Ferndale Medical Pot Clinic Defended

FERNDALE, Mich. - Police laid it all out for everyone to see; three-quarters of a million dollars worth of drugs seized from medical marijuana facilities in Ferndale and Waterford.

Thursday, attorneys for the Ferndale clinic's owners and employees were back in court for a hearing after several of them were arrested and charged with violating Michigan's new medical marijuana law.

"The Oakland County Sheriff busted in with semi-automatic weapons throwing 80-year-old women on the floor," said medical marijuana user Clarence Day.  "It's really disgusting."

Day, who is a deejay and also known as "Stick" on Channel 955, is a card carrying member of the Medical Marijuana Program.  He's a patient at Ferndale's Clinical Relief marijuana dispensary, which sells 20 grades of the drug for up to $700 an ounce.

"Everything was by the book.  If anything, they should be used as an example of how these places should run," Day said.

The clinic is back open now, but they say all they can do is help patients with their paperwork since police seized all the marijuana.  Their attorney says he plans to prove they did nothing illegal.

"You can't have a law, which was passed overwhelmingly by the people of this state, and then say that you want these people to have access to marijuana and then make no provision for how they can actually get it," said attorney Neil Rockind.

"It's just going to make it harder for us to get our medication if they keep confiscating it and taking it away from the people, and then where are we left to go?  Back to the black market, and it's not safe," said medical marijuana user Robert Redden.

Medical marijuana supporters say they're hoping the law will be clarified to prevent similar raids in the future.

Everyone arrested is out on bond and due back in court later this month.