MEDICAL MARIJUANA ORDINANCE TO GO BEFORE KALAMAZOO TOWNSHIP BOARD FOR HEARING

KALAMAZOO TOWNSHIP - An ordinance spelling out rules for use and sale
of medical marijuana in Kalamazoo Township will be brought before the
Township Board on Feb. 28 for first reading.

Trustee Mark Miller, who is the board's representative on the
township Planning Commission, said a special committee, working with
township attorney Kenneth Sparks, has come up with a proposed
ordinance and the Planning Commission is recommending it for adoption.

The board will accept the proposed measure for first reading Feb. 28
and schedule a public hearing, after which it will be adopted,
rejected or sent back to the Planning Commission for revisions.

A state-wide ballot issue permitting medical use of marijuana was
approved by 63 percent of Michigan's voters in November 2008, even
though the substance officially is prohibited by federal law.

Michigan now is one of 15 states that allows use and sale of
marijuana under certain conditions, but the state Legislature in more
than two years since passage has failed to implement regulations,
leaving those chores to each local municipality.

Kalamazoo Township initially took up the issue in a jam-packed
meeting last summer, but decided then on a six-month moratorium to
study the matter further.

"We had six months to come up with a solution to this issue," Miller
said. "We've had plenty of hoops to jump through, and I think we've
done well to get to this point."

Indeed, some Michigan townships, cities and villages have extended moratoriums.

Miller had high praise for the committee charged with coming up with
a plan and he called Sparks "a state expert on this issue for the townships."

Sparks, when asked what the ordinance will say, declined to be
specific, but acknowledged Kalamazoo Township's proposed ordinance
will not be like the ones adopted by the cities of Wyoming and
Livonia, which prohibit sale and use because it is illegal under federal law.

The meeting Feb. 28 will get under way at 7:30 p.m. at the township
hall, 1720 Riverview Drive.