UNION TOWNSHIP ADOPTS MEDICAL MARIJUANA MORATORIUM

Union Township Wednesday placed a moratorium on development of any
business related to medical marijuana while the township works out
the best way to deal with them.

"What this enables us to do is put off applications in areas that
could be gray areas," said zoning administrator Woody Woodruff.

The township plans to spend several months exploring what township
Supervisor John Barker called "best practices" to determine how best
to protect public health and safety, while permitting medical
marijuana patients and their caregivers access to their medication.

Woodruff said the initiative that voters adopted in 2008 was vague in
many places, and a series of court cases is gradually defining what's
permitted and what's not under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act.

The law is silent about businesses that are related to medical
marijuana, such as so-called apothecaries, dispensaries and compassion clubs.

"We need to think about, if we're going to have these things, where
should they go?" Barker said.

Woodruff pointed out that the township's industrial zoning does allow
for businesses that "compound pharmaceuticals," and asked if a
growing cooperative would fall under that definition. He said he
didn't have an immediate answer.

"I like the idea of recognizing that the people of Michigan have
approved this," said trustee John Dinse. "Why don't we approach this
as just another business?"

That could mean business licensing, Woodruff said.

"If apothecaries are here to stay, they could need a business
license," he said.

Issues of privacy and security are "huge issues," Woodruff said.
Since the marijuana is being used for medical purposes, records of
who is authorized by the Michigan Department of Community Health to
use and possess the drug could be considered medical records.

Those are exempt from disclosure under the Michigan Freedom of
Information Act, and the township would need to protect patients' privacy.

"We would want to know the names of the people running it," Woodruff said.

The township's planning commission is to get a briefing on the issue
from a Lansing-based law firm next week, and begin working on how a
local law might work. Public hearings also will take place as part of
the process.

"This will give our citizens the opportunity to express themselves,"
Barker said.

The moratorium will expire in August, and Woodruff said that's the
target date to have the regulations in place.

He said that he has been approached by a group that billed itself as
a compassion club, as well as by a proposed growers' co-op. Neither
one will move ahead until the regulations are in place.

A medical marijuana dispensary already is in operation in the city of
Mt. Pleasant, with a second one possible. A dispensary also is
operating in Weidman.