Pubdate: Wed, 11 Aug 2010
Source: Livingston County Daily Press & Argus (MI)
Copyright: 2010 Livingston Daily Press & Argus
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/Kk1qVKJf
Website: http://www.livingstondaily.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4265
Author: Frank Konkel, Daily Press & Argus
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?275 (Cannabis - Michigan)

PINCKNEY WEIGHS HALT ON MEDICAL POT DISPENSARIES

The Pinckney Village Council discussed a potential moratorium on 
medical marijuana Monday, becoming the fifth Livingston County 
municipality to bring up the matter, joining Green Oak and Brighton 
townships, and the cities of Howell and Brighton.

Village President Rebecca Foster said the council examined a few 
options regarding a moratorium, but deferred any decisions until its 
Aug. 23 meeting.

"We have the same issue every other community does; nobody has 
anything in their ordinances about medical marijuana," Foster said. 
"That's why you're seeing a lot of moratoriums right now. We have to 
do our homework until then."

Foster said there are "huge, gaping holes" in the 2008 voter-approved 
Michigan Medical Marihuana Act and that the statute provides minimal 
guidance on marijuana dispensaries.

The council examined two "very different" medical marijuana 
ordinances from Grand Rapids and Livonia. The council was not 
receptive of an ordinance mirroring Livonia's, which requires 
businesses to comply with federal regulations that ban the sale of 
marijuana, Foster said.

Foster said the council leaned more toward the language used by Grand 
Rapids, which placed medical marijuana language squarely in the 
domain of an ordinance on home-based businesses.

This method removes the possibility of commercial dispensaries, 
social clubs, clinics and "high-volume situations" popping up in the 
village, Foster said.

Foster said the Village Council is leaning toward approving a 
six-month moratorium on marijuana dispensaries.

Not everyone is happy local municipalities are taking up the issue.

Doug Orton, president of the Brighton Area Compassion Club, said 
these municipalities' "knee-jerk" reactions will ultimately prove illegal.

The compassion club is a social group that meets in the Brighton area 
and teaches individuals how to grow their own medical marijuana; 
connects caregivers and patients; and educates its members about the 
law, according to Orton.

"It's pretty much a knee-jerk reaction by cities, and many will 
discover through unfortunate legal action that what they're doing is 
illegal," said Orton, who believes those who need medical marijuana 
should have an accessible way of getting it if they're unable to grow 
it themselves. "They have certain obligations to make this medicine 
available to patients. Dispensaries will be a necessity. Do you 
really want patients going down the mean streets trying to get it?"

The council will again discuss the issue at its next meeting, at 7 
p.m. Aug. 23 at Village Hall, 220 S. Howell St. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake