Smoked Out

WHAT COMMUNITIES ENACTING POT BANS SHOULD CONSIDER

Anyone who still thinks Michigan's medical marijuana law is just some
ruse intended to provide partiers with a get-out-of-jail-free card
needs to meet Linda Lott. And municipal officials who think they are
doing their residents a service by passing ordinances intended to
circumvent that voter-approved law need to take notice as well.

In fact, the Michigan branch of the American Civil Liberties Union is
making sure that they get the message that any attempts to infringe
on the legitimate rights of patients and caregivers are going to be
fought every step of the way.

A resident of Birmingham, Lott has suffered from multiple sclerosis
for 28 years. An autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal
cord, MS is an affliction that grows worse with time. Now in her 60s,
Lott, who is both legally blind and confined to wheelchair, is
subject to what she describes as terribly painful spasms that can
strike unexpectedly at anytime.

According to the lawsuit, along with prescription drugs, Lott's
physician - Dr. Sami Mounayer, the director of neurology at Beaumont
Hospital - has also approved her use of medical marijuana, which
helps alleviate the spasms and the intense pain they cause. It also
helps her to sleep at night.

Her husband of 32 years, Robert, owns a printing business in Livonia.
Recently diagnosed with glaucoma, Robert, like his wife, is a
registered medical marijuana patient. Pot helps relieve the pressure
on his eyes' optic nerves.

In other words, it is hard to imagine a better pair of people to
serve as the plaintiffs in what is sure to be viewed as a major test
case challenging the expanding pattern of restrictive ordinances
being passed by Michigan municipalities.

As ACLU attorney Daniel Korobkin pointed out, "These are exactly the
kind of people Michigan voters had in mind when they passed the
Medical Marihuana Act."

Last week, the ACLU filed suit on behalf of the Lotts in Wayne County
Circuit Court, claiming ordinances passed within the past year by
Livonia in Wayne County and Bloomfield Hills and Birmingham in
Oakland County are "clearly illegal."

Despite overwhelming approval of the medical marijuana law by
Michigan voters in 2008, all three cities passed ordinances
declaring, in essence, that it is illegal to engage in any activity
or enterprise that is "contrary to any federal, state or local laws."

Because any use of marijuana remains illegal in the eyes of the feds,
these ordinances are seen as an attempt to sidestep the will of
Michigan voters and put legitimate medical marijuana users and their
licensed caregivers at risk of arrest.

When asked previously about the issue, Bloomfield Hills City Attorney
William P. Hampton told News Hits that the ordinance in question was
not a "medical marijuana ordinance." While it may not make specific
reference to medicinal pot, the claim that the ordinance didn't have
that as its target is laughable.

Attempts to get comments from others supportive of these ordinances
were unsuccessful.

Bloomfield Hills City Manager Jay Cravens told the Free Press: "We
don't have a ban on medical marijuana. We have an ordinance that
deals with medical marijuana."

Linda Lott, at last week's press conference, expressed fear of being
targeted by police for possessing her medicine while traveling in a
car or visiting private social clubs she and her husband belong to in
Bloomfield Hills.

"I don't believe I should have to choose between living in pain and
living in fear," she said.

Robert Lott, as Linda's caregiver, is likely concerned about being
targeted for arrest for growing weed in a Livonia warehouse he owns.
Critics of the state's medical marijuana law claim it is badly
crafted and needs to be clarified. Robert Lott, in essence, has the
same gripe about the ordinances. "I don't know what the rules are,
and I'm a rule-follower," he said.

It may be that the intent of the ordinances is to clamp down on
so-called "compassion clubs," where medical marijuana is dispensed to
patients. The legality of these operations is not spelled out in the
act approved by voters, creating a legal gray area that has yet to be
sorted out by the courts.

However, ACLU lawyers claim, the ordinances based in these three
cities - as well as similar ordinances in a growing number of other
cities - are so broadly written that they infringe on the clearly
defined rights of patients and caregivers.

News Hits agrees. We also think that this is a matter of concern for
more than people such as the Lotts. Because of this clearly
wrong-headed approach, municipalities in cash-strapped cities are
going to be wasting precious resources fighting this issue in court.
After all, in all three cities, voters overwhelmingly approved the
2008 ballot measure, so it is not like officials are trying to cater
to the desires of their constituents. Just the opposite.

If cities want to take a stand on dispensaries, then let them do so
directly. But let Linda and Robert Lott, and tens of thousands of
other people like them, grow and take their medicine without having
to live in any fear of being arrested.