ACLU SUES 3 CITIES OVER MEDICAL POT BANS

Local Ordinances Violate State Law, Hurt Patients, Suits Argue

Detroit -- Arguing that cities do not have the power to veto a state
law passed by a majority of Michigan voters, the ACLU of Michigan is
suing three Metro Detroit communities that have enacted medical marijuana bans.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday on behalf of Linda and Robert Lott of
Birmingham, alleges that Livonia, Bloomfield Hills and Birmingham
have adopted ordinances effectively banning the couple and other
patients from legally using medical marijuana.

"We're seeing a lot of cities that are passing very burdensome
ordinances that stand in the way of patients and their doctors on
this issue," said American Civil Liberties Union attorney Dan
Korobkin. "These ordinances are not only cruel; they're illegal and must stop."

Linda Lott, 61, who has suffered from multiple sclerosis for 28
years, is legally blind and uses a wheelchair. She uses medical
marijuana to control muscle spasms.

"It's simply unfair for these cities to try to play doctor and tell
me how to treat a disease I've lived with for 28 years," she said. "I
could have a terrible spasm, and a little bit of marijuana would take
it away in just a few minutes."

Michigan voters approved the use of marijuana for medical purposes in
2008. The act, which decriminalized the use of medical marijuana for
debilitating medical conditions, passed by 71 percent in Birmingham,
63 percent in Livonia and 62 percent in Bloomfield Hills.

Bloomfield Hills City Manager Jay Cravens and Livonia Mayor Jack
Kirksey both said Wednesday they believe their ordinances are in
compliance with state and federal law.

"We don't have a ban on medical marijuana. We have an ordinance that
deals with medical marijuana," Cravens said.

The ACLU says the targeted ordinances make no direct reference to
medical marijuana, but deem it unlawful to engage in any activity
within city limits that is contrary to federal law. The group argues
the federal government does not prosecute those who comply with state
law and that Michigan's medical marijuana law specifically says that
patients and caregivers approved to use the drug cannot be subject to
prosecution.

Local governments have been struggling over how to interpret the law.

Oakland County officials issued a 63-page document in August to guide
local authorities as they enact regulations. Oakland County Executive
L. Brooks Patterson, who ordered a survey and analysis of local
approaches, said Wednesday that more clarity -- not more lawsuits --
is needed to improve the poorly worded law. He said what the ACLU is
doing is a waste of time.

Patterson, along with Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard and
Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper, maintain that dispensaries
- -- businesses that sell medical marijuana -- are illegal under the act.

"I'm a lawyer and I'd like the ACLU to show me what civil rights are
being violated here as we try to manage distribution of a controlled
substance," Patterson said. "There is nothing but chaos going on
here. There is no quality control (in the dispensaries); you don't
know what you are getting.

"I think a compassionate public was duped when this law was passed."

Michael Komorn, a Southfield-based medical marijuana activist and
attorney, said Wednesday the ACLU's decision to sue the cities
amounts to a stance for democracy and for the will of the people.

"Are taxpayers aware of what this battle is about?" he said. "(The
local bans) say what you voted for as a majority doesn't count in
these cities. The referendum that produced this law is the closest
participation that voters can have in a democratic process. We
created it and we had a choice to vote for it. These cities have
disregarded that."

The ACLU lawsuit seeks to have the local ordinances declared invalid.

"When patients use medical marijuana in compliance with state law,
they shouldn't be penalized for it," Korobkin said.

Robert Lott, 61, is licensed as his wife Linda's caregiver and was
recently diagnosed with glaucoma. He owns a building in Livonia where
he would like to grow medical marijuana for him and Linda to use.

"I'm not against the city. I just don't understand how they feel they
can interfere with what treatment I use to care for my wife and
alleviate her pain," Lott said. "We aren't criminals and we refuse to
be treated like such."

Under federal law, marijuana use for any purpose is illegal. Yet the
ACLU says that the federal government does not prosecute patients and
caregivers who comply with their state's medical marijuana laws.

In September, a Michigan Court of Appeals judge urged lawmakers to
clarify the state's medical marijuana law, saying the "inartfully
drafted" measure has resulted in confusion and arrests.

Judge Peter O'Connell issued his call in a 30-page opinion on an
Oakland County case in which the court upheld marijuana possession
charges against two Madison Heights residents.

The judge said the law is so confusing that users "who proceed
without due caution" could "lose both their property and their liberty."

O'Connell argued that sections of the law contradict the Michigan
Public Health Code that makes possession and manufacture of the drug illegal.

Raids in August on dispensaries in Ferndale and Waterford Township
resulted in arrests and the seizure of marijuana and medical records.
Lapeer County Sheriff's deputies also searched a medical marijuana
dispensary in Dryden, confiscating marijuana and cash.

Confusion over Michigan's medical marijuana initiative has led to
patients with valid prescriptions losing their jobs or being
threatened with eviction from their homes.

Many federally subsidized housing complexes believe they must follow
federal laws or risk losing federal funding.

The ACLU case was filed in Wayne County Circuit Court.