ROYAL OAK LAW CONFUSES POT GROWERS FOLLOWING STATE LAW

ROYAL OAK The medical marijuana moratorium ends Thursday and new
zoning regulations that some say fly in the face of the state law go
into effect.

Royal Oak took a hybrid approach to regulating medical marijuana by
allowing qualified patients to use it while banning any kind of
commercial or residential grow operations.

The new restriction narrowly adopted as a zoning ordinance clouds the
line of legality for patients and caregivers who have been complying
with the state law passed by 63 percent of voters in November 2008.

The city attorney said they would be grandfathered in but no one
knows what that means yet.

"A crop takes 60-90 days, then what? Is the next crop grandfathered?"
asked a Royal Oak caregiver. "I'm not sure being grandfathered in
really equates to anything."

The man explained why he didn't want to be identified.

"All kinds of people are scared to death their name will end up on
some list and law enforcement will use it to bust them," he said.

State law says a qualifying patient can grow up to 12 plants and
registered caregivers can do the same for up to five patients for a
total of 60 plants.

Royal Oak has about 300 medical marijuana patients, according to one
unofficial estimate.

City Attorney David Gillam said everyone who is complying with the
state law would be grandfathered in but Royal Oak officials haven't
defined how patients and caregivers can show they meet the exception.

"We haven't formalized any kind of a policy and when we do, it will
have to be a living document," Gillam said, explaining that the
requirements to be legally non-conforming may have to be tweaked as
new situations come to light.

Gillam said he met Monday with some department heads who will work
with the Planning Department staff, which provides administrative
support for zoning rules. However, Planning Director Tim Thwing
wasn't there and won't be back until next week.

In the meantime, patients and caregivers are wondering if a
date-stamped video or receipts for growing equipment would show they
were following the state law before the city adopted its
restrictions. They're angry they have to worry about that at all.

"When this law goes into effect in Royal Oak, I won't have the rights
guaranteed to me by the state. That's sick," the one resident said Wednesday.

City Commissioner Michael Andrzejak, who voted against the new local
law, said Royal Oak officials dropped the ball by not clearing the
air about what constitutes being grandfathered in.

"The onus is on the city to articulate the grandfather provision but
we can't do that before the law goes into effect," Andrzejak said.
"To me when you have a moratorium it is to do study and research and
come back to the table with a thought-out plan."

On Jan. 25, the commission considered several options before it
approved the ordinance called the "Livonia model" with wording to
specify Royal Oak was allowing medical marijuana use in a patient's house.

"What we're trying to get at it is to allow personal use in homes but
not cultivation," said City Commissioner David Poulton, who made the
motion supported by City Commissioners Pat Capello, Terry Drinkwine
and Chuck Semchena.

They wanted to address resident concerns about grow houses operating
in neighborhoods and near schools and excess marijuana falling into
the wrong hands.

Rick Thompson of Center Line, editor of the Oak-Park based Michigan
Medical Marijuana Magazine, said growing operations already exist
throughout Royal Oak. He came up with the estimate that the city has
about 300 patients. His figure is based on Michigan having 10 million
residents, Royal Oak having 60,000 residents and 49,000 medical
marijuana patients being registered with the Michigan Department of
Community Health.

"That means there are 295 patients in Royal Oak," Thompson said. "I
bet people thought it would be higher. This is a situation where lot
of attention is on an issue that is not as dangerous as it has been portrayed."

City Commissioner Jim Rasor said his colleagues set up Royal Oak for
a lawsuit and created problems for sick people who want to grow
medical marijuana or get it from a nearby caregiver to relieve
symptoms of cancer, multiple sclerosis and other diseases.

"What you guys are doing will cost us a bundle in court and at the
end of the day you prohibit use of any medical marijuana except what
- - what the patient can find on the streets of Detroit or Flint,"
Rasor told fellow commissioners Jan. 25.

Semchena said Royal Oak's approach to regulate medical marijuana
through the zoning ordinance takes away a threat to neighborhoods
while allowing patients to use it without being criminalized by the city.

"If someone needs to get their medicine and it is marijuana, I don't
think we have to guarantee that they can get right here in Royal Oak
- -- at least while state legislators or courts are looking at this,"
Semchena said.

Royal Oak's former city attorney, Semchena also said he doesn't
believe anyone can be grandfathered in to grow medical marijuana in
Royal Oak because the zoning ordinance never allowed it in the first place.

As for the state law patients and caregivers have been complying
with, Semchena said, "We're obeying federal law."

In its 4-3 decision, the commission voted to prohibit all enterprises
contrary to federal law, which says possession and use of marijuana
Is illegal, with the exception for qualifying patients.

"I don't believe anyone can apply for a variance either," Semchena
said. "We'll see what the city attorney says."