Pubdate: Sun, 16 Jun 2013
Source: Farmington Observer (MI)
Copyright: 2013 Observer & Eccentric Newspapers
Contact: http://www.hometownlife.com/section/CUSTOMERSERVICE20
Website: http://www.hometownlife.com/section/news06
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5251
Author: Joanne Maliszewski

HILLS' MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAND USE MORATORIUM IS EXTENDED

Farmington Hills City Councilwoman Cheryl Oliverio has a new
perspective on the medical uses of marijuana. Her 87-year-old father
has pancreatic cancer.

"It is better than any pain pills. It is frustrating to me when I see
how (positively) it affects my father," Oliverio said.

The longtime councilwoman revealed her father's illness June 10 as the
City Council again extended its moratorium on the land use and zoning
issues that have accompanied the state's 2008 legalization of medical
marijuana.

"People who can really benefit from medical marijuana can't get it,"
Oliverio said. "This whole thing is just a bunch of crap."

Despite the years since legalization of medical marijuana, the state
Legislature continues to tweak the law, while the Michigan Supreme
Court accepted an appeal in the case of TerBeek vs. City of Wyoming, a
case that bears directly on medical marijuana-related zoning
regulations, said Hills City Attorney Steve Joppich.

That decision could be some nine months to one year away, Joppich
added.

And that's why the council continued the moratorium it originally
established in 2010. The moratorium has been extended to March 18,
2014.

The moratorium affects residents who want to grow medical marijuana in
Farmington Hills. "The law has not given us what we need," Joppich
said.

The unresolved issue zeroes in how zoning ordinances, including where
within the city land may be zoned to grow medical marijuana.

Oliverio asked if a licensed caregiver is allowed to grow medical
marijuana in the patient's home. "Technically there could be an issue
on that," Joppich said. "They would need to be a resident of the home."

Councilwoman Nancy Bates said medical marijuana should be handled as a
medicine, available through a pharmacy. "She (Oliverio) needs it now,
not five years from now when these politicians get to it."
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