[420 Girl]

Michigan - The Plan Commission has recommended that medical marijuana dispensaries be allowed but limited to the city’s general business district, which mostly consists of the Woodward corridor.

On March 9, the Plan Commission voted 6-1 to make the recommendation to the City Commission. The City Commission isn’t expected to take up the issue until April.

The Plan Commission is suggesting the city change the zoning ordinance to allow the dispensaries — where marijuana can be grown by approved caregivers and purchased by approved patients — under a special land use in the general business district only. The proposed ordinance would not prohibit patients from growing marijuana in their own home.

“This would not prohibit caregivers from visiting a patient and assisting them with their medical marijuana,” said Mayor Jim Ellison, who is also a member of the Plan Commission.

Under the medical marijuana law passed by Michigan voters in 2008, patients must obtain a card through the state to use medical marijuana, and they can either grow their own marijuana or get it from an approved caregiver. Caregivers can have up to five patients each.

Ellison said the new proposed ordinance would allow several caregivers to operate out of one storefront for multiple patients.

Police Chief Christopher Jahnke had advocated that the commission approve an alternate ordinance that would prohibit any type of business that violated local, state or federal law. While growing and selling marijuana for medical purposes in Michigan is now legal, it is still against federal law.

Instead, the Plan Commission went ahead with the proposal that has been before them since November. The general business district consists of the Woodward corridor, and a small pocket of parcels along Coolidge, north of 14 Mile Road.

Clyde Esbri, the only member of the commission to vote no on the recommendation, said he was doing so because the law is flawed, and direction should be coming from Lansing on how to best proceed with the issue.

“It should be controlled and regulated at the state level,” Esbri said.

Ellison said while direction from the state would be good, they needed to act on the issue now.

“We need to have more communities be proactive with this and push ahead with what voters told us they wanted to do,” Ellison said. “The more of us that do it, the sooner the state will react.”

Tom Hallock, chairman of the commission, said from a zoning standpoint, it is best to have an ordinance on the books before someone comes to them with a proposal for a dispensary.

“At some point someone will come to us and want to open a dispensary, and it will be much easier with this in hand,” he said.

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