Pubdate: Sun, 12 Sep 2010
Source: Voice, The (New Baltimore, MI)
Copyright: 2010 Journal Register Company
Contact:  http://www.voicenews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5146
Author: Nicole Tuttle, Voice Reporter
Cited: Mark Grabow 
http://www.macomb-mi.gov/SupervisorsOffice/BoardofTrusteesHomePage.html
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Michigan+medical+marijuana
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?275 (Cannabis - Michigan)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/states/mi/ (Michigan)

MEDICAL MARIJUANA ORDINANCE IN THE WORKS FOR MACOMB TOWNSHIP

A medical marijuana ordinance is being drafted by Macomb Township's 
legal counsel and could come before the township board for a vote 
prior to December, according to township officials.

Macomb Township Supervisor Mark Grabow has received over a dozen 
calls regarding medical marijuana for about six weeks. Grabow said 
several other local communities, such as Clinton Township, are 
preparing similar ordinances to clarify and specify areas not quite 
spelled out in the state law.

"The state law is very broad, very open," Grabow said.

On August 25, Grabow brought the medical marijuana issue before the 
Macomb Township Board of Trustees. He requested that the board 
authorize the township's legal counsel, Lawrence Dloski and his 
associates, to draft an ordinance to address the issue due to the 
number of requests he had received regarding medical marijuana.

"This is something that has become quite aggressive throughout the 
area," Grabow said on August 25. "I know that the southeast area of 
Michigan has really been inundated with it."

On August 25, Dloski said that many of the requests have been 
regarding dispensers.

"Dispensers are not permitted under the statues, unlike California 
where they are permitted," Dloski said.

On Aug. 25, Macomb Township Clerk Michael Koehs said that the issue 
must also be addressed from a zoning perspective.

"I believe that before this takes on any other form it also needs to 
be addressed from a zoning perspective," Koehs said.

Christine Anderson, an attorney in Dloski's law office who is working 
on the research and drafting of the ordinance, said it was still in 
progress as of last week, but that the goal was to have a draft 
prepared for a planning commission meeting soon.

"A lot of information is packed into the law, such as the difference 
between growing it for personal use and for suppliers," Grabow said. 
"There are a lot of different pieces in that. We have had a lot of 
inquiries at this point and we need to get this clarified and 
streamlined so we can answer them with the correct response." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake