April 25, 2011
From Ingham County Community News
MASON - The city attorney has recommended that the 180-day medical-marijuana moratorium that expires in June be extended so the issue can be looked into further. The City Council adopted a moratorium last Dec. 20, but many questions remain on a matter that has perplexed many municipalities - and residents - in the state.
"I've been asked a lot of questions from the public about it," Mayor Leon Clark said at the April 18 council meeting.
In 2008, state voters passed a law that allowed registered caregives to grow a limited number of plants for patients with prescriptions for the drug.
However, City Attorney Tom Yeadon told the Council, "The act is very vague."
Yeadon did go into some specifics of the law. Each caregiver, he said, can have up to five patients for a total of 60 plants at 2.5 ounces each, plus 12 plants for themselves. Caregivers, according to Yeadon, want to open dispensaries to multiply patients.
"These dispensaries basically are running as open marijuana stores," he said, mentioning storefront facilities that have opened on Michigan Avenue in Lansing.
Problems arise with the Medical Marijuana Act, Yeadon said, because of the difficulty to keep track of compliance with the law. He mentioned that it's easy for patients to get a medical-marijuana card, which means a glut of recreational users.
"That's one of the bad things about it," Yeadon said of the law.
Options
Yeadon said some municipalities have chosen to do nothing about the law, while others have banned medical marijuana as federal law still prohibits the drug, although small operations are not being prosecuted.
Other municipalities, Yeadon said, are banning setting up businesses in a certain jurisdiction. Also, Grand Rapids, for example, has adopted a home-occupation ordinance and is not allowing storefront businesses.
"It works better in townships and jurisdictions where you don't have the tightly packed homes," Yeadon said. Another option, he said, is treating a facility as a business that needs a special-use permit, although limiting caregivers might open the municipality to litigation.
Regulating dispensaries, Yeadon said, comes with many issues, including how far they should be kept from schools, the number of caregivers, signage and district boundaries. "The question is: How do you want to go about doing that?" he said.
Yeadon said moratoriums are considered OK if they are of limited duration.
The Leslie City Council, for example, on April 12 extended its 180-day moratorium until the end of the year.
However, Yeadon cautioned against taking too long to make a decision.
"All I can tell you is you should be moving forward," Yeadon said. That, he said, means working toward crafting a resolution and keeping moratoriums short.
Councilwoman Robin Naeyaert agreed with a moratorium extension so more direction can be given to municipalities.
Yeadon pointed out that no Court of Appeals decisions exist yet on the new law. "We absolutely need to expand our moratorium when the time allows to do it," Naeyaert said. "Hopefully, within that time, some decision comes through."
However, Clark said, "Keep in mind the clock's ticking."
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