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CITY COUNCIL HOLDS OFF ON POT DECISION

The East Lansing City Council listened to public opinion regarding medical marijuana distribution at its Tuesday meeting, 410 Abbot Road, and voted to postpone a decision on the matter to its March 15 meeting by issuing another 90-day moratorium.

Council members officially rejected two of the proposed ordinances before council, one of which called for all medical marijuana operation to take place inside the home and another that bans commercial medical marijuana operations entirely.

The other proposed ordinance before council, which would allow for the operation of medical marijuana dispensaries in primarily office districts, is supported by some council members.  However, there was a general consensus among council to look at the ordinance and make amendments before making any final decisions.

Councilmember Nathan Triplett said rejecting two of the ordinances would help the community focus on a workable ordinance but said he thought further discussion, clarification and amendments to the final proposed ordinance before council were necessary.

"The time has come at least to begin narrowing our options," Triplett said.

Several East Lansing residents came before council to express their opinions on how council should proceed with regulations on medical marijuana.

East Lansing resident Ralph Monsma said he and other members of his neighborhood were in support of extending the moratorium because it would allow time for further clarification on some of the unclear aspects of the proposed ordinance.  He said privacy of patients and safety of residents and of public officials should be issues considered in council's discussions.

"This is a medical issue, and there's privacy involved in it," Monsma said.  "Maybe that's something that could be worked on."

Other community members were in favor of passing the proposed ordinance allowing medical marijuana dispensaries but had qualms about only allowing them in primarily office districts.

Levi Fishman, an East Lansing resident, said he thought the proposed ordinance should be instated but should be improved upon by allowing dispensaries in more zoning areas.

He said the boundaries currently instated in the ordinance were restrictive to patients who might not have adequate access to the areas in mind and also to potential dispensary owners who might not be able to acquire space in those areas.

"There's a lack of accessible handicapped areas ( in some office districts ), and I don't think that anyone is going to be freely given space," Fishman said.

Councilmember Roger Peters said he believed withholding further decisions on the issue would help the council make a decision workable with the interests of the entire community in mind.

"As this process continues to go forward, I'm hopeful we can develop a version of ( the proposed ordinance ) that can meet the needs of both interest groups," Peters said.

The council unanimously moved to defer further consideration of the ordinance.

Triplett said there is a possibility of a lift of the moratorium before its conclusion should a decision be made at that time.