MEDICAL MARIJUANA BUSINESSES PLAN TO FIGHT HOLLAND TOWNSHIP ACTIONS

Holland, MI -- The owners and operators of Patient Solutions 420 say
the township board had their business in its sights when it adopted a
licensing ordinance and zoning ordinance amendment Thursday evening
that bans dispensaries in the township.

Monica Bakker, a spokesperson for the medical marijuana dispensary,
said her company has been the target of the township board throughout
the months-long process that began last fall, but it plans to fire
back in an effort to have the ordinances nullified before they are
enacted.

Bakker said a law firm representing the dispensary will file a
Michigan Open Meetings Act violation charge against the township board
and its individual members in the 58th District Court.

"What we will be seeking in the complaint is to find that (the board
and members) violated the Open Meetings Act, and we will be asking the
court to enjoin what was adopted (Thursday) and invalidate it," said
Daniel Grow, an attorney with Targowski and Grow of Kalamazoo. "The
most glaring error, we allege, is when (the board) met after the March
3 meeting and had a second meeting, a private meeting."

Bakker, who has been attending township board and planning commission
meetings since the debate over regulating medical marijuana began last
fall, said she overheard several board members discussing medical
marijuana after the board meeting was adjourned on March 3. Bakker
said she was waiting for a ride in the foyer of the township offices,
out of sight of the board inside its meeting chambers, and claims
Township Supervisor Terry Nienhuis said to the other board members,
"So we have a consensus. We'll recommend that the planning commission
pass the ordinance to us. ... We have a consensus, right?"

Nienhuis said the board did not violate the Open Meetings
Act.

"We deny it every occurred, and that is pretty much how we are
responding right now," Nienhuis said. "We are always concerned when
accusations are made, but we are confident a violation did not occur."

Nienhuis said the board did not pass the ordinance and the amendment
on Thursday specifically to shut down either of the two dispensaries
operating in Holland Township. Both businesses will be illegal when
the ordinances go into effect 10 days after being published in the
local newspaper.

"That (accusation) was just way off the mark," he said. "We weren't
focused on any individual or facility. We were just focused on what we
wanted to do about this illegal substance and the distribution of
medical marijuana."

If the board members are found of intentionally violating the Open
Meetings Act, they could be fined up to $1,000 and put in jail for 90
days for a first offense. They can also be subject to personal
liability, up to $500 and court costs and actual attorney fees of the
person or group that brings suit.