Pubdate: Sun, 10 Oct 2010
Source: Jackson Citizen Patriot (MI)
Copyright: 2010 Jackson Citizen Patriot
Contact: http://www.mlive.com/mailforms/jacitpat/letters/index.ssf
Website: http://www.mlive.com/jackson/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1190
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Michigan+medical+marijuana
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?275 (Cannabis - Michigan)

WILL CALM PREVAIL ON CLOUDED ISSUE?

Considering all the beating of chests about Michigan's two-year-old 
medical marijuana law, it's encouraging to see that local government 
and police officials are handling this issue responsibly.

Police in some Michigan counties are trying to crack down on 
marijuana. Attorney general candidate Bill Schuette exaggerates on 
his website that "pot shops are literally sprouting up everywhere." 
An appeals court judge warns state residents to "avoid all use of 
marijuana if they do not wish to risk violating state law."

You would think the air in our fair state is being filled with toxic 
smoke. In reality, medical marijuana is making a small change in our 
state's landscape.

Fewer than 33,000 state residents have been approved to smoke 
doctor-prescribed weed. Relatively few businesses have tried to open 
as marijuana "dispensaries." And there has been no appreciable impact 
on crime as this law nears its second anniversary in November.

Truth is, state voters overwhelmingly supported medical marijuana in 
2008, but it has not been executed well. The law is vaguely written, 
with businesses maybe or maybe not being allowed to sell marijuana to 
patients at retail locations.

Not to minimize the perils of pot - it is an illegal drug for most 
people - but we do not see why some might worry much about where 
dispensaries are located. Pharmacies carry much more potent drugs 
like OxyContin and Vicodin, yet no one cries out if a CVS or 
Walgreens opens near an elementary school.

Confusion over the medical marijuana law will have to be clarified by 
the Legislature (which can change the law with a three-fourths vote) 
or by the courts. Until then, it falls to local government to handle 
marijuana dispensaries from a zoning perspective, and police to 
figure out who's breaking the law.

Summit Township was the first local government to be tested on this 
issue, and it has passed so far. Officials pushed a just-opened 
dispensary in Vandercook Lake to close while they review Summit's 
zoning rules. Jackson, meanwhile, is working on rules for where 
medical marijuana may be sold.

It is unfortunate that D & N Strains, the Vandercook Lake business, 
was affected, but it is hardly an impossible hardship. Potentially, 
Summit will clear the way for this dispensary to reopen somewhere, as 
long as it can be a good neighbor, like any business.

In the meantime, let's clear the air and stop the excess over this 
issue. Medical marijuana can relieve pain for people who are 
suffering from various maladies. It takes a doctor's blessing. It is 
not opening the door to legalized pot in Michigan, nor is it driving 
up the crime rate.

Michigan's residents spoke strongly in favor of this law. We 
encourage government at all levels to respect that sentiment, work to 
clear up any confusion and accept medical marijuana as a viable 
option to relieve pain. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake