Lansing City Council May Shut Down Every Dispenserary On July 8Th

[newonions]

more crap

 

http://wlns.com/2016/06/10/progress-on-lansing-marijuana-ordinance-stalls-lansing-city-officials-consider-closing-dispensaries/

 

i hate hearing stupid crap like this, i am planning a protest at Lansing city council the day they make the final decision,

 

does anybody want to join me?  i want our voices heard.

 

my twitter is @oldoceans if you wanted to contact me regarding a planned protest or forum pm me, dont matter

 

 

meeting is at 3:30 p.m. June 24 in council's chambers on the 10th floor of City

Edited June 22, 2016 by newonions

[+Malamute]

They were trying to mess with patients and caregivers.  The dispensaries and the council.

 

Seems they may quit going after patients and caregivers, but shut down dispensaries.

 

*shrug*

[suneday11]

Keep on 'em! I'm all for people having the choice between a dispensary and a caregiver, but not at the cost of losing rights enumerated in the mmma. The line is drawn when the dispensary lobby is convincing city councils that they are legal and safer than these caregivers that are giving up their lives to help people.

 

Contact

Lansing City Council

124 W Michigan Ave.

10th Floor City Hall

Lansing , MI 48933

Ph: 517-483-4177

Fax: 517-483-7630

council@lansingmi.gov

 

Sounds like they are starting to get it, but give 'em a ring and ask what section of the mmma clearly authorizes dispensaries.

[imiubu]

So, the safety board has 1 more chance to draft acceptable / enforceable policy prior to July 8th?

 

When is the next safety meeting?

[newonions]

So, the safety board has 1 more chance to draft acceptable / enforceable policy prior to July 8th?

 

When is the next safety meeting?

3:30 p.m. June 24 in council's chambers on the 10th floor of City

[Budz-4-U]

I like the G3C Farmers Market business model. 

[zachw]

In the meantime, dispensary growth on 8 Mile Rd shows no sign of abating. Quite amazing how many dispensaries have popped up over the last year, and some have obviously put a lot of money into their property.

[imiubu]

I like the G3C Farmers Market business model. 

I prefer this model also.

[solabeirtan]

...perhaps a little more like a co-op, aspiring to a couple of their underlying principles. ( 1 & 7  of  7 or just less than 29% of a true Co-op )

Edited June 23, 2016 by solabeirtan

[pergamum362]

I have not been to the green stretch in awhile, but i know a handful have closed up over by me, and as far as i can tell there are only two that meet the zoning restrictions, i dont think they have started enforcement as of yet.

Edited June 24, 2016 by pergamum362

[+Malamute]

Lansing's marijuana issues far from over

 

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2016/06/23/lansing-marijuana-ordinance/86231598/

 

 

Jim Smiertka, appointed by Mayor Virg Bernero as city attorney, is expected to be confirmed next week. Smiertka said he's ready to study "all aspects" of a proposed city marijuana ordinance.

 

LANSING -- An attorney expected to be confirmed Monday night by City Council said this week he's prepared to study the city's proposed marijuana ordinance and could advise Mayor Virg Bernero and council members that an "interdisciplinary team" is needed to make sure an ordinance is fair and legal.

 

Jim Smiertka, appointed this month by Bernero as city attorney, told the Lansing State Journal the city's proposed marijuana ordinance is at the top of his "critical needs list" and will require him to look at every aspect of a matter that's constantly evolved since a state law was created in 2008. Smiertka suggests that a team composed of experts in planning, zoning, regulatory matters and public safety could be needed to get an ordinance ready for a vote among council members.

 

"I don't want to say it's a complicated issue, but there are so many twists and turns with the issue that it's going to be looked at in totality," Smiertka said.

 

Council's Committee on Public Safety and the City Attorney's Office, under Interim City Attorney F. Joseph Abood, have created two drafts of a proposed marijuana ordinance that covers regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries for owners and registered patients. There are also proposed standards for caregivers and patients who are growing marijuana.

 

But the ordinance, in its current form, doesn't appear ready for consideration by council because of several challenges brought up by owners, patients and caregivers. Work  on an ordinance comes at a time when Lansing has a moratorium on the opening of new dispensaries. The moratorium went into effect May 12 and is backed by the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce.

 

 

City officials haven't been able to confirm how many dispensaries operate in the city because owners don't have to register them. Council members, including At-Large Member Carol Wood, and several residents who have voiced their opinions at public meetings estimate there are at least 60 currently open.

 

Wood said Thursday she is willing to give Smiertka time to study the proposed ordinance, but would like to get a full report from his office about it by the Committee on Public Safety's July 22 meeting. If Wood doesn't get it, she is expected to push for the closing of all dispensaries. The 3:30 p.m. meeting on the 10th floor of City Hall will be open to the public.

 

"This is somebody that’s familiar with municipal law," Wood said of Smiertka's credentials. "Do I expect it to take months? No, I don’t. I expect to have something meaningful to us in a very short period of time."

 

Smiertka said it shouldn't take "a lot of time" for him to get a handle on the direction the city should go with a proposed marijuana ordinance. He doesn't lack experience with legislative matters at the local level.

 

Smiertka served as city attorney under former Lansing mayors Tony Benavides and David Hollister and most recently served as senior vice president and general counsel of the Prima Civitas Foundation. He was legal counsel and an adviser to the Interstate 69 International Trade Corridor. He also served as a senior policy executive in the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth.

 

Smiertka acknowledged that a challenge for Lansing and other Michigan municipalities to navigate around is Michigan's Medical Marihuana Act of 2008. The act allows use of marijuana for medical reasons by persons who have been authorized by a physician to hold a state-issued medical marijuana card. It also allows patients and caregivers to cultivate marijuana plants. But the original law did not mention dispensaries, leading to a confusing array of legal rulings.

 

Lansing’s City Attorney's Office informed City Council in 2011 that any centers in the city would operate at their own peril.

"I hope that (city officials) trust when they get an answer (about a proposed ordinance) it's the best that I give them," Smiertka said.

 

Abood, the interim city attorney, said earlier this month that Wood's proposal to close all dispensaries in the city was an option, but made it clear in a June 10 Committee on Public Safety meeting that his off and still will do its best to create a third draft of the ordinance by July 8. It likely will be based on ordinances that have been passed by Detroit and Ann Arbor officials.

 

Lansing officials don't have a specific plan they would follow if they did seek to close medical marijuana dispensaries. Abood said he doesn't know if closing dispensaries would be the best option if an ordinance isn't created because he doesn't want to scare medical marijuana patients, caregivers and dispensary owners who attempt to follow the law.

 

Jackson resident Jeremy Hall, a minister for a Lansing church called the First Cannabis Church of Logic and Reason, supports what he calls "a timed moratorium" on Lansing dispensaries that would put a 12-month pause on the opening of new dispensaries.

 

"I hate the word 'regulation,' but there isn't really oversight to make sure people are getting what they paid for and what they need," Hall said.

 

Hall is a medical marijuana cardholder who grows up to 36 plants in his home. He's also a caregiver for his wife, who has lupus, and his wife's friend with fibromyalgia. State law allows patients to have up to 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana. If they have not specified a caregiver who provides the marijuana, they can also grow up to 12 plants kept in "an enclosed, locked facility.

 

Hall said he spends about $800 a month on his grow operation that includes a hefty electric bill and safeguards to eliminate odor in and out side his home. His wife uses up to two ounces of marijuana a month. The home operation is cheaper  because most Lansing dispensaries charge about $360 an ounce, he said.

 

"Take time to evaluate," Hall said of a proposed Lansing ordinance. "To just do some blanket ordinance, I kind of feel it's not in the best interests of everyone because it gives control to the government."

 

Tim Daman, the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce's president and CEO, said this week he would like to see an ordinance that addresses specifically how dispensaries are zoned and where they are allowed to locate. Daman stressed in an editorial board meeting with the LSJ that other communities like Detroit, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor and Muskegon already have "common sense" zoning regulations that Lansing could follow.

 

"The voters approved (medical marijuana) in 2008, and we're certainly not saying the (state) law needs to be repealed," Daman said of the chamber's stance. "But certainly there's a lot of grey area. The state has some responsibility, too."

 

If passed, Lansing's medical marijuana ordinance could require all dispensaries to obtain a license from the city that would be renewed annually. It's unclear what the fee could be and how the City Clerk's Office would handle licensing.

 

Lansing's ordinance in its current form defines a medical marijuana "facility" as "a commercial business having a separate or independent postal address where medical marihuana is cultivated and also may be provided." The marihuana spelling mirrors what was used in the state law approved by voters.

 

The proposed Lansing ordinance defines marijuana dispensaries as "provisioning centers." A provisioning center, according to the ordinance's second draft, is defined as "a location where one or more primary caregivers store and distribute medical marihuana out of a building or structure."

[t-pain]

gotta "navigate" around the mmma. thats the ticket. do an end run around it

[imiubu]

Carol Wood... I keep trying to vote her out... for years now.

[+Malamute]

Keep trying!

[imiubu]

She lives about 3 blocks from me and I see her quite often in the neighborhood, chat w/ her on occasion. 

I wonder if I should just knock on her door one evening and have a nice heart to heart from a patients perspective. 

hmm  

 

 

Is the safety meeting still on for this afternoon then? 

I need to get out of a previous obligation to attend, if it is.

 

Thx

[Hayduke]

No meeting until early to mid July