EAST LANSING PUTS 90-DAY HOLD ON MARIJUANA LAW

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."