WILL CALM PREVAIL ON CLOUDED ISSUE?

Considering all the beating of chests about Michigan's two-year-old
medical marijuana law, it's encouraging to see that local government
and police officials are handling this issue responsibly.

Police in some Michigan counties are trying to crack down on
marijuana. Attorney general candidate Bill Schuette exaggerates on
his website that "pot shops are literally sprouting up everywhere."
An appeals court judge warns state residents to "avoid all use of
marijuana if they do not wish to risk violating state law."

You would think the air in our fair state is being filled with toxic
smoke. In reality, medical marijuana is making a small change in our
state's landscape.

Fewer than 33,000 state residents have been approved to smoke
doctor-prescribed weed. Relatively few businesses have tried to open
as marijuana "dispensaries." And there has been no appreciable impact
on crime as this law nears its second anniversary in November.

Truth is, state voters overwhelmingly supported medical marijuana in
2008, but it has not been executed well. The law is vaguely written,
with businesses maybe or maybe not being allowed to sell marijuana to
patients at retail locations.

Not to minimize the perils of pot - it is an illegal drug for most
people - but we do not see why some might worry much about where
dispensaries are located. Pharmacies carry much more potent drugs
like OxyContin and Vicodin, yet no one cries out if a CVS or
Walgreens opens near an elementary school.

Confusion over the medical marijuana law will have to be clarified by
the Legislature (which can change the law with a three-fourths vote)
or by the courts. Until then, it falls to local government to handle
marijuana dispensaries from a zoning perspective, and police to
figure out who's breaking the law.

Summit Township was the first local government to be tested on this
issue, and it has passed so far. Officials pushed a just-opened
dispensary in Vandercook Lake to close while they review Summit's
zoning rules. Jackson, meanwhile, is working on rules for where
medical marijuana may be sold.

It is unfortunate that D & N Strains, the Vandercook Lake business,
was affected, but it is hardly an impossible hardship. Potentially,
Summit will clear the way for this dispensary to reopen somewhere, as
long as it can be a good neighbor, like any business.

In the meantime, let's clear the air and stop the excess over this
issue. Medical marijuana can relieve pain for people who are
suffering from various maladies. It takes a doctor's blessing. It is
not opening the door to legalized pot in Michigan, nor is it driving
up the crime rate.

Michigan's residents spoke strongly in favor of this law. We
encourage government at all levels to respect that sentiment, work to
clear up any confusion and accept medical marijuana as a viable
option to relieve pain.