Medical marijuana patients claim city officials have targeted them in violation of state law. Warren officials including police harassed medical marijuana patients - - some suffering from cancer -- with tickets and other methods in violation of state law, according to a lawsuit filed Monday against the city. The 23 patients from Macomb County, including seven caregivers plus two businesses, are plaintiffs in the legal action taken in Macomb County Circuit Court. "The city has created an environment of intimidation and fear, that people are afraid to get the medicine they need," said their attorney, Michael Greiner. [continues 485 words]
Chief: Two Residents Have Died in Overdoses This Year To combat a growing trend of individuals selling, buying and using heroin in Shelby Township, Police Chief Robert Shelide plans to permanently assign a narcotics officer to serve on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's task force. Shelide presented a plan to the township's Board of Trustees April 7 to show how he will restructure the department's detective bureau to allow for the task force inclusion. "I'm very serious about combatting t he heroin problem," Shelide said. "The person we select for this position will have the highest standards and be one of the most talented officers in our department. At the end of the day, we want these (heroin dealers) eradicated from our community." [continues 334 words]
Lansing (AP) - Confusion surrounding the legality of marijuana dispensaries and non-smokable forms of the drug are prompting lawmakers to propose changes related to Michigan's voter-approved law that legalized marijuana for medical use. Bipartisan legislation introduced Thursday would allow for "provisioning centers," businesses where patients with a state-issued medical marijuana card could buy surplus marijuana that suppliers produce for other patients. Advocates say the bill is needed because the state Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that qualified patients and caregivers cannot transfer marijuana to another patient or anyone else, and dispensaries that facilitate such transactions can be shut down as a public nuisance. Some municipalities have let the dispensaries continue to operate while others have not. [continues 509 words]
One of Macomb County's smallest communities could become a battleground over the enforcement of marijuana laws. A local group that calls itself Coalition for a Safer Utica filed petitions Friday calling for a city charter amendment that would liberalize marijuana use in the city. Mike Lumetta, who led the petition drive, said the goal is to reduce the enforcement of marijuana laws to the "lowest policing priority." Lumetta said his group collected the signatures of more than 180 registered voters. If those are verified, the proposal could go to voters in November. [continues 273 words]
Judge's ' Dealings With Three Drug- Court Participants' Battles to Be Highlights on Show Judge "Scary Mary" Chrzanowski will be fully introduced to the nation Sunday when her dealings with drug-court participants will be highlighted on NBC- TV's "Dateline." "Dateline" and NBC anchor Lester Holt followed Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Mary Chrzanowski and three people she helped shepherd through juvenile and adult drug courts for about a year. The story will broadcast at 7 p. m. Sunday. "It's an accurate depiction of how tough drug addiction is and how tough it is to kick drug addiction," said "Dateline" producer Fred Rothenberg. "There are 2,700 drug courts across the country. They have been one of the more successful weapons in the war on drugs." [continues 319 words]
A bedroom in Jeannie Richards' Waterford Township home is never used. The walls are painted a unique shade of blue that her son, Bryan, picked out when he was 13 years old. Some of Bryan's old tennis shoes line the closet, along with a dusty, black Detroit Tigers baseball hat that was his favorite. The room hasn't changed much since Bryan's death in 2012 at 26. His death certificate listed the cause as an overdose, a suicide from taking too many prescription pills. But Jeannie knew there was more to the story. [continues 749 words]
Back in the day, the Cass Corridor in Detroit was a highway for heroin and other drugs. Junkies would blend in among students and the homeless, making it hard to differentiate between those three classes of urban dwellers. Homeless shelters seemed to be on every other corner from Forrest to I-375. Drug houses were smartly camouflaged within the area, which ran from West Grand Boulevard down to Michigan Avenue, and from John R over to the Lodge freeway. That grid was a virtual 24-7 Detroit Woodstock, the main thoroughfare for locals and suburbanites alike, shopping for their drug of choice. [continues 681 words]
First in a two-part series. So many heroin abusers hop onto the No. 560 SMART bus to Detroit to buy drugs it's been dubbed "the heroin express." "It's called the heroin express. There's not much we can do about it," said Roseville Police Chief James Berlin, whose city includes multiple popular Gratiot Avenue stops, after attempts to crack down on the practice. "Yeah, the 560," sheriff's Lt. David Daniels, head of his department's drug unit, repeated in a tone of familiarity. "We've had them on that bus from Macomb Township and Chesterfield Township." [continues 3445 words]
Marijuana proponents are gearing up to get pot decriminalization proposals on ballots in about a dozen cities statewide this year, including one in Macomb County. The effort comes after the Safer Michigan Coalition successfully passed similar proposals last year in Ferndale, Jackson and Lansing. "Our goal is to create confusion and chaos between state and local laws so our legislators in Lansing with step up to the plate and do the will of the people," said Tim Beck, co-founder of Safer Michigan. "Ultimately there needs to be marijuana legalization like they have in Colorado, where it is legal and regulated." [continues 535 words]
Marijuana proponents are gearing up to get pot decriminalization proposals on ballots in about a dozen cities statewide this year, including one in Macomb County. The effort comes after the Safer Michigan Coalition successfully passed similar proposals last year in Ferndale, Jackson and Lansing. "Our goal is to create confusion and chaos between state and local laws so our legislators in Lansing with step up to the plate and do the will of the people," said Tim Beck, co-founder of Safer Michigan. "Ultimately there needs to be marijuana legalization like they have in Colorado, where it is legal and regulated." [continues 541 words]
So Ferndale police will continue to enforce Michigan laws prohibiting possession of small amounts of marijuana even though the city's voters agreed to legalize it. Confusing? Apparently it's meant to be. Residents this month voted by better than 2-1 to decriminalize possession of an ounce or less by persons age 21 or older on private property. But Police Chief Timothy Collins points out that such possession remains prohibited by state law. "If our officers are in a place they are legally allowed to be and see someone smoking marijuana, they will take action. If we found ourselves in that situation, we would use state law." [continues 238 words]
A Canadian man in a scuba suit was taken into custody by federal authorities early Monday morning for attempting to smuggle eight pounds of marijuana into the United States across the St. Clair River near Marine City, officials said. The incident occurred about 1 a.m. when U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Marysville Border Patrol station were notified by the St. Clair County Central Dispatch about a tip they received from a resident notifying of an individual swimming across the river. [continues 176 words]
Marijuana advocates say they will file petitions with the Ferndale City Clerk's office this morning to get a proposal on the November ballot to decriminalize pot in the city. The move is part of a statewide effort and activists say they will also file petitions for ballot proposals to decriminalize marijuana in Jackson today, and in Lansing sometime next week. Andrew Cissell, 25, of Ferndale said he collected about 600 petition signatures nearly twice the number needed in his hometown over the past five weeks. [continues 349 words]
A 21-year-old Sterling Heights man was convicted Tuesday of driving under the influence of marijuana and causing the death of his girlfriend. Timothy Wilds likely faces time behind bars for the December 2010 crash in his hometown that killed Brittany Nowicki, 18, of Macomb Township. The main charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. A jury deliberated about 2-1/2 hours Tuesday following a three-day trial in front of Judge Mary Chrzanowski in Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens. [continues 440 words]
A defense attorney downplayed the potential effect of marijuana in his client's system and emphasized the accidental nature of the traffic crash that killed his girlfriend. Timothy Wilds, 21, of Sterling Heights went on trial Wednesday for the death of Brittany Nowicki, 18, of Macomb Township, a passenger in the vehicle that collided with another vehicle in Sterling Heights in 2010. Wilds is charged with driving under the influence of a controlled substance causing death, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Without marijuana in his system, Wilds could have faced a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving causing death, punishable by up to one year in jail. [continues 332 words]
Advocates Aim to Show Economic Impact of Potential Legalization SOUTHFIELD (AP) - Advocates pushing for broader legalization of marijuana in Michigan hope to send a message of support - and economic clout - by spending $2 bills. Supporters of the cause are being asked to spend at least one of the typically less-used $2 bills for every cash purchase in the three weeks starting Wednesday. On Tuesday, Steven Greene, 45, of South Lyon, picked up $200 in $2 bills from a credit union in the Detroit suburb of Southfield. Greene is a state-registered user of medical marijuana and a caregiver licensed by the state to grow medical marijuana for others. [continues 234 words]
A Michigan-based marijuana law reform non-profit is the first of its kind on the list of charities eligible for payroll deduction donations from federal employees. Michigan Compassion, a federally recognized 501c(3) non-profit organization which seeks to introduce people to the concept of alternative medical uses for the cannabis plant, will be included in the government's Combined Federal Campaign Catalog Charity Listing. The catalog is distributed annually to federal military, postal and civilian employees. The campaign allows employees to payroll-deduct a charitable contribution to organizations such as the Red Cross, Boy Scouts of America and the American Cancer Society. [continues 121 words]
LANSING (AP) - Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette says parents who use medical marijuana aren't disqualified from having custody of children or visiting them. But Schuette says the immunity isn't absolute. He says it's appropriate for a judge to determine whether there are unreasonable dangers for children, similar to a parent's approved use of other controlled substances. The attorney general says a judge can't independently determine if a parent should qualify to use marijuana. Schuette's opinion was released Friday in response to a question by state Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge. The opinion refers to people who are approved by the state to use marijuana to alleviate illnesses or grow it for others. [end]
When it comes to New Jersey's marijuana laws, Gov. Chris Christie is trying to have his cake and eat it too, and he's not even stoned. But Ed "NJWEEDMAN" Forchion? Well, yeah, he's stoned, obviously, but it's not stopping him from pointing out the state's pot laws seem to be written by a "Catch-22" devotee. In a nutshell: Marijuana is a Schedule I drug in New Jersey. Under state law, a drug is Schedule I if, among other things, it "has no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States." [continues 675 words]
DENVER (AP) - Pot smokers in Colorado were the biggest winners in the vote that legalized the drug. Now state regulators are working out the details of exactly how to tax it, so the benefits are shared statewide in the form of increased revenue. A state panel set up to regulate marijuana in Colorado agreed Thursday to recommend the highest tax contemplated by voters last year - a 15 percent excise tax, with the profits going to school construction. The tax question is far from settled, though. [continues 341 words]
