A Michigan judge has ruled against the state Attorney General’s office in a series of criminal cases brought against four employees of Lansing-based medical marijuana dispensaries.
Lansing District Court Judge Hugh Clark Jr. dismissed the felony drug-dealing charges last week, saying the state’s medical marijuana law "screams for legislative clarification in numerous areas."
The Lansing State Journal has more:
The case surrounded multiple purchases of marijuana last year by four undercover police officers at HydroWorld locations on South Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and West Barnes Street. They bought about 1/8-ounce of marijuana each time. The Attorney General’s office filed charges against the employees, saying that the undercover officers were able to purchase marijuana even though they didn’t have state-issued medical marijuana cards. The officers, according to testimony, filled out applications for the ID cards and a doctor — without ever seeing the officers — approved them.
Clark based his ruling on a recent Michigan Supreme Court decision that said a doctor’s diagnosis serves as a defense against possession charges for someone without a medical marijuana card.
The Attorney General’s office may seek an appeal, while civil lawsuits seeking to shut down the HydroWorld locations are still pending, the Lansing State Journal reports.
- Jordan Wyant, Michigan Radio Newsroom
