FERNDALE PUTS 90-DAY HOLD ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA BUSINESSES

FERNDALE - Applicants wanting to open medical marijuana facilities
here will have to wait 90 days while the city drafts a policy on how
to deal with such businesses.

The City Council imposed a three-month moratorium on medical
marijuana businesses in a 4-1 vote Monday night.

Mayor Craig Covey voted against the moratorium, which he says is unnecessary.

"My disappointment is that this is not a new issue," Covey said. "We
should have had our ducks in a row sooner."

But a majority of council members want to study whether marijuana
facilities should be subject to certain zoning restrictions.

Community Development Services Director Marsha Scheer said the city
so far has eight applications from people wanting to open marijuana businesses.

Councilwoman Melanie Piana advocated imposing a moratorium on the
issue after elected officials heard from Scheer, Ferndale Police
Capt. Timothy Collins and others.

"I'm willing to enact a short moratorium so we can get this right," Piana said.

Several medical marijuana advocates and users told elected officials
there is enough law on the books already for the city to craft an
ordinance without delay.

Royal Oak City Commissioner Jim Rasor, an attorney, represents
Clinical Relief LLC, a medical marijuana facility that is in the
process of trying to open its business in the 300 block of Hilton Road.

"The voters have spoken," Rasor said told Ferndale council members,
arguing against a moratorium. "This is a prescription for people with
a medical condition."

Royal Oak imposed a 180-day moratorium on medical marijuana
facilities, which Rasor voted against, back in April. Other cities,
such as Southfield, Ypsilanti and Oak Park, have medical marijuana
commercial growing operations for consortiums of caregivers and dispensaries.

The state medical marijuana law, passed by voters in 2008, allows
caregivers to grow up to 12 plants each for up to five patients.
Qualified patients can also grow up to 12 plants for themselves.

Fourteen states have decriminalized marijuana, but federal law still
prohibits the sale and cultivation of the drug.

Cities like Livonia, Troy and Birmingham have banned any medical
marijuana activity in their communities because of the federal law.

Other communities, including Bloomfield Township, Grand Rapids, Royal
Oak, and Saginaw have enacted moratoriums while they study the issue.

Roseville, Garden City and Huntington Woods have limited marijuana
businesses to commercial, industrial or office building zones,
according to Ferndale City Attorney Daniel Christ.