OAKLAND SITE EYED FOR MICHIGAN'S BIGGEST MARIJUANA FACILITY

Facility Could Hold 23,000 Square Feet of Medical Marijuana

While some Michigan communities have taken steps to block the
development of medical marijuana businesses, a warehouse owner in
Oakland County is rolling out plans for what could become Michigan's
largest facility for growing medical marijuana.

The Royal Oak City Commission was to consider Monday night whether to
set a public hearing on the request by James Canner, listed on Web
sites as executive vice president of a robotics firm, to convert a
building for growing marijuana.

If Canner's tenant puts marijuana plants in all 23,000 square feet,
the building could be the biggest marijuana facility in Michigan,
Michigan Medical Marijuana Magazine publisher Rick Ferris said.

"We've worked on some of the biggest ones, in Romulus and Detroit,"
but the Royal Oak plan seems bigger, Ferris said. He owns Big
Daddy's, an Oak Park-based landscaping firm that recently opened
stores in Detroit, Dryden and Oak Park to sell hydroponics equipment
for growing marijuana indoors.

Canner did not return a call seeking comment. City documents show he
met May 26 with Royal Oak Planning Director Tim Thwing, asking to
create a "grow room for state-registered caregivers."

In a June 9 memo, Canner said he needed a tenant to avoid foreclosure
on the building, and that no marijuana sales would take place -- only
the growing of marijuana by state-approved people.

Michigan's law is unclear about whether caregivers can band together
at one site.

Canner said the site would have 24-hour security, that the city could
charge fees to each caregiver and a tax to patients, and that "this
is a perfect alternative" for empty industrial sites across Michigan.

In an April memo that said such facilities encouraged crime, Royal
Oak Police Chief Chris Jahnke estimated such a facility could produce
pot for 100,000 to 120,000 marijuana cigarettes a year.

"My concern is that this place would produce so much more marijuana
than the medical clients could use," City Commissioner Chuck Semchena said.

Questions about the 2008 law that made it legal for certain patients
to use marijuana to relieve their symptoms have led communities to
take steps to block medical marijuana operations.

Last month, Brighton Township moved to disallow medical marijuana
businesses in the community until the state clarifies the rules.
Battle Creek has put a halt to any new businesses. Lansing is
deliberating distance rules. And several communities are considering
regulation like Williamston.

A Meridian Township man, Frederick Wayne Dagit, is facing charges
accusing him of illegally dealing marijuana while running a medical
marijuana club. An ordained minister, Dagit said he opened the club
as a haven for patients to buy medicinal marijuana from caregivers
and socialize. He said he allowed caregivers to grow marijuana at the
club for their patients.

Brighton Township Manager Dan Bishop said the moratorium came as a
result of the state not yet specifying what is or isn't allowed under
the voter-approved Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. When the state
does so, Bishop said, the township would come up with an ordinance
incorporating those rules and the moratorium would be lifted.

Brighton Township Supervisor Tom Murphy said the township township
would not want to allow home-based medical marijuana dispensaries.

In May, Howell ratified a zoning ordinance amendment that blocked
medical marijuana clubs and dispensaries. The majority of City
Council members said they believed the rule change -- which prohibits
uses that violate federal, state or local law -- was necessary to
protect the city from "confusion" and "loopholes" related to the
state's Michigan Medical Marihuana Act that legalized medical
marijuana in 2008.

Possession and distribution of marijuana are still illegal under
federal law, giving the city grounds to argue against its use and
distribution within enterprises, city officials said.

In March, another Livingston County community, Green Oak Township,
took a similar stance by starting a process to figure out how the
medical marijuana law will fit into its zoning rules.

So far, no official action has been made on the issue in Green Oak Township.