ROYAL OAK'S SPLIT MARIJUANA VOTE SATISFIES NEITHER SIDE

A vote by the Royal Oak City Commission left advocates of medical
marijuana pledging to sue the city but gave opponents of the drug
less than the complete ban they had hoped to see passed.

The vote, which calls for strict limits on the use and distribution
of the drug, came early Tuesday following 90 minutes of public comments.

"We made it very clear that someone using medical marijuana in Royal
Oak would not be subject to criminal prosecution," Commissioner Chuck
Semchena, a longtime foe of medical marijuana, said Tuesday. "This
new ordinance merely prohibits the growing or distribution of marijuana."

The vote was a deep disappointment to fellow Commissioner Jim Rasor,
who joined Mayor Jim Ellison in opposing the strict limits.

"I have no doubt that we will find ourselves in court, spending
taxpayer money to defend our indefensible and illegal action, instead
of spending that money on police officers and other necessary city
expenses," Rasor said.

Said Royal Oak City Manager Don Johnson: "I think we would've been
sued no matter what we did."

The ordinance change stopped short of a proposal that medical
marijuana users feared might ban the drug entirely. The seven-member
commission tentatively passed that proposal last fall at what is
called the first reading of a new ordinance. It was based on the
Livonia model and, in effect, would have banned any use of medical
marijuana, City Attorney David Gillam told commissioners last year.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan has sued Livonia,
along with Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills, for passing such
ordinances, on behalf of a Birmingham couple who said they have
state-approval cards for treating their health conditions with
medical marijuana but fear using or growing the drug in the three cities.

Lyon Township, which has a similar de facto ban, was sued this month
by a resident who has a state-approval card for using the drug,
Grosse Pointe attorney Paul Tylenda, who said he is representing the
man at no charge, said Monday.