QUESTIONS FORCE SAUGATUCK TOWNSHIP DELAY IN MEDICAL MARIJUANA DECISION

Saugatuck Township - Saugatuck Township put off a decision Wednesday
night on regulating where medical marijuana can be sold. The board
extended its three-month moratorium by 30 more days while waiting to
hear from its attorney.

"I can't vote on this when I don't have the answers," said Trustee
Jane Wright.

An attorney for one of the dispensaries in the township called the
decision a "prudent move."

The planning commission recommended the ordinance that allows the sale
of the drug from homes, not from commercial districts or traditional
storefronts.

The township board must approve the ordinance before it can go into
effect.

Some board members questioned why the rule was necessary after a court
of appeals decision last month that said the 2008 medical marijuana
law, as well as the state's public health code, does not allow people
to sell marijuana to each other.

The planning commission approved the proposed ordinance before the
court decision.

The court's ruling was specific to one type of dispensary, not all,
according to planning commission Chairman Larry Edris.

"Based on this one decision, you can't say all dispensaries are
illegal," he said.

Trustee Chris Roerig said he would not want to live next to a
home-based medical marijuana operation because of the traffic and
potential for crime.

Township resident Judith Schneider told the board the facilities need
to be in a commercial area, not someone's home.

Board members were also unclear on what would happen to dispensaries
operating in the township if the proposed rules were approved.

Both Good Intentions Paving Co., 3219 Blue Star Highway, and The Great
Turtle Emporium, 3383 Blue Star Highway, opened before the June 1
moratorium began.

"It was a prudent move with the unanswered questions," said attorney
John Targowski about the delayed decision. He represents Tammy Jacobi,
owner of Good Intentions Paving Co.

Jacobi is not operating the same way as the facility in the court
case, said Targowski. Compassionate Apothecary, known as CA, in Mount
Pleasant, was operating on a patient-to-patient transfer of medical
marijuana.

Jacobi, a registered caregiver, is transferring the drug to patients,
Targowski said, and the court of appeals did not rule on that
arrangement.