ACTIVIST VS. POLICE

Andrew Cissell of Oak Park is known for his valiant effort of petitioning five towns in Oakland County to decriminalize cannabis possession. However, despite his work in fighting for what he thinks is right, he is now serving 90 days at Oakland County Jail for the possession and sale of medical cannabis—the very substance he has fought to decriminalize. Considering the fact that the growth of medical cannabis is indeed legal in Michigan, Cissell and his lawyers are claiming that he was unfairly singled out because of his activism.

In a phone interview with Detroit Free Press, Cissell mentioned his case is a result of his desire to fight for cannabis, “You have a young man who wants to change a law that is wrong and that the voters voted to change, but Oakland County can’t accept that and they want to intimidate me so I don’t do any more political stuff.”

His efforts to decriminalize cannabis went beyond petitioning—Cissell even ran for public office twice, although he didn’t win—and he also worked as a medical cannabis dispensary operator for many years. Now, Cissell faces not only a 90-day prison sentence, but has also acquired two felony charges, which will take away his ability to continue working as a medical cannabis caregiver in the future.

The Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard claims that Cissell’s charges are from breaking state law, not because of his contestant action to try and have medical cannabis decriminalized. Bouchard told Detroit Free Press that it is his belief that all cannabis dispensaries in Michigan should be closed until Michigan law permits them. Then he would like to see a state-regulated medical cannabis program that allows for state-regulated dispensaries selling safe, medical grade cannabis. Bouchard said, “But until we do, my people have a mission—enforce the law.”

After Cissell was arrested, authorities searched his two residences and found close to 200 plants, although he was only authorized under the state’s medical cannabis laws to grow 72 plants.

Cissell’s activism has been seen in action across the state, and his name was no doubt recognizable to the local police force. So it’s not too farfetched for Cissell and his attorneys to believe that the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department was aware of his activism. One of Cissell’s attorneys, David Rudoi from Royal Oak, stated, “I don’t know the intentions of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department, but their timing was very, very interesting.” This is because voters in Ferndale decriminalized possession of small amounts of cannabis, and then days later Cissell was charged with selling cannabis to someone who informed drug investigators in Oakland County. The timing Rudoi refers to seems to suggest that the police force became involved in Cissell’s business as a result of his decriminalization efforts.

Cissell’s work to decriminalize medical cannabis and enacting his right to grow for patients as a caregiver, is positive and heartwarming. It’s unfortunate that the state not only seemed to punish him for going over the legal limit of plant growing, but also deemed his “crime” worthy of a felony, essentially ruining his further work to help support medical cannabis patients who are unable to travel long distances to get their medicine. Although the cannabis industry has grown substantially since legalization began, it’s events like these that prove it still has a long way to go.