PETITION FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA BALLOT MEASURE IN KALAMAZOO FALLS SHORT
OF NEEDED SIGNATURES

KALAMAZOO -- Organizers were 73 valid signatures short of the requisite
number needed to put a medical marijuana dispensary ballot measure
before Kalamazo voters in November, according to a news release from
Kalamazoo City Clerk Scott Borling.

Kalamazoo Coalition for Compassionate Care can collect more signatures
for a ballot question next year, the clerk said.

But a Michigan Court of Appeals decision released Wednesday may have
dealt the coalition's mission to get the issue before city voters an
even greater blow.

The court has deemed that dispensaries doing patient-to-patient sales
are illegal based on the Michigan Medical Marihauna Act approved by
voters statewide in 2008. It legalized the use of medical marijuana
but did not allow for sales between patients, the court said.

The coalition, led by Kalamazoo resident Chris Chiles, hoped to get
this question before city voters: "Shall the Kalamazoo City Charter be
amended to such that three (3) medical cannabis dispensaries are
permitted within the city limits?"

But after reviewing the signatures the coalition submitted, city clerk
officials determined the 2,494 were valid. But they needed 2,567, or 5
percent of the registered voters at the time of filing.

The coalition can submit more signatures to achieve the number needed
and Chiles said they plan to do so.

But the next opportunity to put it before voters won't be until the
November general election in 2012, according to Borling.

Chiles said the court of appeals opinion "could face some challenges
in the future" and declined to comment on what it means for his own
medical marijuana business in Portage.

He said the Kalamazoo City Commissioners could take the initiative and
put the matter before voters themselves.