A local medical marijuana provider, recently raided by federal authorities, says they're the ones breaking the laws.
John Roberts, from Saginaw County's Thomas Township, was raided by the Drug Enforcement Agency on Tuesday. He organized and led a protest against law enforcement five days earlier.
His lawyer, Ed Czuprynski from Bay City, says "It (the raid) was clear retaliation by the feds. President Obama, shortly after taking office, signed an executive order that basically said the feds are not going to be intervening on state laws that allow marijuana use for medical purposes."
NBC25 spoke with the DEA office in Saginaw. Officials there say they took a lot of plants from Roberts' home and that the raid was planned well before Thursday's protest.
The Saginaw County Sheriff says he had nothing to do with the raid.
John Roberts says he was below the maximum legal amount of medical marijuana plants a caretaker can have in Michigan, but he says the feds told him they didn't care how many he had, he was still breaking the law.
Robert says the feds took all of his product, which includes what's called Rick Simpson Oil. A product he says is the best remedy for his patients, especially a 6-year-old girl who he says stays awake more than 18 hours a day.
Roberts says, "When she's using the Simpson Oil, this child sleeps 8 to 10 hours a day. She has an appetite. She does not have migraines or headaches."
Czuprynski says, "The ones I feel sorry for particularly are some of the cancer sufferers who now are being deprived of their medicine because the feds have taken it away from John Roberts."
"In my opinion, they're committing child abuse," says Roberts, who says he provided the product for free to help those in pain.
Robert's lawyer is considering filing lawsuits in state court or federal court.
