Two Ann Arbor Dispensaries Raided, Three Arrested
ANN ARBOR (WWJ) - Two marijuana clinics were raided and three people were arrested in Ann Arbor Thursday afternoon, just one day after a State Appeals Court ruled that private marijuana shops are illegal.
Police have shut down MedMar clinic and A2 Go Green Corp and arrested three people, saying workers at both places did not follow state guidelines for operating dispensaries. However, authorities say the raids are not related to the recent ruling that private marijuana shops are illegal.
Brandon McQueen owns three dispensaries, including one in Lansing. He said they received a cease and desist order following the ruling.
"We were under the impression that we could stay open for a week or two longer for the legal process to play out until the judge had signed off on all the paperwork. Later on that day, a couple of police came and served us some papers."
McQueen is now worried his nearly 4,000 customers are going to turn to illegal ways to obtain the drug.
"After we closed when people came in here and found out that we couldn't serve them, there were on their phones calling their friends before they walked out the door. All these patients have nowhere to go. The only two options they have is to grow their own or they have to go to the black market."
Meantime, legal experts are advising the hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries across the state to stay closed for now. It's not clear what legal steps, if any, might be taken to potentially change the appeals court ruling. Michigan voters approved medicinal marijuana in 2008.
"Dispensaries provide patients with uninterrupted access, so now they don't have that no more unless they go to the black market, which means, you know, they have to have a connection," McQueen said.
It's estimated that there could be up to 500 dispensaries across the state and nearly 100,000 people who carry medical marijuana cards.
