DEA Raids Walled Lake Medical Marijuana Facility
WALLED LAKE (WWJ) - A Walled Lake medical marijuana dispensary was raided by federal agents Tuesday morning as part of an ongoing investigation.
Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Rich Isaacson told WWJ Newsradio 950 agents executed a search warrant at the Caregivers of America facility on Decker Road.
Isaacson would provide no further details as the warrant is sealed and the investigation is ongoing.
The DEA is the lead agency in the investigation and local and state police are assisting.
Micheal Grant, a liaison for the medical marijuana industry in Michigan said that he was at this dispensary a couple of days ago.
Grant told WWJ's Ron Dewey that everything seemed to be on the up and up.
"As a liaison, I'm always upset to see anybody that's not in compliance. It jeopardizes the program. It makes my job doing PR harder," Grant said.
There's no need for the greed. The people, you know, getting raided -- they're not giving this to charity. This is about greed, in the end, I'm afraid," he said.
Under state law, people who have obtained doctor approval and state-issued cards are permitted to possess and use marijuana. Licensed caregivers are permitted to grow up to 12 plants in controlled situations and sell marijuana to up to five patients.
Outside the facility, Thursday, WWJ's Marie Osborne spoke with Patty Weer, who has a state-issued card to use marijuana. She asked agents what they were doing.
"I said to him, if it's legal in Michigan and we have cards -- we've had several back surgeries -- so, we have our cards. So, I said, what makes you want to come out on any given day?" Weer said.
There has been plenty of controversy in Oakland County about medical marijuana ever since voters approved the medical marijuana ballot proposal a couple of years ago.
Oakland County prosecutor Jessica Cooper said she wants to end confusion surrounding the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act. Cooper said under the law, marijuana dispensaries of any kind are illegal in Michigan.
However, attorney Neil Rockind, who represents medical marijuana patients, said that's absolutely not true.
"It's very simple. Voters wanted patients to have access to marijuana for medical purposes. That's the spirit and intent behind the law. And the law doesn't prohibit dispensaries," Rockind said.
As agents were leaving the dispensary, Tuesday, patient Colleen Moran pulled up. She said she had been patronizing the business for about a month.
Moran said she was asked by DEA agents if anything suspicious was going on inside.
"No, not at all... not at all. They're very professional, I thought. I don't understand what the problem is," she said.
