Pubdate: Wed, 02 Feb 2011
Source: Holland Sentinel (MI)
Copyright: 2011 GateHouse Media, Inc.
Contact: http://extra.hollandsentinel.com/submitletter.shtml
Website: http://www.hollandsentinel.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1145
Author: Andrea Goodell, The Holland Sentinel
Cited: Holland Township 
http://www.hct.holland.mi.us/elected-a-appointed/elected-officials
Referenced: Michigan Medical Marihuana Act http://drugsense.org/url/8mvr7sW8
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Holland+Township
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?275 (Cannabis - Michigan)

HOLLAND TOWNSHIP TIGHTENING MEDICAL POT RULES

Holland, MI - Medical marijuana dispensaries such as one on East 
Eighth Street would be banned in Holland Township under the latest 
version of a proposed township ordinance. So would patients or 
caregivers growing medical marijuana in apartments, condos or other 
multi-unit housing.

The fourth draft of a proposed ordinance under consideration is more 
specific and more strict than previous versions.

"There won't even be a compassion club where you can swap stories and 
hold someone's hand - if there is any kind of (medical marijuana 
transfer) related activity," township Zoning Administrator Jon Mersman said.

After a meeting scheduled for Tuesday, a public hearing is planned 
for next month before the township planning commission would vote on 
sending the ordinance to the full township board. The commission also 
looked at revising zoning ordinances to allow only activities 
specifically listed.

The law targets Patient Solutions 420, at 575 E. Eighth St., the 
dispensary's Community Outreach Director Monica Bakker said.

"They would have to apply for a license and ultimately their 
application would be denied based on the fact that they are a 
dispensary," Mersman said.

If the ordinance is approved, the dispensary would sue, Bakker said.

"We would like to focus on patients and not an unfortunate lawsuit 
with Holland Township that could be long and very costly for both of 
us," she said.

The state law passed nearly three years ago allows a state-approved 
patient to grow up to 12 plants for his or her own use and approved 
caregivers to grow for up to five patients.

In a "multi-family unit," such as a duplex, apartment or condo 
building, 72 marijuana plants create a lot of traffic and a lot of 
smell and the equipment used to grow the plants increases the 
potential for fires, Mersman said.

"Even a patient would not be able to grow in a multi-family 
situation," he said. "It's very, very disruptive."

Patient Solutions 420's lawyer, Thomas Lavigne, in a letter calls the 
ordinance discriminatory, saying it violates the right to farm, right 
to privacy, right to medicate and the equal protection clause of the 
U.S. Constitution.

Lavigne argues employees are also patients, and those transfers are protected.

"I keep reading the law. I cannot get to the point where you can have 
a dispensary business," Mersman said. "That extends the law beyond 
what it says and beyond, I think, what the voters' intent was."  
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake