ROYAL OAK - Another resident is suing the city because of its new zoning ordinance that allows patients to use but not grow medical marijuana. Christopher Frizzo, 47, a qualifying patient who has multiple sclerosis, filed a lawsuit Monday in Oakland County Circuit Court. He isn't seeking monetary damages. "He wants Royal Oak to repeal its ordinance that limits medical marijuana from being grown or cultivated and if they won't do it he wants the judge to declare the Royal Oak ordinance unenforceable and void," said Neil Rockind, one of Frizzo's attorneys. [continues 447 words]
LAKE ODESSA, Mich. - Another Ionia County area is preparing to tackle the issue of medical marijuana, which has proven to be controversial topic in the cities of Ionia and Belding. The Lake Odessa Village Council will be holding a public hearing on the matter at 7 p.m. Feb. 21 at the Page Memorial Building and will discuss a ordinance proposing a six-month moratorium on issuing permits or licenses for the sale or dispensation of medical marijuana. "We're just trying to stay on the pro-active side of things so we can do the right thing," said Lake Odessa Village Manager Mark Bender, who added the village has not yet seen any official requests for medical marijuana privileges. [continues 190 words]
- - At youth group's school event At a time when drug abuse is ravaging Nigerian youths, a non-governmental organisation, Prince Decson Save Child Foundation, is pressing on with what could pass for palliative measures. The group is using seminars, workshops and education to keep youths out of drugs and other social vices. Recently, Prince Decson Save Child Foundation engaged students at Topfield College, Awodi-Ora, Ajegunle, Lagos, in a progamme aimed at educating on the evil of hard drugs. Tagged, "the effect of dangerous drugs on the Nigerian child," the programme, according to the group, aimed at "building a lasting and strong awareness, in the minds of youths, on the effect of drug abuse." [continues 456 words]
This week's stories point to the critical role that information plays in our lives, beyond what the news media provides on a regular basis. Information, of course, is power. Who possesses it and decides how to use it has an advantage over those unaware of its existence or denied access to what's in the files. But what these stories show, in particular, is that there is information of interest to most Ontarians out there that deserves wider circulation. Studies and anecdotal evidence, for example, show that people with physical or intellectual disabilities make excellent employees but, significantly, more than two-thirds of them remain out of work because of misconceptions about their competence. In fact, they match and even surpass the performance of able co-workers in many cases. [continues 312 words]
Holland, MI - Prosecutors will weigh whether to issue criminal charges following a police raid Thursday at a Holland medical marijuana dispensary. The West Michigan Enforcement Team confiscated "a quantity of suspected marijuana" from The Mix, 897 S. Washington Ave., on Thursday, Lt. Cam Henke of WEMET said. He wouldn't say how much marijuana officers seized or what led police to seek a search warrant. "The bottom line is our investigation led us to believe that marijuana was being sold illegally at that location," Henke said. "We felt it was outside the framework of the law." [continues 323 words]
PRISON: Marc Emery is the cause of new rules A prison term in Georgia hasn't stopped ex-Londoner Marc Emery being Marc Emery. Canada's Prince of Pot, whose libertarian philosophies were honed as outspoken owner of City Lights Bookshop in London, is having his scrapes with officials at the D. Ray James prison near Folkston, reports a longtime friend in London with whom Emery corresponds. "They got upset with him because he was getting so many books that they started making all these rules . . . his followers were sending him books," Londoner Gord Mood says. [continues 447 words]
More than 500 health professionals from across Canada have written to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and opposition leaders to protest a government bill that would impose mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes including growing small amounts of marijuana. The physicians, scientists and researchers, led by the Urban Health Research Initiative, a program of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, and the Canadian Public Health Association argue that the measures included in Bill S-10 are both ineffective and expensive. [continues 463 words]
Pot-smoking Church of the Universe members say a judge's ruling upholding Canada's marijuana-control laws won't affect the way they commune with God. "It changes nothing. They raided one church," Rev. Brother Davin Christensen, 33, said Monday afternoon before he lit a large marijuana vaporizer at Vapor Central lounge on Yonge St. Ontario Superior Court Justice Thea Herman ruled Monday that Canada's laws against growing, smoking and selling marijuana are not unconstitutional, despite arguments from two accused church members. [continues 482 words]
DURAND - Durand has joined a long list of municipalities in the county and across the state that are giving themselves breathing space in deciding how to deal with the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act. Monday, the Durand City Council unanimously approved a 180-day moratorium on opening marijuana dispensaries within the city limits while it considers where and under what conditions the facilities would be allowed. "We aren't here to try to evade the medical marijuana law in Michigan - - people voted for it overwhelmingly," City Attorney Charles McKone said at the regular council meeting. [continues 492 words]
While the March 21 moratorium extension for medical marijuana dispensaries is in effect, village officials are considering implementing fines in the Dexter village code of ordinances. The new ordinance language would be made to the Dexter General Code, Chapter 22, Municipal Civil Infractions. The new section, Marijuana Dispensary Violations, would stipulate a $1,000 fine for first-time offenders of the zoning ordinances as they pertain to medical marijuana and dispensary placement. Repeat offenders would pay $2,000 for a second violation and $3,000 for a third and any subsequent violations beyond that point. [continues 294 words]
