FLINT CITY COUNCIL PASSES 180-DAY MORATORIUM ON NEW MEDICAL MARIJUANA
BUSINESSES

FLINT, Michigan - The city of Flint has issued a 180-day moratorium
on any new medical marijuana dispensaries or grow operations in the city.

The Flint City Council voted unanimously Monday night to pass the
temporary ban while city officials look into establishing regulations
and zoning laws on the matter.

The issue comes as several medical marijuana businesses have popped
up around Flint and Genesee County, sometimes without government approval.

Councilman Scott Kincaid said the city just wants to "get a handle on
it, before it gets out of hand."

Kincaid said he's in favor of allowing the businesses to operate, but
encouraged the council to push for zoning laws that regulate where
the businesses could operate, much like the way the city regulates bars.

"We need to make sure we don't have concentrations of dispensaries
that detract from the community," he said. "We just need to make sure
that when those businesses are located, that the public also has input."

City officials said the moratorium only applies to future businesses,
not those that are currently operating.

However, City Attorney Peter Bade said the legality of current
medical marijuana businesses could be questioned, since the city has
not issued any licenses for dispensing or growing marijuana.

"We do not have a category of license to license this kind of
business," City Clerk Inez Brown said.

It's a relatively new issue for local governments, as voters passed a
state constitutional amendment for medical marijuana in 2008, and
there are still gray areas.

State law says medical marijuana caregivers must be registered with
the state, while federal law still prohibits the possession or use of
marijuana for any purposes.

Still, some council members said they don't want to shut down the
medical marijuana businesses that are currently operating respectably.

Councilman Michael Sarginson said the businesses he's talked to have
been run "very securely," but said the city won't hesitate to crack
down on operations that take advantage of the system.

"We will be in there to close your business down," he said.

Several members of the public asked that the council not shut down
the dispensaries already in business.

Flint resident Michael Ledford, who said his wife suffers from
multiple sclerosis, said medical marijuana is the only drug that can
calm her violent tremors and ease her severe pain. He said the
results are "nothing short of amazing."

"Neither one of us believed in this issue until it happened to our
family," he said. "This is extremely important to me."

Kincaid said he is in favor of allowing the current dispensaries to
operate, at least for now.

"They need to know that whatever procedures are put in place, that if
they don't meet the criteria, they will have to close," he said. "Our
ordinances are clear, you have to have a license in the city of Flint
to do business."