Pubdate: Thu, 4 Mar 2010
Source: Daily Tribune, The (Royal Oak, MI)
Copyright: 2010 The Daily Tribune
Contact:  http://www.dailytribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1579
Author: Catherine Kavanaugh
Referenced: Michigan's law http://drugsense.org/url/8mvr7sW8
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Michigan+medical+marijuana
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis - Medicinal - U.S.)

ACLU CONSIDERS NEXT MOVE

Request to Return Medical Marijuana Rejected.

ROYAL OAK -- The American Civil Liberties Union is  pondering its
response to the city's refusal to return  medical marijuana to a
qualified patient or compensate  him for it.

"It is disappointing," ACLU staff attorney Daniel  Korobkin said
Wednesday. "We're considering how to move  forward from here."

A Royal Oak police officer seized almost 7 grams of  medical marijuana
(spelled marihuana in the state act  and legal documents) from
Christopher Frizzo, a  multiple sclerosis patient, during a routine
traffic  stop on Jan. 11.

City Attorney David Gillam said the confiscation was  proper in a 
letter sent to the ACLU on Tuesday: "Based  on the fact that Mr. 
Frizzo's registry card did not  designate a caregiver and that he 
admitted purchasing  the marihuana from an individual to whom he was 
not  connected through the Michigan Department of Community  Health, 
(the officer) confiscated the marihuana and  sent Mr. Frizzo on his way."

The ACLU contends the state law passed in 2008 says  medical marijuana
can't be seized or forfeited.

Gillam said Frizzo can file a claim with the city's  insurer seeking
the return of his seized property.

Frizzo, a 46-year-old Royal Oak resident, said  Wednesday he doesn't
think an insurance claim would  remedy the situation.

"To compare medicine that relieves symptoms of an  autoimmune disease
where the body is destroying itself  to property like a car is absurd
and shameful," Frizzo  said. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake