CITY COUNCIL HOLDS OFF ON POT DECISION

The East Lansing City Council listened to public opinion regarding
medical marijuana distribution at its Tuesday meeting, 410 Abbot Road,
and voted to postpone a decision on the matter to its March 15 meeting
by issuing another 90-day moratorium.

Council members officially rejected two of the proposed ordinances
before council, one of which called for all medical marijuana
operation to take place inside the home and another that bans
commercial medical marijuana operations entirely.

The other proposed ordinance before council, which would allow for the
operation of medical marijuana dispensaries in primarily office
districts, is supported by some council members. However, there was a
general consensus among council to look at the ordinance and make
amendments before making any final decisions.

Councilmember Nathan Triplett said rejecting two of the ordinances
would help the community focus on a workable ordinance but said he
thought further discussion, clarification and amendments to the final
proposed ordinance before council were necessary.

"The time has come at least to begin narrowing our options," Triplett
said.

Several East Lansing residents came before council to express their
opinions on how council should proceed with regulations on medical
marijuana.

East Lansing resident Ralph Monsma said he and other members of his
neighborhood were in support of extending the moratorium because it
would allow time for further clarification on some of the unclear
aspects of the proposed ordinance. He said privacy of patients and
safety of residents and of public officials should be issues
considered in council's discussions.

"This is a medical issue, and there's privacy involved in it," Monsma
said. "Maybe that's something that could be worked on."

Other community members were in favor of passing the proposed
ordinance allowing medical marijuana dispensaries but had qualms about
only allowing them in primarily office districts.

Levi Fishman, an East Lansing resident, said he thought the proposed
ordinance should be instated but should be improved upon by allowing
dispensaries in more zoning areas.

He said the boundaries currently instated in the ordinance were
restrictive to patients who might not have adequate access to the
areas in mind and also to potential dispensary owners who might not be
able to acquire space in those areas.

"There's a lack of accessible handicapped areas (in some office
districts), and I don't think that anyone is going to be freely given
space," Fishman said.

Councilmember Roger Peters said he believed withholding further
decisions on the issue would help the council make a decision workable
with the interests of the entire community in mind.

"As this process continues to go forward, I'm hopeful we can develop a
version of (the proposed ordinance) that can meet the needs of both
interest groups," Peters said.

The council unanimously moved to defer further consideration of the
ordinance.

Triplett said there is a possibility of a lift of the moratorium
before its conclusion should a decision be made at that time.