Pubdate: Tue, 16 Nov 2010 Source: State News, The (MI State U, MI Edu) Copyright: 2010 The State News Contact: http://www.statenews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1246 Author: Alanna Thiede Cited: East Lansing City Council http://www.cityofeastlansing.com/Home/Departments/CityCouncil/ Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Michigan+medical+marijuana Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?275 (Cannabis - Michigan) CITY COUNCIL STALLS OVER POT DECISION East Lansing City Council is expected to approve a 90-day extension on a moratorium preventing the regulation of medical marijuana sales and distribution. The council voted to introduce the ordinance at its work session last Tuesday but does not approve items at work sessions unless they are deemed an emergency, Assistant City Attorney Tom Yeadon said. Council is considering three ordinances: one that would allow storefront dispensaries, another that would license primary caregiver operations and a third that only would allow registered patients and primary caregivers to grow medical marijuana. Council will vote on the issue during its 7:30 p.m. work session tonight at City Hall, 410 Abbot Road. If approved, the extension will retroactively extend the moratorium until February 2011, Yeadon said. The initial moratorium would have expired today. "It's written to extend from the expiration of the last one and it's intended that if there's a gap between the two that it covers that as it applies retroactively," Yeadon said. The original moratorium would have expired before two planned meetings about the issue - one in the Planning Commission and another at city council, Councilmember Nathan Triplett said. Extending the moratorium allows for the opportunity to hold those meetings, he said. "The objective of passing it now is that the moratorium continues uninterrupted as we decide how to approach the issue," Triplett said. The moratorium could last the full 90 days, but if both planned hearings are held in December and the council is ready to make a decision, it could vote to pass an ordinance, he said. "We should take the time to get it right but do so as expeditiously as possible," Triplett said. There is no pressure for a decision to be made by the end of the year, City Manager Ted Staton said. Council members seem to be narrowing the potential options for regulation but still are a "far cry" away from a consensus, he said. "We're more concerned about getting it right," he said. The American Civil Liberties Union recently contacted the city and wished to give input on the issues, Staton said. "I don't see why we won't create additional opportunities for public testimony on it," he said. East Lansing is taking a comprehensive approach to the regulation of medical marijuana, Staton said. Other jurisdictions, such as Lansing and Meridian Township, are taking a hands-off approach and the results are not desirable for East Lansing, he said. "We've taken exactly the right approach, which is to keep them for creeping in anywhere they want," Staton said. There are multiple dispensaries on Michigan Avenue in Lansing and a dispensary near an elementary school in Meridian Township, he said. East Lansing officials are looking to avoid both of those situations, Staton said. Meridian Township does not intend to pass any regulations on the dispensary and sales of medical marijuana, Township Supervisor Susan McGillicuddy said. The "herbal center" near the elementary school in East Lansing is further from stores selling liquor and alcohol and only is regulated as a business, she said. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake