahead of the true needs of people who need access to 
medical marijuana."

'Wiggle Room'

The law was largely written by the Marijuana Policy Project, a 
Washington, D.C. nonprofit, which has a stated goal of wanting to 
"change state laws to reduce or eliminate penalties for the medical 
and non-medical use of marijuana."

Karen O'Keefe, the nonprofit's director of state policies, was the 
primary writer. O'Keefe, who worked with a Michigan group, said she 
left "a little wiggle room" in the law, so a patient who needed more 
medicine would be able to get it.

O'Keefe denied that the organization was pushing an agenda, saying 
that legalization is a separate issue. "I don't want people, under 
Michigan's medical marijuana law, to use it for nonmedical purposes," she said.

Legislative efforts already are under way to clarify the law, and 
impose regulations.

State Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, has reintroduced legislation to 
ban "medical marijuana bars," or dispensaries that allow patients to 
buy marijuana and consume it on site.

He also has talked of drafting legislation that would tax medical 
marijuana sales or dispensaries.

"What we've got out there now is the wild, wild West," said Jones, 
who believes medical marijuana is here to stay.

Not All Supportive

Robin Schneider, owner of Lansing's Capitol City Compassion Club and 
spokeswoman for a national group that advocates for marijuana 
dispensaries, said many caregivers she knows don't support people 
such as Dagit. There are local caregivers, she said, who can't get 
rid of the 15 ounces they are allowed to have legally.

"We don't need anybody bringing in hundreds of pounds from anywhere," 
Schneider said. "It takes money away from the caregivers who are 
trying to do this legally. Most of our community looks at that as 
taking a shortcut."

East Lansing attorney Mike Nichols, who represents medical marijuana 
patients, doesn't agree that the law is vague or ambiguous. The 
courts will sort out areas in the law where guidance is needed, he said.

Some people "are stretching the boundaries to test the limits of the 
law, and to fill in the gaps of what it means to be a patient or 
caregiver," he said.

"And you also have manipulators and con artists or people wanting to 
make a buck and justify abusing or selling a commodity."

[sidebar]

WHAT'S NEXT

The Michigan Court of Appeals is deciding whether to review the case 
against Fredrick Wayne Dagit. It's unknown when a decision will be 
made. Section 8 of the state's medical marijuana act says charges 
should be dropped against a patient and primary caregiver, if any, if 
they "were collectively in possession of a quantity of (marijuana) 
that was not more than was reasonably necessary to ensure the 
uninterrupted availability of (marijuana) for the purpose of treating 
or alleviating the patient's serious or debilitating medical condition."  
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake