Few dispensaries remain, leaving little doubt that medical marijuana activity has gone back underground. Now, all eyes are on the state Supreme Court. Once the neon flashes of an open sign and maybe a cannabis leaf showed plainly in the windows of 41 storefronts across greater Lansing. A half-dozen or so remain. Where once 11 medical marijuana dispensaries operated on the 1.6-mile stretch of Michigan Avenue between Cedar Street and U.S. 127, one remains. Since Aug. 23, 2011, the number of medical marijuana dispensaries around town dropped from 41 to at least six. Thursday marks a happy anniversary for opponents of Lansing's once thriving medical marijuana dispensary scene, which reached a critical mass last summer right up until the state Court of Appeals sent owners running for the hills. For supporters of the market, particularly medical marijuana patients whose access to cannabis is more limited without dispensaries, Thursday is a far sourer anniversary. [continues 1644 words]
Was a medical marijuana dispensary opponent's business the target of a July 3 shooting on Lansing's east side? Meanwhile, license applications start pouring in. What appear to be two bullet holes decorate a second-floor window panel of a Neogen laboratory at 1614 E. Kalamazoo St., across the road from the Allen Neighborhood Center on Lansing's east side. It's merely speculation at this point, but could it be that one of the leading opponents of the proliferation of medical marijuana dispensaries - Jim Herbert, chairman and CEO of Neogen - had his business targeted by angry medical marijuana activists? Has the medical marijuana debate gotten so heated in Lansing that differences are being expressed with gunfire? [continues 822 words]
A Medical Marijuana Patient in Lansing Is Sentenced to Jail After Failing to Comply With a Court Order to Not Use Marijuana As He Seeks to Maintain Custody of His Daughter In a case that could have implications for medical marijuana patients who are parents, a Lansing man was sentenced Tuesday to three days in county jail because he refuses to stop using medical marijuana and may lose custody of his child because of it. Livingston Thompson Jr., a state-registered medical marijuana patient who suffers from epilepsy, has been fighting to maintain custody of his 10-year-old daughter stemming from a November incident between the father and daughter that attracted attention from Child Protective Services. [continues 838 words]
A Lansing Dispensary Owner Is Standing Her Ground After Moving to A New Location During the Moratorium, Even After a Warning From Lansing Police. Meanwhile, the City Attorney Is Silent. Medical marijuana dispensary owner Sharess Witherell has a lot of questions for the city of Lansing: Who sent a plainclothes police officer to her business, Great Lakes Superior, 633 E. Jolly Road, on May 31 to tell her she was violating the city's moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries? Who complained to the city in the first place? [continues 1050 words]
What Will Happen to the 41 Operating Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Lansing? A Draft Regulation Ordinance That Would Force Most of Them to Move Surfaces, Raising Questions The Lansing city attorney has presented a draft ordinance to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries in the city that if enacted would force 37 of them to move from their present location to stay in business. The draft ordinance, written by City Attorney Brig Smith with input from Lansing City Councilwoman Carol Wood, has raised the eyebrows of some dispensary owners and local attorneys because it would restrict new dispensaries to industrially zoned areas of the city and force those not in those zones to move if they want to stay open. [continues 1936 words]
East Lansing Is on the Home Stretch of Regulating Medical Marijuana Dispensaries, While Lansing Is Struggling to Do So. Why? More than two months into Lansing's six-month moratorium on new medical marijuana dispensaries, City Attorney Brig Smith says he is trying to focus on drafting an ordinance to regulate those businesses. But he says it isn't easy when Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III says they're illegal and Eaton County Prosecutor Jeff Sauter says they are legal. [continues 665 words]
The East Lansing City Council Punts on Regulating Medical Marijuana Dispensaries ... Sort Of The East Lansing City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to take another month to discuss possible medical marijuana dispensary regulations in the city, thus extending a moratorium on the businesses for another 90 days. However, the Council - which had been deliberating over three possible business regulation ordinances - threw out two potential means of regulating. Proposed ordinances 1245A, 1245B and 1245C offer three different ways to regulate medical marijuana in East Lansing. "A" would have allowed home-based businesses to operate, but not commercial storefronts. "C" would allow commercial storefronts in certain zones but not home-based businesses. "B" would have banned both forms of business. [continues 622 words]
The Tri-County Metro Narcotics Squad Raids a Medical Marijuana Growing Operation That Might Be Two Plants Over the State Limit. Small Stuff - Yet the Narcs Call the Feds. Why? On the morning of Dec. 7, Deputy James Every of the Tri-County Metro Narcotics Squad found 146 cannabis plants growing in a basement of a house five miles west of Mason. But instead of confiscating the plants and arresting the two growers who showed them to him, Every called in the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. [continues 814 words]
Two Caregivers Charged With Violating Federal Pot Laws for Grow Operation in Mason Two Lansing-area men face federal marijuana charges in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, yet the lawyer for one of the defendants says the men were in compliance with the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. The lawyer, Bob Baldori, said that the number of plants that were seized was within state law because of the number of caregivers who were growing at the location. Randall Lloyd Darling, 24, and Joseph David Johnson each face counts of growing more than 100 marijuana plants, according to court documents. Johnson is in his 20s, Baldori said. [continues 348 words]
A Rise in Medical Marijuana Burglaries in Homes and Businesses Has People Wondering: Where Is It Safe to Grow? At least 11 incidences of burglary or robbery involving medical marijuana were reported from Meridian Township to Eaton Rapids in the past seven months. Six of them were residential. Nine of them were in the city of Lansing. Charges were brought in two. But it has become clear: Just because you're legally involved in the cannabis business, either in your home or a storefront, it doesn't mean you're any safer. [continues 903 words]
If you've walked through a traditional farmers' market of fresh eggs, fruits, veggies and baked goods, you can easily grasp the concept of Lansing's medical marijuana farmers' markets. Small plants, usable product, baked goods, smoking accessories - all in great variety - highlight these new ventures that offer a different take on the dispensary model. Your Healthy Choice Clinic at 628 E. Michigan Ave. on Sunday afternoons turns into a shoulder-to-shoulder shopping center for qualified medical marijuana patients and caregivers. At any given time between noon and 5 p.m., as many as 50 shoppers browse the narrow office space downtown. [continues 1019 words]
The Owner of Your Healthy Choice Clinc, 628 E. Michigan Ave., Talks About Opening a Medical Marijuana Shop Downtown, Legalization and Hemp Farming How has medical marijuana, in your perspective, changed Lansing over the past year? It has definitely been a rocket for businesses and employment. I truly believe it has helped the community. I am excited for the moratorium because it's going to help us revamp and get some leadership from City Council. If there are city permits and fees coming, then let's do that so we can start getting respected as a business. [continues 849 words]
More Questions Than Answers Remain After a Federal Bust of Medical-Marijuana Growing Facilities in Okemos Five properties and at least 400 plants. That was the target and the take of the federal Drug Enforcement Agency on Nov. 30 at various addresses in Okemos used for growing medical marijuana. United States District Attorney Rene Shekmer, of the Western District in Grand Rapids, confirmed "over 400" plants were taken -- 10 times what was previously reported. Initial reports also said only three facilities were raided. [continues 824 words]
The Mayor Calls a Moratorium on New Medical Marijuana Businesses 'Absolute Nonsense' And 'Nixonian.' Meanwhile, Businesses Scramble to Get Grandfathered In Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero is in a fiery mood against a proposed ordinance that could place a moratorium on medical marijuana businesses for up to a year. "They're trying to say no to commercial dispensaries," Bernero said. "It's absolute nonsense and it's unnecessary. It's an attempt to thwart the will of the voters," Bernero added, speaking in an interview. [continues 824 words]
Lansing Is Working to Regulate Medical Marijuana Businesses Amid Dispensary Crackdowns in Southeast Michigan After nine people were arrested in Metro Detroit for operating a medical marijuana dispensary, it's hard not to think about the fate of the 16 similar businesses within the city of Lansing. On Aug. 25, the Oakland County drug enforcement team raided Clinical Relief in Ferndale. Nine people were arrested and await a potential trial on felony drug manufacturing charges. An undercover officer used a fake medical marijuana card to make purchases at Clinical Relief. Two dispensaries in Waterford Township and several private residences -- also in Oakland County -- were also raided that day, leading to six more arrests. [continues 1458 words]
