COMMUNITIES BANDING TOGETHER TO CREATE MEDICAL MARIJUANA REGULATIONS

SOUTHGATE - Members of the Downriver Community Conference are looking
into developing a unified ordinance regarding medical marijuana.

Downriver communities, like many municipalities across Michigan are
struggling with regulation of medical marijuana, dispensaries, growing
warehouses, patient care, caregiver clubs and medical marijuana schools.

Michigan voters approved marijuana use as a medicine in 2008, but the
law on what municipalities should do to accommodate it is vague.

According to the state, there have been about 53,400 applications from
patients requesting the use of marijuana since 2009 and about 26,400
were approved.

Businesses to support those people are looking for cities where they
can set up facilities to handle the marijuana.

Lincoln Park Mayor Frank Vaslo asked DCC staff to survey member
communities about medical marijuana ordinances. He would like to see
communities unify a plan to deal with the issue.

Vaslo said he's had requests for warehouses in his city and he'd like
an ordinance to address the zoning issues, but he doesn't have a model
to base it on.

"There is a big divergence on what each community is doing," Vaslo
said.

Several cities Downriver already have drafted their own
ordinances.

Melvindale, Trenton, Southgate and Wyandotte recently revised
ordinances to accommodate and restrict marijuana distribution facilities.

Southgate's ordinance, for example, prohibits a "medical marijuana
facility" within 500 feet of a house of worship, public or private
educational facilities, a boundary of a residential district, or a
public recreational area or library.

Wyandotte's amended zoning ordinance does not actually address
marijuana, but instead prohibits the licensing of any business that is
in violation of local, state or federal laws. While possession of
medical marijuana might be legal in Michigan, it still violates
federal law.