__ _ qw NW IRW '-MW Wensdy Noeme 30 201 // The Statement0 .- Wednesday, November 30, 2011 // The Statement . E3 statement Magazine Editor: Carolyn Klarecki Editor in Chief: Stephanie Steinberg Managing Editor. Nick Spar Deputy Editors: Stephen Ostrowski Devon Thorsby Elyana Twiggs Designers: Maya Friedman Arjun Manhati Hermes Risien Photos: Jed Moch Copy Editor: Hannah Poindexter The Statement is The Michigan Daily's news magazine, distributed every Wednesday during the academic year To contact The Statement e-mail klarecki@ michigandaily.com. THEJUNKDRAWER random student interview by laura rgintar Welcome to the Random student Interview where we find our new best friends. Hey there, you look like you just went through a serious monsoon. Doesn't it suck to be cold and wet? Depends who you ask. I'd rather be walking in the rain than walking in the snow. How was your Thanksgiving break? outstanding. I cooked for my entire family and then ate myself into a food coma. Then I woke up and raged at the tailgate and then went to Bassnectar. Wow. Sounds like you really had an indulgent weekend. Bassnec- tar probably didn't help that hangover. Didn't make it worse. I think every hangover needs another party to cure it. So you were the one cooking? What did you make? Anything special? You can doctor up any responses ... I have no dignity, so it's all up to you. That's a really nice offer, but unfortunately we like to stick to the truth at the Daily so I'll leave that up to my editor. Anyway, so what'd you make? Any secret recipes? I made a lemon and rosemary dry- brined turkey from a grass-fed tur- key that I got in Chelsea, Michigan and then hells side dishes like apple and rosemary stuffing ... farro with mushrooms, white bean mashed potatoes, quinoa-stuffed squash and the best banana cake with chocolate frosting you'll seriously ever eat. My great grandma would roll over in her grave if I told you it though. I don't mess with ghosts so I'll keep my mouth shut. That sounds like a professional menu. I'm impressed. And I wish you had some leftovers right about now. You should come over for leftovers. Last night I got really high and made biscuits and gravy to go with them. Long Pause. What up, I did! Well nothing better than a blaze session and great grub after. Hope they keep this, maybe read- ers will assume you're talking about medical marijuana ... Did you storm the field Saturday? I mean, does the Pope wear a hat? I don't know, I'm Jewish. Does he? Haha. Touche! All right then, does a bear shit in the woods? Not if you shoot it first. Oh! She's on fire! As an environ- mentalist, I'm practically required to say we can't be friends after that comment. Sorry, all in good fun. I like to recycle my water bottles if that helps. So I'm taking it you did rush the field. Let me ask you this - how did you get out of the sta- dium? We waited until the last minute when they kicked us off. You basi- cally had to pry me from the turf. Last game as a senior, real hard to leave the big house. But on the way out, I actually- spotted Lloyd Carr taking a picture with someone, and we bombarded him for a senior pic- ture. Shut up. That's really cool. It was so legendary. I thinktI deserve a Michigan Legends card - for free! Some shameless promotion I see. Did you register for classes yet? I backpacked them. Still waiting to register. Tomorrow, 10:30 am. Rough for a senior. Tell me about it. I'm trying to fight Mary Sue. That probably won't go over well. You should beat her to The Cube one morning. Anything special you're planning on taking? Any- thing easy you want to share for the rest of us? Built Environment, which is all about how humans reshape the environments that they put them- selves into. Truth. That last one sounds pretty philosophical and kind of cool. Also, stats blows. The messed up thing about stats is that I took AP stats in high school and got a 5 on the AP, and I'm still not exempt from the class. Some bogus stuff if you ask me. Agreed ... there's all those fun things to put in your graphing calculator, though. Hopefully my calculator still has all those programs that Ican cheat with. - Julianne is an LSA Senior Chock Ream was not happy when the Michi- gan State Police's Livingston and Washt- enaw Narcotics Enforcement Team raided his Arborside medical marijuana dispen- sary on Aug. 25. "They've come into our dispensary ... and taken - sto- len - all of our medicine, all of our records," said Ream, president of the dispensary, located on 1818 Packard Street, at the time. The raid came one day after a state appellate court in Isabella County ruled that dispensaries are not autho- rized to sell marijuana under the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act, which voters passed in 2008. Lt. Jerry Cooley, a spokesman for LAWNET, denied that the raids were connected to the appellate court's ruling, saying that the raids were related to "previous investigations" of dispensaries in Ann Arbor. Some dispensaries in the city shut down for a brief period after the court's ruling. Since the raid on Arbor- side, new owners have taken over the dispensary, which was previously called MedMar. "The last owner was wiped out by a theft. A raid by masked gunmen wiped him out," Ream said. "He is a family man, with a wife and kids, and he has been really hurt by these outrageous attacks." State Attorney General Bill Schuette supported the Isabella County prosecutors, and he released a statement following the ruling that said his office would assist other municipalities in shutting down dispensaries in their area. Ream criticized Schuette for his actions regarding the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act, calling his role in enforcing and implementing the act an "atrocity." "His goal is to defeat the voters," Ream said. "He has no respect for the voters, no respect for medical canna- bis, and even though the voters voted 63 percent for it, it makes no difference to him." Several interview requests for this article were not returned by Schuette's office. Ream said that Schuette wants the state's medical marijuana act to be "invalidated as unconstitutional." "If you don't have dispensaries, you can't have the range of products to take care of the needs of (medi- cal marijuana) patients that are out there," Ream said. "Schuette is supposed to enforce and implement the law, and in this case, he is trying to destroy (it)." Ann Arbor City Council member Sabra Briere (D- Ward 1) recently attended a seminar led by Schuette that was intended to educate law enforcement agencies and local government officials on how to implement and enforce the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. However, she said the seminar didn't serve its purpose. "The presentation I went to didn't deal with imple- mentation at all," Briere said. "(It) didn't provide infor- mation to me that would help with understanding the impact of the medical marijuana act on local govern- ments." She said the session focused on how to deal with citi- zens who were not abiding by the terms of the medical marijuana act. When asked whether she thought Schuette had the best interests of Michigan citizens in mind, Briere said that was a question for the attorney general himself. "I think he thinks he does," Briere said. "People can only act on what they believe to be right." Briere noted that Schuette is advising municipal pros- ecutors and law enforcement agencies with a legal opin- ion that may be inconclusive. "At this point, prosecutors and the attorney general are all interpreting the court's decisions in the most broad, rather than most narrow, way possible," Briere said. She said she thinks it's an issue that officials interpret the court ruling to deem the sale of medical marijuana illegal. According to section 4 (e) of the Michigan Medi- cal Marihuana Act, registered caregivers "may receive compensation for costs associated with assisting a reg- istered qualifying patient in the medical use of mari- juana." This section of the law gave prospective dispensary owners enough leeway to open their businesses after the "He has no respect for the voters, no respect for medical cannabis, and even though the voters voted 63 percent for it, it makes no difference. " -Chuck Ream, president of Arborside dispensary act was passed. However, the act goes on to say that a transaction does not constitute the sale of the substance. The apparent conflict was the center of the Isa- bella County ruling, which ultimately upheld the latter section of the law. Briere agreed with Ream that Schuette's interpretation of the ruling is at conflict with the results of the November 2008 bal lot initiative that passed referendum that passed to become state law. "I feel that it is in some people's best interest to interpret everything very, narrowly, and that best interest is not ..4 necessarily the best interest of the large majority of Michigan residents who said 'allow medical marijuana,' " Briere said. /g Stephen Postema, the city attor- ney for Ann Arbor, has offered to assist in pushing for a local control law at the state level. At an Oct. 26 meeting of Ann Arbor's Medical Marijuana Licensing Board, Postema said the ambiguities in state law make it difficult for the city to issue licensing ordinances with legal authority. "The city is in a difficult position, because when you think about it, the act of licensing and using the gov- ernment to license something raises some problematic issues for us," he said. "I know it is a disappointment, and I am not here to apologize for the law. "The law is imperfect, and the law can be changed and I would encourage the law to be changed." In June, the Ann Arbor City Council passed two ordi- nances focusing on medical marijuana zoning and cul- tivation regulations to be implemented citywide. The passage came after the two ordinances were repeatedly postponed over a period of seven months. F Ann Arbor resident Ben Ogren, a medical marijuana cardholder, said he grows his own marijuana and finds dispensaries "expensive." Ogren uses medical marijuana to alleviate symptoms he experiences from sinus infections. Ogren said dispen- K saries have an important role in aiding patients who may need guidance in deciding what products are appropri- ate for their specific condition. He said they also are an attractive model for munici- palities because they have been suggested to alleviate crime by removing some drug dealers from city streets. Dispensaries offer a safe, clean, secluded area where patients who don't grow their own cannabis can get the help they need and be assured they are buying products that are safe and of appropriate potency, he explained. "Plain and simple, they're bringing money into their town," Ogren said. "People are driving from all over the state to come to dispensaries that are here." Ogren said marijuana users have always used the drug to deal with problems such as anxiety or stress, even though the idea of legalizing medical marijuana is relatively new. "The doctors are just kind of ushering it in as, like, being socially acceptable, I guess," Ogren said. Though members of Ann Arbor's Medical Marijuana Licensing Board will continue to meet, the future of the city's dispensaries is unclear. Ream said state lawmakers are working to draft a local control law that will help cit- ies implement the state law, but no legislation has been voted on as of yet. Further action by the attorney general could complicate the already convoluted legal conflict. CROSSWORD By Nate Gallant 2 n - Ba Q 1" 5 so Across: 1. State of emotion 5. NIH subsidiary 9. "Tough ___ Tinactin" 14. Against 15. SWAT team action 16. Jersey ___ 17. Cigarette brand 19. New Bronco frontman 20. Pinch hit for: _- place of... 21. S. ___Edwards, artist 22. Like Ponzi schemers 26. Al enders? 27. Famous farming sur- name 28. Even, on the links 30. Actor Damon 31. "___ home," or dunk 34. "___/Tuck" 37. Bodily hormone that regulates glucose 38. Washington city 39. Bruins legend Bobby 40. Yes vote 41. Off the mark 42. ___D2 of Star Wars 43. ___ Golem 45. Open the door for 46. Opera element 48. A delicious utensil 52. Poor (performance) 54. Kingdom in Caracas 55. Martial arts star 56. The finishers of 11 and 24 down 60. Rapper Roth 61. Dosage, briefly 62. Express anger, with "out" 63. Sees 64. Sutherland and Gould film 65. Remain in place Down: 1. Item of topography, per- haps 2. "I'm -..boat..." 3. ESPN show after SC 4. Comic of business? 5. Barbie competitor 6. Evidence in Egypt 7. Author of Pooh 8. Commercials 9. Star study abbr. 10. Coa finisher 11. 44 down 12. Like a drowned fish 13. Like Gingrich and Loken 18. Corn field set up, on occasion 21. "Do __ in jail" 22. Detroit 22 across-er 23. Gettysburg general 24. See 44 down 25. Noodle maker 29. Language exam for USA 31. Lay casually 32. TV and novel character Doone 33. Wanted poster abbr. 35. Deceased reptilian enthusiast Steve 36. Like a sniper ready to fire 38. To be in Tijuana 42. What a gun does 44. Soliloquizer of 11 and 24 down 45. Let someone borrow 46. House of Blues event 47. Cultish SyFy TV show 49. Homely lady 50. Boy Meets World teacher, to Eric 51. etc. locales 53. Says aloud 56. Software co. 57. Bit of horse food 58. Hush hush government gp. 59. Not outgoing