CITY TACKS SIX MONTHS ONTO MEDICAL POT MORATORIUM

The Orchard Lake City Council voted on Monday, Dec. 20 to extend a
moratorium on allowing medical marijuana operations in the city for
another six months.

The moratorium is set to expire June 21, 2011.

The recommendation was forwarded to the City Council by the Planning
Commission.

"It allows the Planning Commission more time to deliberate and allows
for more time for the implementation of the legislation to develop,"
said City Clerk Janet Overholt-Green.

Initially the City Council imposed a six-month moratorium on medical
marijuana operations to give planners and officials adequate time to
study areas within the city where medical marijuana facilities might
be permissible, in response to Michigan voters legalizing marijuana
for medical use during the 2008 general election.

The current state law permits physician-approved use of marijuana by
registered patients with debilitating medical conditions including
cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, hepatitis C, MS and other conditions as
may be approved by the state Department of Community Health; permits
registered individuals to grow limited amounts of marijuana for
qualifying patients in an enclosed, locked facility; requires the
Department of Community Health to establish an identification card
system for patients qualified to use marijuana and individuals
qualified to grow marijuana; and permits registered and unregistered
patients and primary caregivers to assert medical reasons for using
marijuana as a defense to any prosecution involving marijuana.

"Municipalities have been adopting ordinances and there have been
court actions so we're paying attention to what is and what isn't
permitted," Overholt-Green said.

Once the moratorium expires, the Planning Commission is expected to
draft a final zoning ordinance amendment that specifically outlines
areas within the city where medical marijuana can be dispensed.

"We would draft an amendment to the zoning ordinance that will govern
dispensaries," Overholt-Green said. "There is no city regulation at
all right now. Our focus is on dispensaries."

If a business should approach the city with a request, it would need
to go through a business license application and rely on that process
until regulation is in place.