VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP: OFFICIALS APPROVE THIRD MORATORIUM ON MEDICAL
MARIJUANA ORDINANCE

A third moratorium on an ordinance governing medical marijuana was
approved recently by township officials, extending the moratorium,
which began in April 2010, by another 90 days.

Township staff and the Planning Commission had drafted an ordinance a
few weeks ago that adopted federal law as the township's ordinance,
calling for the prohibition of marijuana in the township.

When other communities that had adopted ordinances consistent with
federal law were sued recently the American Civil Liberties Union,
however, the township was forced to re-evaluate its position.

The communities that had been recently sued included Livonia,
Bloomfield and Birmingham, according to township supervisor Paul White.

Interim Planning and Economic Development Director Terry Carroll, who
requested the moratorium extension, said that the Planning Commission
was working actively on a proposal, and hoped to discuss and decide it
at its next meeting on Feb. 23, followed by a review with and a
decision by the Board of Trustees in their next meeting on March 1.

Charles Tackett, a township resident, opposed the moratorium. He
reminded officials that 63 percent of voters in Michigan had approved
the ballot initiative, and asked the township to move the process along.

"A moratorium is a form of abrogation," Tackett said. "You've had
enough time."

Planning Commission member Don Boynton said that the current law is
confusing and conflicted, and did not pass through the normal
legislative process, approved as it was through a ballot initiative.

White said that he has attended five different seminars on the subject
of medical marijuana.

Toward the end of the recent Michigan Townships Association
conference, White said, a proposal was made to request clarification
of the law from the state of Michigan, but that the proposal did not
receive a sufficient number of votes from the township representatives
to pass.

Township resident Alan Babosh said, trying to summarize the conundrum,
"Until we know what the courts are going to do, we don't know how to
proceed."