Judy Tilman, of Saginaw, wears a 'Cheech and Chong' t-shirt and sports a hat adorned with fake marijuana leaves during a protest today outside the Saginaw County Governmental Center. Amanda Loman | The Saginaw News Judy Tilman, of Saginaw, wears a 'Cheech and Chong' t-shirt and sports a hat adorned with fake marijuana leaves during a protest today outside the Saginaw County Governmental Center. Amanda Loman | The Saginaw News

SAGINAW — About 30 medical marijuana activists hoisted placards and took to the streets today to protest rising drug seizures in Saginaw County.

“A lot of people have gotten raided,” said John F. Roberts, 49, who said his Thomas Township home was subject to a police raid in April but he faces no charges. “We’re fed up with this.”

The number of protesters varied throughout the afternoon.

Roberts, a member of the Tri-City Compassion Club, said his club helps cancer, arthritis and other patients who use medical marijuana.

“It’s not about money,” said Roberts, sporting a white T-shirt with a red, white and blue marijuana leaf imprinted with a black medical symbol. “We are not drug dealers.

“Are (police) here to protect and serve, or are they here to steal and extort?”

Sheriff WIlliam L. Federspiel said deputies have executed 176 drug warrants since he took office in January 2009, but only two of those turned out to be medical marijuana-related — for Roberts’ residence and the Saginaw Township home of Edward W. Boyke Jr., 64.

“They have a right to protest,” Federspiel said. “That doesn’t bother me at all. They’re erroneous by saying that we are picking on medical marijuana patients. That is untrue. It’s so far from the truth it’s ridiculous.”

Boyke, a registered medical marijuana user whose home was raided in April, didn’t agree. Deputies and federal agents confiscated more than 50 plants, processed marijuana, a large screen TV, a Chevrolet Impala, guns, two lawn mowers, a lawn blower and other equipment, archives show.

He paid a $5,000 impoundment fee to recover the car and lawn equipment.

“They’ve got to stop messing with us medical marijuana (users),” he said as car horns honked at protesters. “This is our medicine. We’ve got to do something about this, and it’s time. Just leave us alone. We’re doing nothing wrong.”

Protesters showed up from around the state, and at least one person traveled from Florida, Roberts said.

“This is not just about Saginaw,” he said. “We want this to resonate statewide. If it happens in another community, we will take go there, also.”

George L. Avery, 55, made the trip from Dexter in southeast Michigan.

With drug asset forfeitures skyrocketing in the county, he said, it’s time to make sure “medical marijuana patients are not targeted in a time of harsh financial need for the Saginaw County Sheriff’s Department. The new law has special, built-in protection for people’s property. It hasn’t really clicked for (police) yet that our property also has been protected by the law. Armed robbery of medical marijuana patients must stop.”

The number of drug asset forfeitures by the Saginaw County Sheriff’s Department rose 144 percent in 2009 compared to 2008 and are up 4 percent so far this year over last, Federspiel said.

He and protesters spotted each other when Federspiel drove by in a Ford Mustang GT patrol vehicle emblazoned with “Taken from a Local Drug Dealer.”

The moment angered one demonstrator. The sheriff was unapologetic.