Pubdate: Thu, 01 Sep 2011 Source: Ypsilanti Courier (MI) Copyright: 2011 Heritage Newspapers, a Journal Register Property Contact: http://www.heritagenews.com/lettertoeditor/ Website: http://www.heritage.com/ypsilanti_courier/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5124 Author: Austen Smith, Heritage Media, Staff Writer Amy Bell contributed to this story 3RD COAST MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY TO CONTINUE OPERATIONS DESPITE COURT RULING, RAIDS Ypsilanti's 3rd Coast Compassion Center, the first medical marijuana dispensary opened in the state, is continuing operations as normal despite a state Court of Appeals ruling last week prohibiting "patient to patient" sales of medical marijuana. The court opinion overturned an Isabella County Circuit Court ruling involving Compassionate Apothecary LLC, located in Mt. Pleasant, in which owners Brandon McQueen and Matthew Taylor had testified they retained at least 20 percent of the sale price of medical marijuana. The ruling stated the dispensary can be shut down as a public nuisance as it is in violation of the Public Health Code. Jamie Lowell, director for the 3rd Coast Compassion Center, said Tuesday they are a non-profit organization that accepts private donations in order to pay bills and salaries. He said they have not closed their doors, unlike some dispensaries in the area, because they are continuing to operate within the confines of the law according to the spirit and intent of the 2008 Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. "A lot of us have been running as non profits," said Lowell. "We are looking at this ruling in a lot more narrow sense in that it affects one specific place that runs its business in a specific way. But we're still trying to figure it all out and whether it affects us." Lowell said they did close the day the appellate court ruling was released but reopened the following day. He said they have been in contact with city of Ypsilanti administration. "Again, we're not positive on whether we are directly affected by this. We are going to evaluate it and continue to help out the patients that come here," he said. "These places are helping out thousands of people with their health care...we have all of these patients who are missing out on their health care and that's the biggest tragedy in all of this." Lowell was referring to raids conducted on Med Mar Compassionate Health Care, 1815 Packard Road, and A2 Go Green Corp. in downtown Ann Arbor. Both raids were conducted by the Livingston and Washtenaw Narcotics Enforcement Team, or LAWNET, on Thursday. Lowell said it had been reported that the raids were based on separate investigations and essentially weren't connected with the court of appeals ruling. He said he believes that. "It was very opportunistic with the timing, but yes I do believe that (law enforcement) had something in progress (apart from the ruling)," said Lowell. Lowell said in a previous interview with Heritage Media that the 3rd Coast Compassion Center is a private, non-profit club in which they are providing a safe facility for medical marijuana patients and caregivers to develop relationships and to ensure the uninterrupted flow of medicine to patients. All medicine is brought in by the caregivers and accounted for daily. The dispensary does not store product in lockers or overnight. Lowell said everything that happens at the facility is within the parameters of the MMMA. The dispensary serves some 2,000 licensed patients, and Ypsilanti now has four medical marijuana dispensaries and a licensed grow facility still in the planning stages. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.