FLINT TOWNSHIP REJECTS AMENDMENT THAT WOULD HAVE OUTLAWED MEDICAL
MARIJUANA BUSINESSES

FLINT TWP., Michigan - The clock is ticking if Flint Township
officials want to keep medical marijuana dispensaries from setting up shop.

The township rejected an amendment Oct. 4 that would have effectively
outlawed businesses that profit from selling, using or growing
marijuana under the state's medical marijuana law.

The ordinance would have amended the township's zoning rules to
require that all "uses or businesses seeking approval or permits from
the township must comply with federal, state and local law."

The state allows people to grow, use and sell marijuana for medical
purposes, but federal law still bars the practice. The U.S.
Department of Justice has said it will not prosecute medical
marijuana use in states where it has been legalized.

A temporary moratorium on medical marijuana businesses in the
township expires Nov. 8.

"We're going to have to do something soon because, you know, the
moratorium expires in November," said Supervisor Karyn Miller.

Miller said she didn't know whether the township will use a zoning
amendment or a different type of ordinance to address medical marijuana.

The zoning amendment was unpopular among several township trustee.
Before voting on the amendment, the board pulled the federal
restriction from the amendment, effectively stripping it of its teeth.

The board then voted down the amendment anyway.

"It bans it completely, that's what you're doing behind the back
door," said Trustee Franklin Kasle.

The township planning commission passed the amendment Sept. 9 and had
recommended the board adopt it.

Trustees Barb Vert and Belenda Parker said they voted against the
ordinance because the township needs to address medical marijuana
businesses more directly.

"It needs to be very clear, no watered-down ordinances," Vert said.

Advocates of the medical marijuana law spoke against the ordinance.

"For you guys to circumvent the law does not get it," said Randy
Lalone, of Flint.

"The patients, the people that I deal with on a regular basis, are
the ones who get lost in all this," said Nick Panessidi, owner of the
Michigan Center.

In July, the township came one vote shy of using the moratorium to
shut down the Panessidi's business. The Michigan Wellness Center
charges for consulting sessions on obtaining medical marijuana cards
from the state and offers classes on medical marijuana topics.

The center would not have been subject to the law since it has no
marijuana on site and doesn't break federal laws.

At the time the township pledged to draft an ordinance before the
moratorium expires.

Kasle, Supervisor Karyn Miller and trustee George Menoutes voted for
the amended ordinance.