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FERNDALE – "All we want to do is protect our patients," according to the leader of a group protesting Nov. 3 outside Kulick Community Center in Ferndale during the preliminary exam of nine defendants arrested in August after a police raid at a medical marijuana facility in Ferndale.
About 90 medical marijuana supporters arrived in three buses from cities across the state for the protest, according to Chuck Ream, co-founder for Safer Michigan Coalition and a member of Michigan Association of Compassion Centers.
Holding signs supporting their cause, protesters walked for about 2 1/2 hours along the sidewalk behind the community center, at 1201 Livernois, in support of the defendants arrested in late August at Clinical Relief, a medical marijuana facility in Ferndale. The trial was moved to the community center because of limited space at 43rd District Court, according to court and city officials.
A Ferndale Police patrol unit was on site, and there were no reports of disturbances during the protest.
One of the protesters carried a sign that read, "Stop Killer Bouchard," which Ream said is a message to Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard to stop "trying to kill (the state's) medical marijuana law," approved by 63 percent of voters on the statewide November 2008 ballot.
Ream said he has been smoking marijuana for 43 years and qualifies as a medical marijuana patient, because he has "intestinal distress and gastrointestinal problems."
"All I have is pain, I'm not terminal one bit," Ream said. "I can run farther and swim farther than most 20-year-olds or cops. My body is hard and strong, my mind is functioning as well."
Ream said he is president of a medical marijuana dispensary in Ann Arbor and added that his long-term goal is to legalize marijuana in Michigan for any use.
"I use cannabis, period. There is no right for the American government to say (citizens) can't use a plant. That's ridiculous."
California voters rejected a Nov. 2 ballot proposal to legalize marijuana for any use, with the initiative going down 54 percent to 46 percent.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed:420 MAGAZINE
Source:hometownlife.com
Author: Steve Kowalski
Contact: hometownlife.com | Suburban Detroit Contact Us - Observer & Eccentric Papers | the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers and Hometown Weeklies
Copyright: 2010 hometownlife.com
Website:Medical marijuana supporters are smokin' mad | hometownlife.com | the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers and Hometown Weeklies
About 90 medical marijuana supporters arrived in three buses from cities across the state for the protest, according to Chuck Ream, co-founder for Safer Michigan Coalition and a member of Michigan Association of Compassion Centers.
Holding signs supporting their cause, protesters walked for about 2 1/2 hours along the sidewalk behind the community center, at 1201 Livernois, in support of the defendants arrested in late August at Clinical Relief, a medical marijuana facility in Ferndale. The trial was moved to the community center because of limited space at 43rd District Court, according to court and city officials.
A Ferndale Police patrol unit was on site, and there were no reports of disturbances during the protest.
One of the protesters carried a sign that read, "Stop Killer Bouchard," which Ream said is a message to Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard to stop "trying to kill (the state's) medical marijuana law," approved by 63 percent of voters on the statewide November 2008 ballot.
Ream said he has been smoking marijuana for 43 years and qualifies as a medical marijuana patient, because he has "intestinal distress and gastrointestinal problems."
"All I have is pain, I'm not terminal one bit," Ream said. "I can run farther and swim farther than most 20-year-olds or cops. My body is hard and strong, my mind is functioning as well."
Ream said he is president of a medical marijuana dispensary in Ann Arbor and added that his long-term goal is to legalize marijuana in Michigan for any use.
"I use cannabis, period. There is no right for the American government to say (citizens) can't use a plant. That's ridiculous."
California voters rejected a Nov. 2 ballot proposal to legalize marijuana for any use, with the initiative going down 54 percent to 46 percent.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed:420 MAGAZINE
Source:hometownlife.com
Author: Steve Kowalski
Contact: hometownlife.com | Suburban Detroit Contact Us - Observer & Eccentric Papers | the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers and Hometown Weeklies
Copyright: 2010 hometownlife.com
Website:Medical marijuana supporters are smokin' mad | hometownlife.com | the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers and Hometown Weeklies
