BATTLE CREEK GRAPPLES WITH MEDICAL MARIJUANA RULES

Commissioners Consider Banning Compassion Clubs

Elected officials in Battle Creek moved Tuesday to stop medical
marijuana patients from using the drug in so-called compassion clubs
and limit the use to patients' homes.

At a meeting that brought more than 100 people to City Hall, city
commissioners began the formal discussion on how to regulate medical
marijuana within the city.

No vote was taken on the two ordinances before the Enquirer's deadline.

Vice Mayor Chris Simmons said he felt that Michigan's medical
marijuana law doesn't allow for compassion clubs to distribute the
drug, something the city initially proposed banning but then moved to allow.

Commissioner David Walters, a former police officer, said he was
uncomfortable with the idea of patients driving away from compassion
clubs while under the influence of marijuana.

Dozens of people spoke out against the proposed rules, saying they
will limit patients' access to legal medication, will make patients
turn to the streets to obtain the drug and will open up the city to lawsuits.

"The patients don't have the luxury of getting the medication at a
pharmacy; they must find their own way to obtain it," said Pam
Sparks, whose brother uses medical marijuana.

The city is proposing zoning and licensing requirements that limit
where medical marijuana is grown, distributed and used.

It would require caregivers, unless growing the marijuana for their
own medical use, to obtain a city license and keep their growing
operations within certain commercial zones. Those growing operations
could not be located within 1,000 feet of a school or licensed day care.

The state law says patients cannot use the drug in public. The city
has grappled with the idea of whether to give patients an alternative
place to use the drug besides their own homes.

An initial draft ordinance limited use to in-home only, but it was
later changed to allow use in so-called compassion clubs after many
people said they needed an alternative location.

But the city commission could reinstate the ban on usage at the club.
Many people at Tuesday's meeting said that would hurt patients.

"If you shut (the compassion clubs) down, I can only see you helping
drug dealers and putting patients at risk," said Mike Rothwell, a
Battle Creek medical marijuana patient. "I'd also be hoping that you
wouldn't spend my tax money on litigation and going to court."

A requirement that renters obtain written permission for their
landlords before growing or using medical marijuana in their homes
was stricken from the draft ordinance before Tuesday's meeting
because city staff members worried the rule would be in opposition to
federal fair housing laws.