VILLAGE COUNCIL SHAPES MEDICAL MARIJUANA ORDINANCE LANGUAGE

As several municipalities across the state grapple with the medical
marijuana law and its implications, the Dexter Village Council is
considering an ordinance that would limit the number of dispensaries
in the village limits.

If approved, Dexter's ordinance would include a proposed definition
of a medical marijuana dispensary, which would not permit retail
sales, consumption, or cultivation of medical mari-juana. The
ordinance also outlaws home occupations within multiple-family dwellings.

The draft ordinance states a dispensary cannot be located within 500
feet of a school or within 500 feet of another dispensary.

Village President Shawn Keough said he does not want the council to
act prematurely on the issue.

"I think the Planning Commission is playing a role in this," Keough
said. "We can direct them how to do it, but they need to be the ones
that look at this issue."

Keough said the Planning Commission would help govern the language of
the village's ordinance.

"The Planning Commission should tell us what is good for us to do.
Right now I think it is too early to do anything," he said.

Trustee Donna Fisher said the word "dispensary" has left the door
open for a lot of questions.

"I want to know exactly how we are going to define a dispensary," she said.

Trustee Jim Carson expressed his displeasure of not doing anything at
all about the issue.

"I don't want some judge to decided what it is and where it can be,"
he said. "If it did go to court I don't want a judge to say it can be
in a park or a house."

Trustee James Smith said if the council approves an ordinance, he
would like to see a provision to revoke the ordinance if the state
changes its law.

"It has to be under the codition that if the state law changes then
the dispensary would be shut down," he said.

Keough said that his fear is by not defining a dispensary, the
village could become a "free for all."

The village council earlier this year placed a 120-day moratorium on
the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries, which expires at
the end of December.

No official vote or action was taken at the meeting on Monday.