RESIDENT OBJECTS TO CITY'S PROPOSED MEDICAL MARIJUANA RULES

For months Charlevoix city officials have been
working on amending its zoning ordinances to
regulate where medical marijuana caregivers operate.

After many public meetings and discussions, the
city of Charlevoix could take action to enact the
proposed ordinance amendment following a public
hearing set to take place during the city council
meeting on Monday, Jan. 16, at city hall.

So far there has been no public input on the proposal.

But that's all likely to change on Monday if Jason Staph=92s plans come
together.

Staph, a state-certified medical marijuana
patient and Charlevoix resident is organizing a
=93rally=94 of medical marijuana proponents to attend
the meeting and speak out against the proposed ordinance amendment.

Staph sat down with the Courier this week to
explain why he and others like him, are opposed
to the city's proposed zoning change.

He said as of Monday, he was expecting anywhere
from 50 to 75 people to show up for the meeting,
but he's not expecting loudspeakers, signs and
chanting at Monday's meeting. Instead he=92s simply
expecting =AD or hoping =AD people to show up and
voice their concerns about a proposal that Staph
and others like him say would infringe upon
rights guaranteed under the voter-approved
Michigan Medical Marijuana Act. Staph's first
argument that under the act, the proposed zoning
amendment is not enforceable, but beyond that he
contends the zoning rules are generally too restrictive.

In its current form, the proposed rules would
only permit certified medical marijuana
caregivers to produce medical marijuana for their
patients in residential zones of the city.

Staph said he agrees with that part of the
proposal =AD which is consistent with a Michigan
Court of Appeals ruling and his belief that the
act was not intended to authorize commercial medical marijuana operations.

Under the act, there are two types of people who
may be certified to grow, prepare or possess
limited quantities of the marijuana. Patients are
permitted to grow their own and certified
caregivers are allowed to grow, prepare and
possess medical marijuana for up to five patients
(and themselves, if they are also a certified patient.)

The proposed rules would not affect patients, only caregivers.

But beyond restricting caregiver operations to
residential areas, Staph says the ordinance goes
too far. He said the many buffer zones included
around churches, parks, schools, beaches, day
care facilities and other similar locations, make
the ordinance far to restrictive.

You'd have to hit the property lottery jackpot,=94
Staph said of a care provider being able to find
a parcel of property that is available within the
residential zones not affected by a buffer zone
restriction. A requirement that places a buffer
zone between care provider homes, would further
restrict available properties as soon as one or
two were registered with the city.

Staph said patients choose to get their medical
marijuana from a care provider instead of growing
themselves for many reasons. Besides a patient's
physical limitations, other reasons could include
factors such as, a patient who lives in an
apartment, or some other location not suitable
for growing the plants. He said a person may lack
the skill to successfully grow the plants =AD
especially to produce a medical grade of
marijuana. He also said that successful
cultivation of marijuana is often a very costly
endeavor requiring special lights and other
equipment to control ventilation, temperature and humidity.

Staph also noted that the ordinance could have
the opposite effect than its proponents desire.
He said if there are few (or no) places where
caregivers are allowed to produce marijuana, it
will force more patients to grow their own, which
is not regulated under the ordinance. The net
effect, he said, would be more, but smaller grow operations in the city.

City planner Michael Spencer, said until Staph
recently came to talk with him about his
concerns, the city had not received any public
input at any of the many public meetings or in
any other form. Staph said the reason no one has
come forward at meetings to this point is two-fold

He said most medical marijuana patients and
caregivers are very careful about who knows that
they have the drug. He said many fear not only
possible break-ins or robberies by those seeking
the drug for illicit use, but also being targeted
by police =AD the same reason many are hesitant to
speak out in public about the ordinance.

Staph said although he disagrees with much of the
proposed ordinance, he also shares the same
concerns as many do about safety and security
surrounding medical marijuana growing operations.
He said requirements =AD or at least guidelines
about proper equipment usage and electrical wiring are very important.

Staph said he'd like to see the city to simply
abandon the proposed rules altogether. Second to
that option, he'd like to see the city eliminate
the buffer zone and registration requirements and
simply allow caregiver operations only in residential zones.

(Passing the proposed rules) is going to make
(the city council) look like fools. And that's
not what the city council is or their goal.
They've amped this thing up because they don=92t
understand.=94 They are worried about a problem
that isn't a problem. (People who grow medical
marijuana) are already here and it isn't a problem.=94

Spencer said at Monday's meeting the city council
could table the ordinance for further study, make
minor revisions and vote on it, or send it back
to the planning commission if it deems major
revisions are needed or it could abandon the
measure altogether. In September, the council
added another six months to its existing
moratorium on medical marijuana caregiver operations in the city.