Pubdate: Sat, 03 Sep 2011 Source: Morning Sun (Mt. Pleasant, MI) Copyright: 2011 Morning Sun Contact: http://www.themorningsun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3938 Author: Mark Ranzenberger, The Morning Sun UNION TOWNSHIP MEDICAL MARIJUANA ZONING, LICENSING LAW LIKELY TO REMAIN USEFUL Union Township's new laws regulating the location and operation of medical marijuana-related businesses might appear to be in limbo after the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled against a Mt. Pleasant dispensary. "We were proactive on this," said Planning Commission Chairman Phil Squattrito. "We hope that this wasn't for naught." But a close reading of the ruling that against Mt. Pleasant's CA dispensary, formerly called the Compassionate Apothecary, would appear to indicate that the panel rejected only one method of getting medical marijuana to registered medical marijuana patients. "It did not say that there's not a model out there that would work," said township Zoning Administrator Woody Woodruff. The township adopted laws earlier this summer that allow medical marijuana dispensaries - no matter how they operate - to locate only in commercial zones. It also sets minimum distances between dispensaries and uses such as parks, churches and schools. The laws also restrict growing operations to industrial zones. The township also would issue licenses for dispensaries and growing operations, licenses issued with an eye toward ensuring they operated safely. Woodruff said he's not aware of litigation involving growing operations, but he's reasonably confident that some operator of a growing operation will end up in court somewhere. "The only cases I'm aware of involve patients themselves," Woodruff said. The Michigan Medical Marihuana Act permits registered patients or licensed caregivers to grow up to 12 marijuana plants without facing prosecution. Caregivers each may have up to five patients, and may grow for themselves if they also are registered as patients. That could mean as many as 72 plants at various stages of growth. Township planners envisioned the desire for someone who wanted to grow medical marijuana for themselves and a number of patients to move the operation out of their homes. Growers might want to share an industrial building, for example, with adequate wiring for grow lights and water supply for the plants. The most recent case involving a grower was a Montmorency County man who was growing marijuana before receiving his patient card. The court of appeals ruled he couldn't do that, and narcotics police were within their rights to arrest him, even though he had the card by the time he got busted. Woodruff said he had had three "serious inquiries" about dispensaries before the township adopted its laws. One dispensary actually opened briefly, but it shut down after the township determined it was operating in the wrong zone and without a license. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.