MARIJUANA DEBATE CONTINUES IN SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN

BUCHANAN – The medical marijuana debate continues in Southwest Michigan as the date draws near for when businesses can apply for medical marijuana facilities licenses. The state has said they will start accepting applications Dec. 15 and experts say the first licenses will likely be issued next spring.

Two south county communities are taking different approaches to the medical marijuana issue. Buchanan City Commissioners have voted to allow a medical marijuana dispensary in the city’s downtown area while Niles City Council members have rule out allowing such a facility in the Niles downtown.

Niles officials based their decision to keep any medical marijuana related dispensary on a section of the Michigan Public Health Code that states that no controlled substance such as marijuana can be delivered to a person within 1,000 feet of school property or a library. Most parts of the Niles downtown are within that distance of the Niles library.

Buchanan officials have taken a different view. They’ve said that the rule on dispensaries not being within 1,000 feet of a library or school doesn’t apply to the new medical marijuana facilities laws. They say that businesses that are granted a license under the new laws are not subject to the penalties listed in the Public Health Code.

Buchanan city commissioners approved a new zoning ordinance at their meeting Nov. 13 that allows dispensaries, growing and other types of facilities not only in the downtown but also in as well as the commercial, light industrial and heavy industrial zoning districts including along East Front Street.

Niles council members voted earlier this month to “opt in” to the new state medical marijuana facilities laws. They were scheduled to vote this week to approve a new zoning ordinance which allows medical marijuana facilities in industrially zoned areas as well as on the South 11^th Street corridor. The city is already accepting proposals from potential vendors.

Meanwhile, the village of Eau Claire already has everything in place to welcome medical marijuana businesses and Galien Township and the city of Benton Harbor are working on their new zoning ordinances. The Galien Township Board is set to meet Dec. 6 to discuss a proposed new ordinance.

One area community has changed its mind about participating in the new state medical marijuana facilities laws. Milton Township in southern Cass County near Niles voted earlier this fall to allow such facilities in the township but the township board reversed itself last week after Cass County officials voiced concerns.

Buchanan’s plans to welcome medical marijuana dispensaries and other businesses including growers in the city could be derailed if a citizen’s petition drive is successful.

The city’s Election Commission met Nov. 13 to give resident Cindy Benson the go-ahead to collect signatures on her petition to stop the city from allowing any medical marijuana facilities in the city. If she can collect 815 valid signatures by mid-December, the issue could be decided by a public referendum next May.

Benson said that while her petition would throw out the city commission’s action in July to “opt in” to the state’s new medical marijuana facilities laws, she’s primarily opposed to allowing medical marijuana dispensaries to be in the downtown business district.

“My issue is the downtown and I don’t want them near schools or residential areas,” she said. “Now the citizens can have their say. If my petition passes, there won’t be any facilities anywhere.”

If Benson is successful in gathering enough signatures to get the issue on the ballot next year, City Manager William Marx said that it would freeze both the “opt in” ordinance the city approved in the summer and the zoning ordinance amendments approved Nov. 13 until the public vote.

The debate at the Nov. 13 Buchanan City Commission meeting encapsulated where the debate is in many communities around the state.

Benson was one of a handful of residents who asked the city commission to keep a medical marijuana dispensary out of the downtown area and to let people vote on the issue. “We have a plethora of places where they can go elsewhere, we don’t need it in the downtown area,” she said.

Other residents also supported the idea of putting the issue to a public vote, saying that there are other ways to fill vacant downtown buildings and don’t want to raise their family in a community that allows medical marijuana facilities downtown. At least one person even mentioned the possibility of recalling city commissioners who voted to approve it.

Others spoke in favor of allowing such facilities downtown. Tom Wright, Jr., a medical marijuana consultant whose family is proposing ventures in both Buchanan and Eau Claire, doesn’t see a problem with having a facility downtown. Neither did antique shop owner Dean Ulrich who said it would help preserve the downtown historic district.

People also spoke about the value of medical marijuana to those suffering chronic pain. Jennifer Parsons said she’s a medical marijuana user and doesn’t want to have to travel to Grand Rapids to visit a medical marijuana dispensary.

City commissioners ended up voting 4-1 with Patricia Moore voting no to approve the zoning ordinance amendments allowing a medical marijuana dispensary in the central business district and other facilities in the commercial, light industrial and heavy industrial districts.