Pubdate: Wed, 01 Aug 2012
Source: Grand Rapids Press (MI)
Copyright: 2012 Grand Rapids Press
Contact:  http://www.mlive.com/grand-rapids/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/171
Author: Barton Deiters

COURT OF APPEALS KNOCKS DOWN WYOMING MARIJUANA ORDINANCE

WYOMING, MI - Wyoming's ordinance regulating the use of marijuana has
been voided by the Michigan Court of Appeals in a decision released
this morning.

In reversing the decision of Kent County Circuit Court Judge Dennis
Leiber, the court agreed with attorney John Ter Beek that the city's
ordinance regulating marijuana goes against the will of state voters
who approved medical marijuana at the polls in 2008.

The initiative was passed by 63 percent of voters state-wide and by 59
percent of voters in the city of Wyoming.

Last year, City Council members said they plan to keep marijuana
growers out of Wyoming and would take the case to the State Supreme
Court, if necessary.

Council members initiated the ban, saying marijuana can be distributed
safely by pharmacists, not by licensed marijuana caregivers as
Michigan law allows.

TerBeek, who is a registered medical marijuana license holder, said
the ordinance regulates where the marijuana can be sold and, as it
turns out, there is nowhere in the city that qualifies. TerBeek filed
the lawsuit against the city where Leiber ruled in favor of the city.

TerBeek said Leiber acted less like a judge and more like a prosecutor
enforcing the city's ordinance.

"They have tried to cloak a marijuana ban in a city ordinance,"
TerBeek said today.

The three-judge appeals court panel ruled unanimously that the city
ordinance conflicts with the state's Medical Marijuana Act. It
rejected the city's argument that the state law contradicts a federal
ban on marijuana, which is listed as a class one controlled substance.

"The (federal drug law) provisions do not preempt the MMMA's grant of
immunity as found (the Medical Marijuana Act) because it is well
established that Congress cannot require the states to enforce federal
law," the court wrote. "Thus, while Congress can criminalize all uses
of medical marijuana, it cannot require the states to do the same.
Accordingly, Michigan is not required to criminalize all uses of
medical marijuana and the immunity afforded to the medical use of
marijuana by (state law)."
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MAP posted-by: Matt