Pubdate: Mon, 15 Nov 2010
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Page: A6
Copyright: 2010 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wsj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
Author: Matthew Dolan
Referenced: Michigan Medical Marihuana Act http://drugsense.org/url/8mvr7sW8
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Michigan+medical+marijuana
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis - Medicinal - U.S.)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?275 (Cannabis - Michigan)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Michael+Bouchard

MEDICAL-POT LAW CLOUDS COMMUNITY

Liberal College Town Seeks Zoning Solution for Dispensaries

ANN ARBOR, Mich.--This college town, which has a long taken a 
permissive stance on marijuana, is struggling with a crop of new 
problems as a result of a recent state law that legalizes it for medical use.

Dating back to the 1960s and 1970s, this city gained notoriety for 
its efforts to legalize pot, a reputation it reaffirmed in 2004 with 
a ballot initiative that allowed for the growing and use of marijuana 
for medical purposes. But following its passage, city officials were 
unsure about how the new local law could be enforced, citing 
conflicts with state and federal law.

Then in 2008, Michigan voters legalized medical marijuana across the 
state, but the new law lacked provisions for the regulation of retail 
dispensaries. Almost overnight, a dozen medical marijuana 
dispensaries cropped up in this city--45 miles west of Detroit and 
home to the University of Michigan--where a climate of leniency was 
already established.

Newly set-up medical-marijuana dispensaries have attracted thousands 
of state-registered customers to Ann Arbor from across Michigan, 
seeking cannabis strains with names like Steven Tyler Kush and Purple Urkel.

City officials said they have no official estimate on the number of 
dispensaries, but one owner, Daryl Mynes, the 31-year-old co-owner of 
People's Choice Alternative Medicine, which opened in July and has 
1,300 club members, said Ann Arbor could already have as many as 30 
since the state law took effect.

"I think it's great," he said. "I think there should be standards and 
we should be kept to them."

Other Michigan municipalities took a less liberal approach. Several 
cities and towns have banned dispensaries and some local 
law-enforcement officials are cracking down on marijuana shops they 
claim are selling their products to people without state registration cards.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard, whose deputies raided 
several medical-marijuana clinics over the summer outside Detroit, 
recently commented at a press conference: "In one of the places, 
there were loose alligators running around protecting the product. 
This is Michigan. This isn't a Cheech and Chong movie."

In a televised debate last week, Mr. Bouchard argued that the 
Michigan law "was written by pro-marijuana advocates and didn't put 
any regulatory structures in place. So as a result, there are really 
huge gaping problems for people that truly need any kind of medical 
marijuana to get it in a process that's safe, legal, effective."

Even for some Ann Arbor residents, the city's tacit acceptance 
started to give way to unease. As more and more dispensaries opened 
up, some residents started calling council members to complain about 
congested parking and busy traffic near pot shops.

City Planner Jill Thacher said she was getting inquiries daily from 
entrepreneurs in Los Angeles, Denver and Boulder, Colo., asking about 
Ann Arbor's proposed rules for dispensaries in anticipation of 
expanding their operations. In August, the city declared a temporary 
moratorium on the opening of any new dispensaries until December.

"It wasn't a big outcry, not a giant revolution," Ms. Thacher said. 
"But here and there people were becoming more concerned about what 
was popping up."

Michigan's medical marijuana law approved patients to grow and 
possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana. Since the law became effective 
in April 2009, the state has issued 37,730 patient registrations and 
still is processing a four-month backlog of thousands more requests.

On Monday, the Ann Arbor City Council is scheduled to hold a public 
hearing and may vote on permanent zoning rules on medical-marijuana 
shops that generally limit where the dispensaries can be located, ban 
drive-through operations, require those under age 18 to be 
accompanied by a parent and prohibit consumption of marijuana inside 
a dispensary.

"Some people think there should be no regulation while some people 
say they are genuinely concerned about safety in the community and 
the impact on kids," Eric Mahler, the chairman of the city's planning 
commission that recommended a new local zoning law, said in an 
interview. "The state statute does not offer a lot of guidance about 
where these medical marijuana dispensaries should go."

On Sunday, Arizona announced passage of a ballot measure legalizing 
medical marijuana that would allow for the establishment of about 120 
licensed dispensaries, which will be subject to local regulations.

Like Michigan, California, Nevada and Montana don't have statewide 
dispensary regulations, but have varying types of functioning 
dispensaries, including those subject to local regulation.

In California, which approved medical marijuana through a voter 
initiative in 1996, no state agency is charged with regulating 
medical-marijuana dispensaries, leaving it largely up to cities and 
counties to decide whether and how to impose regulations and collect 
licensing fees.

In an interview, Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje said that in addition 
to the new zoning law, the city is also crafting licensing rules to 
cap the number of dispensaries, adding, "The state really dropped the 
ball on this." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake