ACLU SUES MICHIGAN CITIES BANNING MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Suit Could Set Precedent for Local Communities

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan filed a suit against
the cities of Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills and Livonia on Wednesday
supporting a 61-year-old Birmingham woman's right to use medical marijuana.

ACLU officials charge that Linda Lott, a licensed medical marijuana
patient suffering from multiple sclerosis for 28 years, is having her
state rights violated by ordinances in all three cities prohibiting
growing and using medical marijuana.

"The people of Michigan voted overwhelmingly in support of
compassionate care for patients like Linda Lott whose pain can be
eased by the use of medical marijuana," said Kary L. Moss, ACLU of
Michigan executive director. "In a democracy, city commissions do not
have the power to veto statewide ballot initiatives after they have
been approved by the voters and enacted into law."

Lott says she uses the medical marijuana to relieve back spasms, a
side effect of her condition.

"Instead of relief, I now live in fear that I could be arrested by
local officials for following state law," Lott said in a statement
released by the ACLU.

The outcome of the lawsuit could set a legal precedence for the
entire state of Michigan, including several Northern Michigan
communities currently considering how to govern medical marijuana in
the future because of the ambiguity of the Medical Marijuana Act,
which state voters approved by 62 percent in 2008.

Though none of the local municipalities in Emmet County have sought
to outlaw patient or caregiver use, they have struggled with how to
prepare to deal with dispensaries and compassion clubs in the future.

City of Harbor Springs officials recently considered a city ordinance
requiring all home occupations to adhere to state and federal law,
effectively banning medical marijuana dispensaries under the federal
law among other occupations. However, the measure failed to gain the
necessary votes by the Harbor Springs City Council to pass.

Harbor Springs city manager Tom Richards said Wednesday the city has
not considered revising or proposing a new ordinance at this time.

Richards said the ACLU suit did not surprise him.

"Personally, I think the legislature owes it to the state to define
and make some rules to manage this," Richards said. "It seems like
the Legislature got caught flat footed with the (2008) proposal and
have not gotten into defining and regulating the business as they
would for just about anything else."

The lack of definition has municipalities throughout Michigan
attempting to make their own definitions and guidelines in the
Medical Marijuana Act's stead.

The Emmet County Board of Commissioners has placed a moratorium on
medical marijuana dispensaries through March, while a
county-appointed committee researches and discusses possible zoning
options for regulating the growing number of patients, caregivers and
profiteers in the area.

The county committee remains in the information-gathering stage and
is broadly discussing a prohibition, specific regulations or simply
"doing nothing" as its future avenues.

The village of Mackinaw City also approved a similar moratorium in
May restricting medical marijuana dispensaries. The village mailed
letters to select businesses in their jurisdiction notifying them of
the prohibition on selling marijuana paraphernalia, according to
Mackinaw City Planning Commission minutes.

The Emmet County Medical Marijuana Committee is set to meet next at 5
p.m. Jan. 25, in the Emmet County Courthouse Building in downtown Petoskey.