80-year-old Woman with Expired Cannabis Card Jailed For Possession
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]A[/dropcap]n 80-year-old woman living in Michigan was jailed (and later released) for possessing a small amount of cannabis while holding an expired medical cannabis card.
According to Fox 17 in West Michigan, Delores Saltzman answered the door to a Clare County Sheriff Ashley Gruno in June. Gruno was looking for Saltzman’s great-granddaughter in an attempt to get her to return lost property. Saltzman smelled cannabis and asked if the cannabis belonged to Saltzman. “Right, and I told her it was mine,” Saltzman said, being sincere with the deputy. Saltzman lives with arthritis, diverticulitis and muscle and bone aches, but using cannabis to treat her pain down considerably, allowing her to keep quilling paper as art.
The Clare County deputy then entered and, as her son Mark Saltzman said, “kind of frustrated you, remember how you were telling me your anxiety went up off the roof?”
The deputy seized cannabis paraphernalia and cannabis before searching her bedroom, taking pictures, and helping her clean her kitchen before detaining her. She was handcuffed in the car but, Saltzman said, the deputy did not read her rights to her, and she was sent to jail for the night. Saltzman said she suffered from arthritis pain due to cold conditions of the jail.
“I just thought it was absolutely ridiculous to put her through this like that: they could have given her a ticket,” said Mark Saltzman. “And just show us your card later. Reapply for your LARA card, show us this, and then drop the charges.”
Court records showed the deputy seized several pipes, four joints and one jar with an undisclosed amount of cannabis; Saltzman stated she was in possession of less than an eighth of an ounce when she was arrested.
“My assistant prosecutor authorized a possession of marijuana charge based upon the admission by Ms. Saltzman that she wasn’t a medical marijuana card holder and the evidence that she did possess marijuana illegally,” said a written statement to Fox 17. “However, our goal is to ensure that individuals who utilize medical marijuana are doing so legally. As such, Ms. Saltzman was encouraged to obtain her medical marijuana card and if she did so, the case would be dismissed. She did obtain her medical marijuana card and the case was dismissed.”
