East Lansing Puts 90-Day Hold On Marijuana Law

[Michael Komorn]

East Lansing puts 90-day hold on marijuana law

 

BY DAWN PARKER • DLPARKER@LSJ.COM • AUGUST 21, 2010 • FROM TOWNE COURIER

 

EAST LANSING -- The city council has unanimously voted to place a 90-day moratorium on the issuance of licenses for dispensing marijuana for medical purpose.

The council took the action Aug. 17 to give officials more time to evaluate the issue relative to land uses.

A nearly finalized marijuana ordinance includes defining a "dispensary" as a place where two or more primary caregivers would store, grow or dispense the medical marijuana

A "primary caregiver operation" would be the place where a registered primary caregiver would store and dispense the medical marijuana.

A license for the dispensary or operation would be necessary in either case, city Attorney Dennis McGinty said, but the ordinance does not require a license for the caregiver themselves.

"They could grow and they could store their medical marijuana at their residence or any other lot or premises," McGinty said. "They could simply not engage in the business of dispensing it without having a license."

Caregivers would no longer be required to disclose the names of their patients, only their registry numbers, thereby guarding patients' medical privacy.

The number is confidential under state law, McGinty said, and can only be obtained from the state by court order.

Grand Rapids has a similar licensing ordinance, McGinty said.

"They are confident they can keep primary caregivers' identity confidential," he added.

The council approved a 90-day moratorium on the issuance of any licenses, giving the council additional time to consider how medical marijuana may be regulated in the city in respect to various permitted land uses.

More than 20 Michigan communities have enacted similar moratoriums, including Bath, Williamston, Battle Creek and Ann Arbor.

Council member Nathan Triplett asked McGinty for the legal effect of a moratorium on any existing caregivers or dispensaries.

"We would know that there's not a storefront in East Lansing, but we have no way of knowing whether some other facility that potentially meets some of these definitions is already operating in the city," Triplett said.

The legal effect, McGinty said, would be to eliminate any existing non-conforming uses under the ordinance.

Mayor Pro Tem Diane Goddeeris, a nurse, voiced her support. "I think there is a desperate need for this type of medication to be around and offered to the individuals who really benefit from it," she said. "I want to make sure it's done in the way I believe the voters in this state chose to vote for it."

In Other Action:

The council had a lengthy discussion on whether to approve a conditional rezoning request for the Spine Center, 250 E. Saginaw.

The proposal, which if approved would have given the center 20 additional parking spaces on a half-acre property, failed by a 5-0 vote.

"This neighborhood is being chipped away," Whitehills Drive resident Barbara Hollstein told the council.

Residents and council members told of traveling past the center during normal business hours and seeing many vacant spaces each time.

 

Michael A. Komorn

Attorney and Counselor

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[pharmlink]

I had a debate about this topic this morning with my husband about Traverse City and their ordinance about dispensaries. My stance was that if these "dispensaries" were collectively being operated by caregivers for THEIR patients, I don't have a problem with it. But I hear that there are dispensaries that will service anyone who has a medical marijuana card be it caregiver or patient. In my opinion that is a direct violation of the law. Even if the law doesn't explicitly say that this type of dispensary is illegal, it doesn't give them the right to imply that it is legal. And I think one should err on the side of caution before attempting this sort of activity. Do you agree?

[TheSmartestManAlive]

I had a debate about this topic this morning with my husband about Traverse City and their ordinance about dispensaries. My stance was that if these "dispensaries" were collectively being operated by caregivers for THEIR patients, I don't have a problem with it. But I hear that there are dispensaries that will service anyone who has a medical marijuana card be it caregiver or patient. In my opinion that is a direct violation of the law. Even if the law doesn't explicitly say that this type of dispensary is illegal, it doesn't give them the right to imply that it is legal. And I think one should err on the side of caution before attempting this sort of activity. Do you agree?

 

 

Yeah that may be true, but should that be how the law is really set up ? Alot of places are calling it "consulting" and that they just introduce you to another patient for a p2p transfer .

[pharmlink]

Yeah that may be true, but should that be how the law is really set up ? Alot of places are calling it "consulting" and that they just introduce you to another patient for a p2p transfer .

 

 

 

 

If they are truly "consulting", by networking patients, etc., then that, to me is ok. But any kind of transfers should be illegal. These caregivers are not registered to these patients. The law regarding that is very clear to me.