Planners OK Medical Marijuana Zones in B.C.

Planning Commission Recommends Changes to Allow Use in Private Clubs

Medical marijuana patients would be able to use the drug in private
clubs under the latest version of a proposed city ordinance.

The Battle Creek Planning Commission on Tuesday recommended changing
the city's zoning rules to allow growing marijuana for medicinal use
in certain commercial zones.

Compassion clubs, operations that provide support services for
medical marijuana patients, would be allowed in some zones and would
give patients a second place to use their medicine besides their homes.

The planning commission approved recommending the changes 5-2, with
Jan Frantz and City Commissioner Bill Morris voting no.

Frantz requested the city add a limit on the number of caregivers who
can operate in a single location, but her amendment failed.

The Battle Creek City Commission still must sign off on the zoning
changes, as well as approve a separate ordinance requiring a city
license for some residential or commercial properties where medical
marijuana is grown. Those ordinances are set to be introduced at a
meeting Tuesday.

An earlier recommendation from city staff would have banned the use
of marijuana in compassion clubs. It was changed after medical
marijuana advocates said it was important to give patients an
alternative location to use the drug besides their homes.

At Tuesday's meeting, more than 30 people spoke out against the
proposed regulations, saying they went against state law, would limit
patients' access to medicine and would force patients to buy
marijuana off the street.

Operations focused primarily on the dispensing or smoking of medical
marijuana would still be banned under the city's proposed regulations.

But smoking in the clubs is not a settled issue. The city commission
could change the recommendation, and at a workshop Tuesday morning,
Vice Mayor Chris Simmons hinted that he was not in favor of allowing
use at the clubs.

Medical marijuana proponents also were concerned that compassion
clubs would not be allowed to distribute the drug. Patients said only
getting the drug from their designated caregiver means they have no
backup source.

But Battle Creek City Attorney Eileen Wicklund said she didn't feel
the state's medical marijuana law allowed for entities like
compassion clubs to distribute marijuana.

A temporary halt to new medical marijuana establishments in Battle
Creek expires in January, meaning the city has one month to finalize its rules.

Other cities have instituted full bans on medical marijuana, which
Michigan voters approved in 2008.

On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan filed a
lawsuit against the cities of Bloomfield Hills, Livonia and
Birmingham, saying the cities' bans violate state law.