Forum: TC police should respect pot law

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DeVaney

December 18, 2011

By Adam C. DeVaney ---- The Record Eagle Wed Feb 08, 2012, 03:22 PM EST

On Wednesday, Dec. 13, a multi-jurisdictional task force raided local medical marijuana dispensaries. The reason? They were purportedly operating outside the limits of the law as defined by the recent Appeals Court ruling which supposedly outlawed the sale of medical marijuana between patients.

Whether this is a settled case law while a Supreme Court appeal is in the works is open to interpretation. This is not my point.

In 2005, Traverse City residents voted by an overwhelming 63 percent to make investigating, arresting and prosecuting medical marijuana patients the lowest law enforcement priority within the city. This means that if there are other unsolved crimes in the city, which there are, the city police are obliged to work on them instead of medical marijuana cases.

This was plain language that was initiated and voted in by the citizens. Three years later, our residents again voted by 63 percent to protect patients and their providers from arrest at the state level.

It was with great dismay that I heard that the Traverse City Police were part of the raid on State Street. The Traverse Narcotics Team and state and federal officials could have and should have handled the investigations and raids.

They should have received no help from the Traverse City Police at any point.

On Wednesday, the front page of the Record-Eagle showed a Traverse City police car sitting in front of the raided collective on State Street. This is a blatant violation of the public trust. This was a shameful dismissal of the will of the voters of Traverse City. Regardless of the actions of those who were licensed to dispense medical marijuana within the city, the local police were ordered in no uncertain terms to focus their limited resources elsewhere. Why they chose to disregard the will of voters is beyond any excuse that might be offered.

As a resident who helped initiate the change to police priorities in 2005 as well as our common-sense approaches in 2010 to zoning for registered patients, growers and licensing distributors within the city, the participation of our police in this raid was completely unacceptable.

It showed blatant contempt for the voters who pay their salaries. Maybe the police do not feel that they will be held accountable, and if this is true, then what does this say about the rule of law in our society? What does this say about the democratic process?

I am not taking a position on the legitimacy of these collectives. I am taking a stand against the total disregard for the will of Traverse City voters. Our police should be investigating the recent rise in pharmaceutical abuse, heroin overdoses or anything else that remains unsolved -- not taking part in medical marijuana investigations or raids no matter how tempting the stationary, low-lying fruit of collectives may seem.

The ordinances of Traverse City state that investigating, arresting or prosecuting medical marijuana is to be the lowest law enforcement priority. Traverse City police should respect the rule of law.

About the author: Adam C. DeVaney, of Traverse City, was a petition coordinator during the city's 2005 Medical Marijuana Lowest Law Enforcement Priority Initiative and a member of the Traverse City Committee to draft zoning laws for Medical Marijuana

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