ZONING ORDINANCE AIMS TO STOP MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

The word marijuana never appears in a recently adopted zoning
ordinance amendment, but the intent is to keep medical marijuana
operations out of Westland.

"Nothing in the ordinance addresses medical marijuana. It says you
can't operate a business in violation of federal, state or local
laws," said Council President James Godbout. "Federal law says
marijuana is illegal. State law allows medical marijuana."

Mayor William Wild is a bit more direct on the ordinance amendment's
impact, noting it will, in effect, prohibit medical marijuana
dispensaries from operating within the city. He said the ordinance
amendment is in response to the requests to the Building Department
for potential medical marijuana dispensing sites in Westland.

"There are three ways communities are addressing this - through
zoning, approve a moratorium or flat out making them prohibited," said Wild.

The ordinance is aimed at addressing zoning issues related to state
law which that allows patients who have been issued a valid registry
identification card to cultivate up to 12 marijuana plants and
possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana.

If registered patients do not wish to grow their marijuana, they can
receive it from a caregiver. The caregivers do not have to be
licensed professionals but can assist up to five patients,
cultivating as many as 60 marijuana plants and possessing 12.5 ounces
of marijuana.

"The city has made a choice of prohibiting medical marijuana
dispensaries based on that their existence within the city would be
detrimental from a public safety standpoint as well as the negative
effect on surrounding neighborhoods," said Wild. "Similar ordinances
have been recently enacted in surrounding communities, such as
Livonia and Canton Township in response to these same concerns."

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan has asked officials in
the cities of Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills to clarify or rescind
ordinances recently adopted regarding the growth, sale and dispensing
of medical marijuana.

The Birmingham ordinance, adopted earlier this year, follows the same
path as the Westland ordinance prohibiting activities in violation of
federal, state or local laws or ordinances. Basically, federal law
would be used to trump state law when it comes to marijuana.

For their part, Bloomfield Hills officials voted to prohibit
dispensing of medical marijuana in their city due to it being a
controlled substance under federal law. The ACLU is arguing the
rights of medical marijuana users is being violated by those
ordinances. Like the Westland ordinance amendment, neither of the
ordinances specifically mentions medical marijuana.