EAST LANSING WEIGHS POT DISPENSARY RULES

Ordinance Would Regulate Distribution of Medical Marijuana

EAST LANSING - The city is trying to clear the smoke surrounding
medical marijuana and its distribution by crafting an ordinance to regulate it.

State law is vague about how the drug can be distributed, which
leaves the door open for municipalities to determine how it should be
controlled, said Matt Newburg, of Hubbard Law Firm, which has been
conducting seminars about medical marijuana through the Michigan
Municipal League.

East Lansing joins scores of other communities trying to figure out
just how to accommodate the state law.

"The status of the issue across the state is one of considerable
confusion," East Lansing City Councilmember Kevin Beard said.

The ordinance, which is in the works and could go before the City
Council sometime later this month, most likely would regulate
distribution through changes in the zoning code, Planning and Zoning
Administrator Darcy Schmitt said.

"There are several operations that have popped up around the
community that don't meet the intent of the state law by allowing
large gatherings of people that may or may not have their caregivers
present to distribute their medical marijuana," she said.

There are no marijuana dispensaries within East Lansing at this time,
Schmitt added.

It's a mixed bag of methods cities are using to regulate medical
marijuana, said Tom Yeadon, an assistant city attorney who also is
working on the ordinance. Some cities have chosen to do nothing,
others put restrictions in place for dispensaries and others simply
look to federal law, which still classifies marijuana as illegal.

According to the Michigan Department of Community Health, 18,012
patients have registered to use medical marijuana and 7,813
caregivers have been approved.

But, because the state doesn't define what a dispensary is, it
complicates matters when trying to regulate one, Newburg said. A
dispensary in one city might distribute marijuana in a totally
different way than another in a neighboring town.

For instance, patients might transfer weed from one person to another
in one, while caregivers might dispense the marijuana to their
patients in another.

The law allows a caregiver to serve up to five patients. A caregiver
can possess 2.5 ounces of usable marijuana and 12 plants per patient.
A caregiver who also is a patient can grow 72 plants and possess 15
ounces of usable marijuana. Patients without caregivers can possess
2.5 ounces of usable marijuana and grow 12 plants.

For East Lansing, the debate on how to handle it within the community
is about to take off.

"Different council members have different opinions on where it should
go," Beard said, adding that a lot needs to be ironed out.