Pubdate: Mon, 20 Dec 2010
Source: Birmingham-Bloomfield Eagle (MI)
Copyright: 2010 Birmingham-Bloomfield Eagle
Contact: http://www.candgnews.com/Letters-to-Editor.asp
Website: http://www.candgnews.com/Oakland.asp
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5229
Author: Erin McClary, C & G Staff Writer
Cited: Bloomfield Township http://www.bloomfieldtwp.org/Government/Trustees.htm
Referenced: Michigan Medical Marihuana Act http://drugsense.org/url/8mvr7sW8
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Bloomfield+Township
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Michigan+medical+marijuana
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/American+Civil+Liberties+Union

TOWNSHIP FACES LAWSUIT OVER MEDICAL MARIJUANA

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP - Bloomfield Township's recently enacted medical 
marijuana ordinances are under fire following a lawsuit filed in 
Oakland County Circuit Court that claims the laws conflict with the 
Michigan Medical Marijuana Act and violate the rights of Michigan patients.

Attorneys Neil Rockind of Southfield and Thomas Loeb of Farmington 
Hills filed claims against the township Dec. 14 on behalf of two 
patients living in the township who are affected by the new ordinances.

The lawsuit was filed as John Doe and Richard Roe vs. Bloomfield 
Township. Pseudonyms were used in lieu of the patients' real names to 
protect their privacy.

In October, Bloomfield Township adopted a set of ordinances that ban 
medical marijuana dispensaries and caregivers from setting up in the 
township. The law also prohibits the growth, cultivation and sale of 
medical marijuana anywhere in the township, and limits the amount of 
patients to two per residence. Patients are also required under the 
regulation to register with the Bloomfield Township Police Department.

Before the measures were approved, Bloomfield Township Police Capt. 
Steve Cook said he, Police Chief Kirt Bowden and Township Attorney 
Bill Hampton had come up with the set of rules they feel not only 
protects patients, but also residents, officers and fire personnel.

Cook had told the Board of Trustees that eliminating the transaction 
of money as it relates to the sale of medical marijuana could remove 
a certain element of crime from the situation; that eliminating 
growth could prevent fires from occurring from the misuse of grow 
lamps; and said having patients register with the township would 
allow their home to be flagged, in a sense, so officers would know 
medical marijuana patients live there in the event a call were to 
come in from a neighbor suggesting there was drug use taking place there.

The township ordinances do allow patients to have and use medical 
marijuana in their own homes, and permits patients to carry up to 2.5 
ounces into the township.

Rockind and Loeb's lawsuit addresses all aspects of the ordinances.

"The ordinance actually requires that township residents that are 
patients that, despite being otherwise lawfully authorized to use 
medical marijuana under state law, are required to register with the 
Township Police Department," said Rockind, adding that the notion 
contradicts patient privacy laws.

"They were promised they could use it confidentially - now they have 
to go down to the Police Department to fill out a form."

Another portion of the law he has a problem with is that only two 
registered patients can live together in a home. He said the law 
abolishes freedoms such as rooming with people who perhaps share like 
medical conditions.

"So if three cancer patients that happened to have met decide to make 
life a little easier and share some of life's expenses (and) move in 
together, Bloomfield Township would only allow two of them to be 
medical marijuana users," Rockind said. "Yet you could have 10 people 
living in a house - and, if the doctor prescribes, using Vicodin, 
Oxycontin and Xanax."

In 2008, Michigan voters approved the state's first law allowing 
patients to use medical marijuana to treat certain illnesses. Roughly 
60 percent of voters approved the law. The same percentage of 
Bloomfield Township voters also agreed to it at the time.

Since then, the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act has raised some 
concern for communities as to how it should be regulated while still 
honoring patients' rights, as medical marijuana is still illegal in 
the eyes of the federal government.

"I have found that the local police departments and local government 
by and large appear more interested in finding ways to undermine and 
limit the Medical Marijuana Act than they do try to protect their 
residents' rights to medicate as they chose," said Rockind.

Bloomfield Township Supervisor Dave Payne said the township has 
received the lawsuit and it's been referred to Hampton, the 
township's attorney.

"While we were in the process of developing the ordinance, we were 
very careful to consult with our attorney, Bill Hampton, to develop 
an ordinance that we believed met the requirements of the law," Payne 
said. "If someone wants to challenge that, they obviously have the 
right to do so."

The American Civil Liberties Union recently filed a lawsuit against 
the cities of Bloomfield Hills, Birmingham and Livonia, challenging 
ordinances city officials passed in each of the three cities that the 
ACLU claims violate the rights of medical marijuana users.

Although the three ordinances make no specific mention of medical 
marijuana, the ACLU argues that it is clear from meeting minutes that 
they were enacted to criminalize medical marijuana. By enacting a 
complete ban on all medical marijuana, the ACLU claims Birmingham and 
Bloomfield Hills are "flouting state law and ignoring federal drug policy."

Unlike many local officials struggling to interpret the law, Rockind 
says he thinks the state's Medical Marijuana Act is well written.

"The purpose of this law is to create a safe zone," he said, in that 
it protects everyone involved with medical marijuana - from its 
manufacturers and patients to the physicians that prescribe it.

"It creates this bubble around the whole medical marijuana 
community," Rockind continued. "I'm not worried about how the law is 
being interpreted by everyday citizens interested in finding ways to 
use marijuana for medical purposes. I'm much more concerned with the 
way local government and law enforcement are trying to limit it or 
render it obsolete."

The township has 21 days from the filing to respond.  
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake