Pubdate: Mon, 13 Jun 2011 Source: Muskegon Chronicle, The (MI) Copyright: 2011 The Muskegon Chronicle Contact: http://www.mlive.com/mailforms/muchronicle/letters/index.ssf Website: http://www.mlive.com/muskegon/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1605 Author: John S. Hausman, Muskegon Chronicle MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP SUES TO SHUT DOWN MEDICAL-MARIJUANA GREATER MICHIGAN COMPASSION CLUB MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP -- Muskegon Township has filed a lawsuit seeking to permanently shut down a busy medical-marijuana club two blocks from township hall. The township alleges that the Greater Michigan Compassion Club is a tax-evading "sham" nonprofit that exists mainly to broker marijuana sales, most of it to people with no debilitating medical condition, in order to financially support the club's directors and staff. As such, the township claims, the club is really a profit-making "marijuana distribution business," in the words of township Supervisor David A. Kieft Jr. As a business, it requires a business license under township ordinances, according to the township. The club has none and wouldn't get one if it did apply, the lawsuit makes clear. The club's quarters at 2116 E. Apple also violate the township's fire code, endangering the lives of members, especially those who do have truly debilitating disabilities, the township alleges. The club's Executive Director Derek Antol and its attorney, Robert D. Eklund, did not return calls seeking comment. Court-ordered shutdown sought The lawsuit was filed in Muskegon County's 14th Circuit Court Wednesday after the township board authorized it earlier in the week. The township is suing the club, Antol and other directors, staff and members. The township asks a judge to order immediate evacuation of the club premises; declare the place a public nuisance; endorse the township's interpretation of Michigan's medical marijuana law, which conflicts with the club's; and impose financial penalties on the defendants, including fines of $500 per day since April 1, court costs and lawyer fees, until the club complies with township ordinances. The club has until June 29 to file a legal response to the lawsuit, according to township officials. If a settlement can't be worked out, the township could ask a judge to issue an immediate order authorizing police to remove everyone from the premises and padlock it. 'Bad idea, illegal, wrong location' "It is our belief that the Greater Michigan Compassion Club is operating a marijuana distribution business," Kieft said in a written statement on behalf of the township. "Nothing in the current state statute legitimizes any such notion of a dispensary or 'compassion' gathering place. "Rather, this is a location where armed guards supply the needed security during all business hours to protect the narcotics and the cash located on site," Kieft said. "This is obviously a concern for law enforcement and everyone in the township. "More importantly perhaps, is the protection of card-carrying patients who smoke marijuana to help them overcome verifiable disabilities, and their assemblage in a structure that is without proper exits in case of fire, without handicapped access for those who qualify, and adequate bathrooms for those in need," Kieft said. "This is not only a bad idea, it is also illegal and in the wrong location." Township allegations The bluntly worded lawsuit alleges, among other things: The club operates a "certification mill," with a Cadillac-based "captive physician" earning a fee for each applicant the doctor certifies for a medical marijuana card, but no fee when an applicant is rejected; A multitude of people are being certified who don't have "debilitating" medical conditions, as the law requires, and who then join the club; The club premises are used for members to sell marijuana to other members at an average price of $325 per ounce, with the club getting a 20 percent fee on each sale, and many of the buyers later reselling it illegally on the street; The club's directors and staff are supported mainly by the proceeds of the 20 percent fee, supplemented by direct sales of marijuana-laced baked goods and pipes, bongs and other paraphernalia; The club employees have failed to report at least some of their income to the state and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, and the club and its "caregivers" did not pay any sales taxes at all through March 31. The township's complaint also notes that Antol is a convicted drug dealer who served prison time, something he's never concealed, and that the club openly advocates legalization of marijuana for recreational use, with its website featuring a playlist of weed-promoting music. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.