CITIES, TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES ACROSS GENESEE COUNTY STUDYING UP ON
MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW, POTENTIAL ORDINANCES

GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan - Local governments across the county are
playing catch up as the demand to bring medical marijuana businesses
here grows.

These establishments - from dispensaries to patient and caregiver
clubs to medical marijuana schools - could either pump thousands into
the local economy or draw crime and lawsuits, depending who you ask.

The flood of interest has officials across Genesee County - from the
village manager in Otisville to the clerk in Flint Township -
scrambling to study up on the state's medical marijuana law and what,
if anything, they should pass on a local level to address it.

Most communities have more questions - What qualifies as a medical
marijuana business? What constitutes a club? How is a dispensary
defined? - than answers.

A Flint Journal poll of Genesee County's 33 cities, villages and
townships found four - Clio, Richfield Township, Grand Blanc Township
and Fenton Township - have passed ordinances addressing the medical
marijuana law.

Nine passed temporary moratoriums while they figure out an ordinance.

Nineteen have passed nothing.

In Flint, voters passed an ordinance in 2007 allowing medical
marijuana, even before it was legal in the state.

But almost every community is talking about it and many officials say
they plan on adopting something.

"There's definitely an explosion of interest in this," Jeremy
Rupinski, co-founder and director of the Genesee County Compassion Club.

"People are looking at this like an economic opportunity," he added.

At the Genesee Township club, state-registered patients can smoke
together, try different varieties of pot and share information. The
group has grown to 1,800 members in less than a year. Rupinski and
other compassion club officials have visited "numerous town councils"
this summer to educate and field questions from local governments.

It's easy to see the drug's cash crop potential - 24,831 across the
state have been approved to use medical marijuana since the law took
effect last year.

"There are a number of communities in the last two or three weeks
that have chosen to put in place a moratorium," said Bill Mathewson,
an attorney with the Michigan Municipal League, an Ann Arbor-based
non-profit that provides resources and training for local governments.

The MML is one of many places township attorneys, city managers and
other officials have turned to this summer to learn about the law. An
MML event for September is titled "Medical Marihuana Act and Your Community."

It's a confusing issue and even those that have taken action
sometimes are befuddled by the dos and don'ts of medical marijuana.

In July, for example, Flint Township officials attempted to shut down
a new business that hosts classes on medical pot. The business
violated a township moratorium on "medical marijuana uses," officials
said. Only after the owner showed up at a board meeting explaining
that no pot was allowed on-site did trustees reverse the decision.

"This is very new and a lot is still unknown as to how best cope with
the law at the local level," Mathewson said.

But some say attempts to sort through that vagueness have crossed the line.

Local ordinances across the state have "become a real problem that
we're looking at," said Rana Elmir, communications director with the
American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan. The ACLU in July sent
letters to Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills, asking them to rescind
ordinances they say ban legal use of medical marijuana.

Those ordinances ban medical marijuana by saying residents can't
break federal law, Elmir said. It's a loophole some local governments
have taken to enact the strictest possible restriction - outlawing
medical marijuana - but, so far, no Genesee County communities
haven't taken this route.

An ordinance amending the city of Clio's zoning rules might come
closest - but doesn't target residents.

"All businesses must comply with local, state and federal law," Clio
Police Chief James McLellan said of the ordinance.

Fenton Township decided to cope with it by banning primary caregivers
from operating outside their home or growing with another primary
caregiver. Primary caregivers are licensed to grow and provide
medical marijuana to licensed patients.

The township's law will keep dispensaries out of the neighborhood.

Township resident Dave Adams sees the point of the ordinance, but
doesn't think medical marijuana businesses would pose too much a
threat in his south Genesee County neighborhood.

"It doesn't bother me one way or the other," he said.

The medical marijuana law voters approved in 2008 is vague. And vague
laws lead to lawsuits.

"The act is so loosely written and so nebulous and open to
interpretation that there's going to be ton's of law suits," said
Davison Township supervisor Kurt Soper.

Davison Township has a moratorium banning medical marijuana while
they fashion an ordinance, Soper said.

"If there's one theme in this entire conversation it's that the
statute's incredibly vague," said Adam Zettel, zoning administrator
in Swartz Creek, which has not yet considered an ordinance.

Both Rupinski and the ACLU said some local control is reasonable.
It's an issue communities may no other choice but to take some ownership of.

"I really think the best option is that it is locally owned and
locally regulated," Rupinski said.

And, whatever local communities do, it looks like medical marijuana
question isn't going away.

Rupinski said he knows people who are interested in launching some
type of business - from equipment shops to dispensaries - but are
waiting on local govenrnments to make up their minds.

"I talk to people like that every day," he said.

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HERE'S A LOOK AT HOW GENESEE COUNTY COMMUNITIES HAVE RESPONDED TO THE
POSSIBILITY OF BUSINESSES RELATED TO MEDICAL MARIJUANA COMING TO THEIR AREA.

Already Allowed

Flint

Ordinance Restricting Them

Clio

Fenton Township

Grand Blanc Township

Richfield Township

Temporary Moratorium

Atlas Township

Davison Township

Fenton

Flint Township

Lennon

Montrose Township

Otisville

Otter Lake

Vienna Township

No Action

Argentine Township

Burton

Clayton Township

Davison

Flushing

Forest Township

Gaines

Gaines Township

Goodrich

Grand Blanc

Flushing Township

Genesee Township

Linden

Montrose

Mount Morris

Swartz Creek

Mount Morris Township

Mundy Township

Thetford Township