MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP SUES TO SHUT DOWN MEDICAL-MARIJUANA GREATER
MICHIGAN COMPASSION CLUB

MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP -- Muskegon Township has filed a lawsuit seeking to
permanently shut down a busy medical-marijuana club two blocks from
township hall.

The township alleges that the Greater Michigan Compassion Club is a
tax-evading "sham" nonprofit that exists mainly to broker marijuana
sales, most of it to people with no debilitating medical condition, in
order to financially support the club's directors and staff.

As such, the township claims, the club is really a profit-making
"marijuana distribution business," in the words of township Supervisor
David A. Kieft Jr.

As a business, it requires a business license under township
ordinances, according to the township. The club has none and wouldn't
get one if it did apply, the lawsuit makes clear.

The club's quarters at 2116 E. Apple also violate the township's fire
code, endangering the lives of members, especially those who do have
truly debilitating disabilities, the township alleges.

The club's Executive Director Derek Antol and its attorney, Robert D.
Eklund, did not return calls seeking comment.

Court-ordered shutdown sought

The lawsuit was filed in Muskegon County's 14th Circuit Court
Wednesday after the township board authorized it earlier in the week.
The township is suing the club, Antol and other directors, staff and
members.

The township asks a judge to order immediate evacuation of the club
premises; declare the place a public nuisance; endorse the township's
interpretation of Michigan's medical marijuana law, which conflicts
with the club's; and impose financial penalties on the defendants,
including fines of $500 per day since April 1, court costs and lawyer
fees, until the club complies with township ordinances.

The club has until June 29 to file a legal response to the lawsuit,
according to township officials. If a settlement can't be worked out,
the township could ask a judge to issue an immediate order authorizing
police to remove everyone from the premises and padlock it.

'Bad idea, illegal, wrong location'

"It is our belief that the Greater Michigan Compassion Club is
operating a marijuana distribution business," Kieft said in a written
statement on behalf of the township. "Nothing in the current state
statute legitimizes any such notion of a dispensary or 'compassion'
gathering place.

"Rather, this is a location where armed guards supply the needed
security during all business hours to protect the narcotics and the
cash located on site," Kieft said. "This is obviously a concern for
law enforcement and everyone in the township.

"More importantly perhaps, is the protection of card-carrying patients
who smoke marijuana to help them overcome verifiable disabilities, and
their assemblage in a structure that is without proper exits in case
of fire, without handicapped access for those who qualify, and
adequate bathrooms for those in need," Kieft said.

"This is not only a bad idea, it is also illegal and in the wrong
location."

Township allegations

The bluntly worded lawsuit alleges, among other things:

The club operates a "certification mill," with a Cadillac-based
"captive physician" earning a fee for each applicant the doctor
certifies for a medical marijuana card, but no fee when an applicant
is rejected;

A multitude of people are being certified who don't have
"debilitating" medical conditions, as the law requires, and who then
join the club;

The club premises are used for members to sell marijuana to other
members at an average price of $325 per ounce, with the club getting a
20 percent fee on each sale, and many of the buyers later reselling it
illegally on the street;

The club's directors and staff are supported mainly by the proceeds
of the 20 percent fee, supplemented by direct sales of marijuana-laced
baked goods and pipes, bongs and other paraphernalia;

The club employees have failed to report at least some of their
income to the state and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, and the
club and its "caregivers" did not pay any sales taxes at all through
March 31.

The township's complaint also notes that Antol is a convicted drug
dealer who served prison time, something he's never concealed, and
that the club openly advocates legalization of marijuana for
recreational use, with its website featuring a playlist of
weed-promoting music.