LOCAL LEADERS HOPE SMOKE CLEARS ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW IN 2011

If there's one thing for certain, the state's medical marijuana law -
and how local communities are dealing with it - remains cloudy.

Local ordinances have been changed to prohibit medical marijuana
operations such as growing facilities, distribution centers and
compassion clubs. Other communities have adopted a moratorium (a
freeze) on all medical marijuana issues until things are clarified.

Several communities are going with the federal law that bans the use
of marijuana, medical or otherwise, because it is a controlled substance.

"The law is a total mess," said Bloomfield Township attorney William
Hampton. "The Legislature must do something about this. It's such a
poorly written law."

It's an issue that needs to be worked out between local
municipalities, counties and the state legislature in 2011, said
state Rep. Vicki Barnett, D-Farmington Hills.

She said there has been some talk among Oakland County officials and
a bipartisan group of Oakland County state legislators, but nothing
has been ironed out to clarify the law or the wishes of the voters.
She hopes to see the issue addressed in 2011.

Voters in Michigan approved the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act with a
63 percent vote, including majority support in 83 counties statewide.
The law went into effect on April 6, 2009, at which time patients
could start applying for identity cards from the state health
department. The cards are supposed to prevent people from being
arrested for using medical marijuana.

Raids, Arrests

Medical marijuana cards were irrelevant in August 2010, when police
raided a medical marijuana facility in Ferndale and arrested several people.

The incident prompted a recent protest rally, in which about 90
medical marijuana supporters arrived in three buses from cities
across the state.

Chuck Ream, co-founder for Safer Michigan Coalition and a member of
Michigan Association of Compassion Centers, said he has been smoking
marijuana for 43 years and qualifies as a medical marijuana patient,
because he has "intestinal distress and gastrointestinal problems."

"All I have is pain, I'm not terminal one bit," Ream said. "I can run
farther and swim farther than most 20-year-olds or cops. My body is
hard and strong, my mind is functioning as well."

Ream said he is president of a medical marijuana dispensary in Ann
Arbor and added that his long-term goal is to legalize marijuana in
Michigan for any use.

Lawsuits

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan filed a lawsuit in
November, against the cities of Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills and
Livonia on behalf of Linda and Robert Lott of Birmingham.

The couple wants to grow marijuana in a Livonia warehouse and they
want to be able to smoke it without trouble at their home and at a
Bloomfield Hills private social club. Local ordinances in the three
communities do not allow it.

Linda, 61, suffers from multiple sclerosis. Robert, 61, was recently
diagnosed with glaucoma. Both husband and wife possess
state-certified cards qualifying them as medical marijuana patients.

"When Michigan voters passed the medical marijuana ballot initiative,
I was relieved," said Linda Lott in a previous statement. "My doctor
and I knew that it would help me fight the muscle spasms and painful
symptoms of multiple sclerosis. What we didn't realize is that it
would be temporary. Instead of relief, I now live in fear that I
could be arrested by local officials for following state law."

The lawsuit asks that the city ordinances be declared invalid and
unenforceable against medical marijuana patients and caregivers who
comply with the state law.

"The people of Michigan voted overwhelmingly in support of
compassionate care for patients like Linda Lott whose pain can be
eased by the use of medical marijuana," said Kary L. Moss, ACLU of
Michigan executive director. "In a democracy, city commissions do not
have the power to veto statewide ballot initiatives after they have
been approved by the voters and enacted into law."

In December, the Law Offices of Thomas M. Loeb of Farmington Hills,
and Neil Rockind, P.C. of Southfield, filed a joint lawsuit in
Oakland County Circuit Court against Bloomfield Township for its
medical marijuana ordinance passed in October.

"We filed the suit on behalf of two township residents who are
impacted by the ordinances," Rockind said. "We think the township
ordinances are not only unconstitutional, but they directly conflict
with the state law that was passed by 63 percent of the people."

According to the complaint, one of the ordinances requires qualifying
patients and caregivers to register with the Bloomfield Township
Police Department and provide protected and confidential information,
including their name, home address, driver's license number and date of birth.

Rockind said he intends to keep the two clients anonymous.

"That's the whole point," he said. "They shouldn't have to provide
their identity just because they're trying to follow state law. We're
going to do everything to make sure their right to privacy is protected."

A second ordinance adopted by the township prohibits the cultivation
or distribution of medical marijuana by any registered patient or
caregiver. According to the complaint, these two ordinances are in
direct conflict with the Michigan law passed by voters in 2008.

"These people should have access to this medicine," Loeb said in a
statement issued to the public. "Michigan law gives them that right.
Further, Michigan law protects these patients and caregivers from
divulging protected and confidential information. These ordinances
have taken away that confidentiality and anonymity, are entirely
inconsistent with Michigan law, and should therefore be rendered
unenforceable and void."

Bloomfield Township Supervisor Dave Payne said his staff and the
township council spent considerable time crafting the ordinances to
ensure they complied with the statewide measure.

"We believe what we developed meets the spirit of the law," he said.

Flawed Law

Livonia City Attorney Don Knapp highlighted the law's shortcomings.

"I don't know of any prescribed medication where the patient is
allowed to determine the dosage," Knapp said. "You get a physician's
certification, which is not a prescription. I think that people like
to think it's a prescription, but it's not."

Knapp said there are no provisions regulating the grade of marijuana,
whether it is Mexican ditch weed or something that is 30 percent THC.

"There's no regulation on any of it," Knapp said.

Knapp tells the story of case of a man in his early 20s who was
ticketed last year for possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.
After he had received the citation, the defendant went and received a
physician's certificate from Dr. Eric Eisenbud, who is highlighted by
The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation in assisting medical marijuana patients.

Knapp said the defendant made an appointment with Eisenbud after he
was ticketed, then presented the certificate to the court, indicating
he received the certificate for chronic neck and back pain. Eisenbud
is listed as an ophthalmologist.

"He travels the circuit," Knapp said of Eisenbud, going from state to
state and operating out of various offices.

Still the defendant was found guilty.

"Just because you have a Michigan Marijuana card doesn't mean you
have a 'get out of jail free' card," Knapp said.

Drivers under the influence of THC are also treated like drunken
drivers, Knapp said.

Knapp also criticized the law because anyone with a misdemeanor
conviction or felony conviction can become a caregiver unless they
have a felony narcotics conviction.

"That means you can be convicted of murder, rape or armed robbery and
you can still be a caregiver," Knapp said. Primary caregivers must be
21 years of age, but they don't need a nursing background, either, Knapp said.

After Livonia passed its ordinance, Knapp said several communities
contacted his office inquiring about Livonia's ordinance, including a
mayor from a community in the Upper Peninsula.

"A number of communities have taken a similar approach," Knapp said.

Zoning Issue

While the state's medical marijuana law allows for the sale, use and
distribution of medical marijuana for qualified people, it's up to
each municipality to decide where those activities are allowed.

That's where zoning ordinance amendments and moratoriums are taking
place in communities such as Milford, Milford Township.

"We're still in the planning mode," said Don Green, Milford Township
supervisor. "What fits best for us? That's the question."

In Milford Village, the moratorium has been extended.

"Basically, the law is unclear. We're trying to figure out what's
going on," said Terri Rusas, village council president.

Progress has been made over the past few months, Rusas said, but
there are still plenty of unanswered questions.

"We're trying to determine if there's a place in Milford (for this),
where it will be. We don't want a dispensary set up and then have to
close it down because the laws aren't being followed," said Rusas.

The Plymouth City Commission recently passed an amendment to the
city's zoning ordinances that prohibits property from being zoned for
a use that would be in violation of federal law. A technicality,
Mayor Dan Dwyer admits, but one that prevents anyone from formally
opening a dispensary or marijuana-growing operation in the city.

Dwyer says officials, like those in many local communities, are
waiting for lawmakers to resolve the conflict between the state's
medical marijuana law and federal law, and could revisit the issue if
that is done.

Al Cox, Plymouth's police chief, said he's aware of activity at Dr.
Ernest Mullen's office, the only medical marijuana office in
Plymouth. However, Cox said, as far as he knows, nothing illegal is
taking place.

"It's not a dispensary, he's just providing the recommendation. It's
not a prescription," Cox said. "To sell or buy the marijuana - that's
the violation."

In Farmington Hills, a moratorium was in place until recent city
council action on a zoning ordinance amendment that prohibits land
use that's in violation of local, state or federal law.

Farmington Hills City Councilman Barry Brickner said he wanted to
make sure the local ordinance didn't go against the state initiative.

"I don't want to establish dispensaries, compassion clubs or have
people selling it on the street corners ... I want us to follow the
state initiative that says one person can grow up to 12 plants in
their home," he said.

City Attorney Steve Joppich said the zoning amendment only deals with
land use, and that smoking marijuana is not a land use issue. Growing
operations and commercial distribution are issues that would be
covered by the ordinance.

In Garden City, a growing operation was approved for a warehouse
facility and a second growing facility is on its way to approval.
Special land use has been approved for a medical marijuana growing
facility in an industrial building near Ford Road and Venoy.

Lobby Congress

Farmington Hills Councilman Ken Massey said the issue was a topic at
a recent National League of Cities meeting.

"This is not just affecting the city of Farmington Hills or the
citizens of Michigan," he said. "There are a number of states
(dealing with this issue). The federal government has to resolve the
conflict (and interpretation). It was unanimously support by the NLC
delegates that we need to lobby Congress for this and that maybe we
need to revisit the federal law."