New Dispute Over City Marijuana Law Possible

A gun and more than four ounces of marijuana are the ingredients which may trigger a new controversy over Ann Arbor's "$5 marijuana law." Tara Jean Tucker, 27, of 844 W. Huron St., who has been charged with two felonies, is the principal in the case. Ann Arbor police say when they took Miss Tucker into custody at 3 a.m. Friday in the 600 block of Church Street she had in her possession 4.3 ounces of marijuana and a .32-caliber, five-shot pistol. Patrolmen said they had been called to the area to check a, report of a man brandishing a gun. A man they checked out had no gun, but when they saw Miss Tucker she had a plastic bag of marijuana protruding from her clothing, police said. She was .arrested for possession of the drug and a subsequent search turned up the gun in her purse, patrolmen reported. Police Chief Walter E. Krasny referred the case to Chief Assistant County Prosecutor Jerome Farmer III who immediately authorized warrants against Miss Tucker for possession of marijuana with intent to sell and carrying a concealed weapon. Miss Tucker demanded examination on the two felonies Friday when arraigned before Ann Arbor District Court Judge Pieter G. V. Thomassen. He set July 3 for her examination date and remanded her to the County Jail when she was unable to post bonds of $1,000 on each count. The city's "$5 law" requires Ann Arbor police to issue a ticket to persons found in possession of marijuana. That violation can be paid with a $5 fine. The local ordinance also sets out penalties if police fail to follow the "$5 rule" in marijuana cases. State law still makes possession of marijuana a misdemeanor punishable by jail and a fine. "We're treating this case no different than any other gun and drug arrest," Farmer said. "The gun charge speaks for itself and possession of the amount of marijuana involved here indicates an intent to sell. The law states that." Krasny declined to make specific comment on the case but said he had conferred with "legal counsel" before the prosecutor's office issued the warrant authorizations against Miss Tucker.