Pubdate: Wed, 15 Dec 2010
Source: Daily Telegram, The (Adrain, MI)
Copyright: 2010 GateHouse Media, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.lenconnect.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1556
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Michigan+medical+marijuana
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?275 (Cannabis - Michigan)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Michigan+Municipal+League
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)

BRIEF HALT OK ON NEW MEDICAL POT FACILITIES

ADRIAN, Mich. - With budget issues the top concern for Lenawee County 
officials in 2010, most communities have not had time to deal with 
the medical marijuana legal mess dumped on them by poorly conceived 
state and federal laws. To properly design local rules, a proposed 
120-day Adrian city moratorium on new facilities dispensing medical 
marijuana makes sense and should be adopted.

To be clear, local officials should not follow in the footsteps of 
several other Michigan cities such as Livonia, Birmingham, Bloomfield 
Hills and Wyoming that have banned medical marijuana within their 
cities. Those cities cite federal law banning marijuana possession 
and a Supreme Court ruling upholding the federal prohibition's 
supremacy over contrasting state laws.

However, such local bans defy the will of state voters, who in every 
region of Michigan overwhelmingly approved medical marijuana through 
a 2008 state ballot initiative. Unfortunately, the state law as 
passed failed to clear up many questions - such as the sale of 
marijuana - and gave cities little direction on zoning or other 
regulations for such dispensaries. The draft zoning ordinance from 
the Michigan Municipal League would have created unrealistically 
small limits on the number of patients a dispensary could serve and 
where they could be located.

Because of the legal mess, Adrian officials should move carefully and 
consider similar local zoning efforts. Tecumseh has a six-month 
moratorium that will expire in February. Madison Township approved a 
moratorium in November that could last up to a year.

It is important to note that Adrian's proposed moratorium would not 
affect existing facilities, nor registered patients and care givers 
who grow marijuana in their own homes. Such activity was clearly what 
voters did not want officials preventing. However, like bars and 
other businesses that sell controlled substances, facilities 
providing marijuana commercially should follow commercial area zoning 
tailored to each particular community.

Good planning can prevent future headaches for local officials, as 
well as for dispensary owners if retroactive changes become 
necessary. A four-month halt to new dispensaries can be time well 
spent if officials and supporters work together to create standards 
that everyone can live with.  
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake