Appeals court reinstates charges in medical marijuana case 2 Madison Heights residents didn't have Michigan's permission to use drug

The Michigan Court of Appeals has reinstated drug charges against two Madison Heights residents who were using marijuana on the advice of a doctor, but had not yet obtained the necessary registration cards issued by the state Department of Community Health.

Robert Redden and Torey Clark were arrested in a Madison Heights home March 30, 2009, after police found one and a half ounces of marijuana and 21 marijuana plants. 

The two presented documentation from an out-of-state doctor who said he examined both of them and determined that Redden was suffering from pain that would be alleviated by marijuana. Clark, he said, was suffering from nausea. The doctor, in making the determinations, did not say what was causing the conditions.

Redden and Clark appeared in district court on one count each of manufacturing more than 20, but fewer than 200, marijuana plants. By then, the two had obtained the necessary registration cards. The district court dropped the charges in July 2009.

Prosecutors appealed to the circuit court, which reinstated the charges, saying the two should have abstained until they had been granted the cards. Redden and Clark appealed to the higher court.

In a decision released Tuesday, a three-member appellate panel agreed, and sent the matter back to the district court for review.

Attorneys representing the pair could not be immediately reached.

Michigan is grappling with how to enforce its 2008 medical marijuana laws. Police, in recent raids on businesses and homes, say marijuana providers are far exceeding the amount they are allowed to dispense to patients and that some patients are acquiring the drug, even though they are not seriously ill.

More than a dozen Oakland County residents were arrested in late August and face a variety of charges. Those cases are pending.