Marijuana Club Owner Is Accused Of Driving High

[MedicalNeed]

A man arrested last week along with his wife in raids of the couple's medical marijuana establishments in Waterford also was arrested earlier this month when police said the man's marijuana use impaired his driving and that he possessed a potent form of marijuana called hashish that authorities believe is illegal for medical use, according to a confidential police report obtained by the Free Press.

But medical marijuana advocates said there is no court-approved way in Michigan for police to show that bad driving was the result of marijuana use, and they said hashish is merely a concentrated form of marijuana and thus legal for medical use in Michigan.

Marijuana club owner William Teichman said he planned to speak to the news media today outside the Waterford District Court before his 1:30 p.m. preliminary exam in the case involving his establishments.

The Aug. 2 arrest of Teichman, 50, of White Lake, who has not yet been charged in the traffic stop, points out examples of how police and patients increasingly contend over how to interpret the two-year-old Michigan Medical Marijuana Act.

According to the confidential police report, Teichman's 2010 Jeep Commander -- confiscated by police in last week's raids -- twice swerved across the center line of Airport Road. The report said Teichman failed sobriety tests after being pulled over.

In his pockets were two pills of what the arresting officer -- a former undercover narcotics investigator -- said was "hashish, a marijuana derivative synthetically altered" from the marijuana plant, according to the police report.

It's unclear whether hashish is legal under the state medical marijuana law, a Michigan Department of Community Health spokesman said.

Teichman said he did not swerve across the center line and that the arresting officer told him he merely swerved within his own lane before he was pulled over about 8 p.m. He said he had just left Everybody's Café, a Waterford restaurant he co-owns with his wife, Candi Teichman. At 4 p.m. each weekday the café becomes a so-called compassion club where state-approved patients smoke medical marijuana.

Teichman also denied that the two pills he possessed contained hashish. He said they were "just made of ground-up marijuana," which he did not consider to be hashish. Hashish is a concentrated form of the drug that can be an ingredient in candy for patients who don't wish to smoke, medical marijuana attorney Matt Abel said.

Until legislators in Lansing spell out a regulatory framework for medical marijuana, the courts must decide on hashish and give police guidance on when a marijuana user's driving is impaired, said Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper.


NewsHawk: MedicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: freep.com/article
Author: BILL LAITNER and ELISHA ANDERSON
Copyright: 2010 digitalfreepress

 

[DrProfessor]

Exactly my point all over these forums they (government officials) don't even really know what it is. Hash is illegal but Everclear is okdoky shouldn't you get your facts strait before making laws I think. We as good consumers need to educate these ignorant people I'm constantly working to change peoples mind (not hard here in MO) because really they just don't know. My motherinlaw is from Oaklahoma and hated pot but she's cool we joke about it. One day she was over and my wife brought a big ass bud down stairs to show her and she says is that some kind of flower or somthin' my wife says kinda it's weed and she handed it back. In that one moment she held something she had heard so much about how evil it was (Old lady from OK you know). What did she say wow I had no idea even the smell is wonderful. Needless to say we have had many conversations about and my work is done. She even hit a joint on my wifes birthday now that change we can believe in haha. It's really about education most have no idea about anything they're just sheep weed baaad. I'm telling you if we educate people instead of leaving them in the dark this could work. Teach a few people about Cannabis they teach a few and when people spew the lies those people can make an educated decision instead of just following the heard. Honestly have you heard anything with any facts from these people do you think they know about the internets? Most of the arguments against Cannabis are totally false and even the non-smokers know that but they have no facts no understanding of plants or chemistry. That's where we come in keep it simple and teach you hear someone run their mouth BAM now they know. I have no problem with parents being worried about their children I'm a parent. Most simply say I don't want my children around drugs and go get drunk. Is that what we want I've never seen someone sloppy falling all over the place high and that's after smoking all day everyday. We need to change the reefer madness mentality because like it or not it been around for ever and runs deep in some and they don't even know why.....

 

[DrProfessor]

I just passed a driving test with instructor High as it gets so let's see someone even a regular drinker do that after drinking half a day. Alcohol is a intoxicant hello which one is safer shit if alcohol was a new drug that just appeared there's no way it would be legal. Don't even get me started on cancer sticks but I will say this about them as well. If you do smoke ciggs smoke good quality and the difference is night and day. My father is a lifelong smoker and recently switched to American Spirits about 2 years ago. His lungs are in way way way better shape. The doctor thought he quit like he was supposed to after a listen, and full Xray plus MRI nothing. He even said that they had repaired some of the previous damage....probably the weed...all I'm saying is the additives and crappy quality tobacco used in most cigarettes. All I'm saying is really this is what we need to waste our time on pot smokers get a real job.