Pubdate: Mon, 22 Oct 2012
Source: Kalamazoo Gazette (MI)
Copyright: 2012 Kalamazoo Gazette
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/vggfBDch
Website: http://www.mlive.com/kzgazette/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/588
Author: Emily Monacelli

PROPONENTS OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA CITY CHARTER PROPOSAL IN KALAMAZOO TO 
HOLD PUBLIC MEETING TUESDAY

KALAMAZOO, MI -- Proponents of a citizen-sponsored city charter
amendment to establish medical marijuana dispensaries in Kalamazoo
will participate in a public meeting about the measure Tuesday.

Kalamazoo Patients for Safe Access, a nonprofit committee of area
residents, is hosting the meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Van Deusen
room at the Kalamazoo Public Library, 315 S. Rose St.

The proposed amendment to Kalamazoo's city charter will appear on the
Nov. 6 ballot. The language states,"Shall the Kalamazoo City Charter
be amended such that three (3) medical cannabis dispensaries are
permitted within the city limits?"

Attorneys Daniel Grow and John Targowski, who helped author the
proposal's language, will participate in the meeting, along with Dr.
David Crocker, an interventional radiologist and owner of Michigan
Holistic Health, who practices in Kalamazoo and other West Michigan
cities.

"The meeting is an opportunity for members of the public to learn more
about the issues facing medical cannabis users, farmers and law
enforcement as Michigan enters its fifth year since the passage of the
2008 Michigan Medical Marihuana Law, which made Michigan the first and
so far only Midwestern state to allow the medical use of cannabis by
those with debilitating medical conditions," a press release from
Targowski states.

The proposal seeks to create a licensing system in Kalamazoo to
regulate medical marijuana dispensaries. Owners of dispensaries would
pay an annual $3,000 registration fee to the city of Kalamazoo.
Dispensaries would be located in "visible store-front locations in
appropriate commercial districts," according to the charter amendment
proposal. They would have to be at least 500 feet from pre-existing
public schools, private schools or other dispensaries.

The proposal was filed last year, but due to an error in the Kalamazoo
City Clerk's Office not all of the signatures were counted. Some of
the signatures were illegible and didn't seem to match names in the
city's registered voter list, City Clerk Scott Borling said at the
time. On further review, however, officials determined enough valid
signatures had been filed, but not in time to get it on the 2011 ballot.

Proposal 7 seeks to allow voters to clarify how and in what manner
medical marijuana users can get their medicine, Targowski's release
states. Its predecessor, a 2010 initiative that city voters passed by
more than 60 percent last year to make possession of a small amount of
marijuana the lowest priority for law enforcement, also was sponsored
by drug policy reformers.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt