Pubdate: Fri, 22 Aug 2014
Source: Newark Advocate, The (OH)
Copyright: 2014 The Advocate
Contact: http://www.newarkadvocate.com/customerservice/contactus.html
Website: http://www.newarkadvocate.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2634
Author: Charles A. Peterson

GRANVILLE PROPOSAL WOULD ELIMINATE MEDICAL MARIJUANA

GRANVILLE - The Granville Village Council is considering changes to
the village code that would stiffen language that now appears to allow
medical use of marijuana.

If the proposal is adopted, it would align the language more with the
Ohio Revised Code, which disallows use of marijuana for medical
purposes. It also would make driver's license suspensions connected
with marijuana offenses mandatory rather than discretionary.

A public hearing will be conducted Sept. 3 for Ordinance No. 12-2014,
which was introduced by the council Wednesday night.

Village Law Director Michael King explained the two aspects to the
proposed modifications.

"One change is eliminating the affirmative defense for possession of
medical marijuana," he said. "That's because state law prohibits it.
It is my opinion that section is superseded by the Ohio Revised Code.

"The other change is making the driver's license suspension mandatory
rather than discretionary because in the revised code a court has no
choice than to impose a driver's license suspension of between six
months and five years. As the Granville code is currently drafted,
that is a discretionary suspension."

King said the proposal replaces the word "may" with "shall" in seven
sections of the ordinance to make the Granville law consistent with
state law.

King said the language in "Part Five: General Offenses Code" of the 
village ordinances will not change. It states under "513.03 Drug 
Abuse; Controlled Substance Possession or Use" that the ordinance 
does not apply to: "Any person who obtained the controlled substance 
pursuant to a lawful prescription issued by a licensed health 
professional authorized to prescribe drugs."

King said marijuana is a "controlled substance" in the eyes of the
state along with drugs such as heroin or cocaine, which means it is
illegal to sell, use or possess.

"There are some controlled substances that can be prescribed by a
doctor," King said, such as the pain reliever Vicodin, "and some that
can't," such as marijuana.

Deleted entirely from the Granville code would be Section 513.03(d),
added in 1996, which reads: "It is an affirmative defense to a charge
of possessing marihuana (sic) under this section that the offender,
pursuant to the prior written recommendation of a licensed physician,
possessed the marihuana solely for medicinal purposes."

The medical marijuana language was discovered in the village code by
Granville resident Dennis Cauchon, a former USA Today reporter who was
working on an as yet unpublished freelance story on Ohio marijuana
laws.

In a letter to The Granville Sentinel two weeks ago, Cauchon was
critical of the idea of modifying or eliminating the language, stating
the issue should go onto an election ballot.

Village officials in 1996 did not recall the language being added to
the ordinance code, which had been done through a subscription service
that helps local municipalities update their laws to reflect changes
in state law.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D