Trying to milk the drug war as much as they can, Michigan cops jailed an 80-year-old woman over a small about of cannabis she was using to ease her arthritis pain and anxiety after her medical marijuana card had expired.
Delores Saltzman, who had never been arrested before in her life, was handcuffed and thrown in jail overnight in June for possessing less than an eighth of an ounce of marijuana.
Clare County Sheriff John Wilson tried to justify the arrest by saying she was committing a crime despite the fact that marijuana is becoming increasingly decriminalized if not outright legalized.
Fortunately, Clare County prosecutors had enough sense to dismiss the charge this week after Saltzman agreed to renew her medical marijuana card.
The arrest took place on June 13 when Clare County sheriff’s deputy Ashley Gruno knocked on her door looking for her great-granddaughter to return her phone and identification she had lost.
But the good deed turned sour when Gruno smelled marijuana in the house.
According to Fox 17:
Delores Saltzman and her son Mark tell FOX 17 cannabis saved her life: it worked up her appetite when she was sick; helped her heal after surgeries; and eases her pain from ongoing health conditions. They are disturbed a deputy jailed her overnight for using her medicine.
“After I smoke I go down to a one, pain-wise,” said Delores Saltzman, 80. “Before I smoke, I would say I’m an 8 right now.”
This November, Saltzman turns 81. She lives with arthritis, diverticulitis, muscle and bone aches, but she says cannabis keeps her moving and making art.
“This is the little paper I work with,” she said showing the camera, “it’s called quilling.”
“[Cannabis] saved my life because I had a bad bleed about four years ago, and Mark took care of me,” adding when doctors prescribed her opioids, it caused stomach pains and vomiting.
Michigan voters will decide in November is recreational marijuana should be legalized, so it’s obvious cops are going to make as many arrests as they can until then.
