MEDICAL MARIJUANA USER SUES TO KEEP GROWING POT PLANTS

Lyon Township - A certified medical marijuana user is suing the
township and Oakland County for fear they're going to take his
medicine - marijuana - from him.

Steven J. Greene received notice Dec. 20 from the township attorney
he had 30 days to get rid of marijuana plants inside his mobile home
on threat of seizure and prosecution under township ordinance.

A copy of the letter was also sent to the Oakland County Sheriff's
Office, which discovered the plants last year after a storm and an
attempted break-in set off burglar alarms at Green's address in
separate incidents, according to Green's attorney, Thomas Loeb.

Green is HIV positive, on a medical disability and uses marijuana to
combat nausea from drugs used to treat his health condition, Loeb said.

"He's the type of person the Michigan medical marijuana laws were
created for - a card-carrying, certified user for medical purposes,"
Loeb said. "I just want to stop them before my client is arrested."

The lawsuit is assigned to Oakland Circuit Judge Martha Anderson.
Last month the ACLU filed a similar suit in Wayne Circuit Court
against local ordinances in Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills and Livonia.

Loeb said Lyon Township adopted an ordinance in July outlawing any
land use in the township not permitted under federal law. Township
attorney Matthew Quinn said the ordinance focuses on growing marijuana.

"We aren't challenging medical use of marijuana by qualified
residents," Quinn said.

"Our ordinance focuses on any land use which violates federal, state
or local ordinance. People can grow marijuana elsewhere, but Lyon
Township doesn't want it."

In Michigan, a user certified by the state can possess marijuana and
a state-certified caregiver can provide it for up to five certified
patients, growing up to 12 plants per patient.