by Rick Thompson/February 26, 2017
A roundup of local news stories about Michigan communities struggling to decide how to handle the new opportunities and responsibilities levied by the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act.
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Buchanan
However, many residents Thursday voiced concerns about Wallace’s proposed site — which is in a largely residential area and surrounded by three churches — even if they acknowledged they had no objections to the use of medical marijuana in general.
“I’m not against medical marijuana itself, but I am against the location,” said Phyllis Taylor, echoing a half-dozen others who spoke.
Upper Peninsula
http://www.dailypress.net/news/local-news/2017/02/casperson-talks-issues-at-meeting/
Other issues discussed by Casperson and local government officials during the meeting included potential changes to Michigan’s medical marijuana laws…
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From Barry County:
Cannabis confusion: Officials hope to clear up new state law
Barry County is trying to get out ahead of it and educate its citizens on what this means for them, their businesses, their families and for people in need of medical marijuana.
Jerry Greenfield, a businessman who lives in Rutland Township, is looking for a new venture: a dispensary.
“The supervisor told me if I sit down and worked with him it would be a 100 percent ‘go,'” Greenfield said.
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Berrien County:
A variety of medical marijuana-related businesses could soon be in Southwest Michigan in light of a new state law.
And three such businesses are eyeing southern Berrien County.
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From Nevada, a reminder of what the legal and medical marijuana programs look like in other states.
https://lasvegassun.com/news/2017/feb/15/state-official-doesnt-think-recreational-pot-will/
An initiative petition approved by voters imposes a 15 percent tax on recreational marijuana. Gov. Brian Sandoval wants a 10 percent excise tax levied on the sales.
The tax imposed on medical marijuana, meanwhile, is 2 percent on the cultivator, 2 percent on the producer and 2 percent on sales.
Pollock told a Senate-Assembly subcommittee today that Colorado saw an increase in the number of people entering the medical program after it opened the door for recreational use.
There are 25,358 medical marijuana cardholders in Nevada.
Assemblywoman Robin Titus, R-Wellington, said she doesn’t understand why there is a sales tax on medical marijuana. Titus, a doctor, said there is no sales tax on other prescription drugs.
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Battle Creek
“The court finds that the state has not met its burden of proof,” Liine wrote in his four-page opinion. “There is no direct evidence by exhibit or testimony that connects Brett Mumy to these charges. This court finds that assumptions do not give rise to probable cause. Maybe does not give rise to probably.”
Later, Line said the charges against Howland “are more remote in the connection with the events than defendant Mumy.”
Bruce Leach of Birmingham was one of the attorneys representing the defendants.
“It’s a great day for justice,” Leach said. “It has been a long time coming. It is an exciting day in the medical marijuana area.”
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Adrian
Mayor Jim Berryman said he first thought Adrian may be too conservative for these type of facilities, but that thinking changed after looking at the 2008 voting results when medical marijuana was approved statewide. In Adrian, he said, it was overwhelmingly approved in each precinct.
“This gave me a second look,” he said.
Commissioner John Dudas said knowing how the community voted was important.
Commissioner Jeff Rising said the city should take a serious look at allowing it, considering it’s legal and the state has set new licensing regulations.
“Why not?” Rising said.
Commissioner Lad Strayer agreed and said it’s their job to find new revenue sources and this might be one. Strayer said medical marijuana appears to be a growing industry in Michigan.
http://www.lenconnect.com/news/20170214/adrian-twp-board-mulls-fate-of-medical-marijuana-facilities
The Adrian Township Board didn’t make any decisions on medical marijuana facilities Monday, but it does appear to be leaning against them.
Township Supervisor Jim Koehn introduced the idea at Monday’s board meeting. He asked the board to take a stand on the issue, either for or against allowing medical marijuana facilities into the township, in light of the new legislative regulations on how marijuana legally can be grown and distributed for medical purposes within the state of Michigan.
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THC AND DRIVING
http://landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=32825#.WKW-ivkrKUk
A one-year pilot program in Michigan that will allow specifically trained officers to give roadside saliva tests to drivers suspected of being under the influence of such drugs as marijuana, cocaine and heroin remains on hold.
The legislation took effect in Michigan in September 2016, but Shanon Banner, a spokeswoman for the Michigan State Police, said it still hadn’t been determined in which five counties the pilot program will take place. Previously, the Michigan State Police had said it planned to have the program in place by sometime in the fall of 2016.
“There’s no update on this pilot at this time,” Banner wrote in an email on Monday, Feb. 13. “We’re still looking to finalize the five counties where the pilot will take place, evaluate and choose a testing instrument, and develop policies, procedures and training.”
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Lansing
“You don’t punish every single person in the program because you have a handful of people doing things poorly,” said T.J. Doyle, a 41-year-old state-licensed caregiver and patient. “The city didn’t have to get draconian with it.”
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Galien Township
O’Donnell’s attorney, Dan Grow of St. Joseph, said his client wants to be able to expand what she is currently doing in light of the new laws. He called it a “very exciting time” for both people like his client and local governments trying to decide how to proceed.
Grow noted that it will be up to local municipalities to decide how they want to move forward. The state has left it up to cities, villages and townships to control what if anything they will add to their zoning ordinances to accommodate new medical marijuana facilities.
“I expect people will be talking about this for most of the year,” he said.
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COLDWATER TOWNSHIP
http://www.thedailyreporter.com/news/20170211/coldwater-township-considers-marijuana-dispensary-act
The 654 people in Branch County with valid Michigan Medical Marijuana cardS may have a dispensary in the county when the 2016 passed legislation goes into effect, pending finalization of licensing procedures.
Coldwater Township Supervisor Don Rogers asked his board to look into a township ordinance under the law to license grow operations and dispensaries…
“We want the control,” Rogers said. “We want to say where they can locate, when they operate, and how many. Then there is the revenue, up to $5,000 per year per license.”
Townships and municipalities also receive 25 percent of the three state marijuana taxes on all legal transactions.
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Macomb County
http://www.macombdaily.com/article/MD/20170206/NEWS/170209807
A sampling of other counties shows:
• Oakland County had 661 registered patients in 2011 and 24,416 in 2016.
• Wayne County had 4,191 registered patients in 2011 and 34,941 in 2016.
In more rural outstate areas, the growth in medical marijuana patients has mostly been slower, but not always:
• Clare County had 825 registered patients in 2011 and 931 in 2016.
• Gratiot County had 738 patients in 2011 and 978 in 2016.
• Isabella County had 148 registered patients in 2011 and 1,113 in 2016.
The new regulations may also be a chance for municipalities, some of which have shunned medical marijuana, to capitalize on taxes and fees from allowing the businesses.
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Berrien Springs/Benton Harbor/Buchanan
Medical marijuana has been a hot topic in Michigan ever since a state law was signed in December 2016 to allow for retail dispensaries. Since then one Berrien County town has rejected it, and the decision is up in the air for two more…
The state can’t force a city to opt-in so it’s up to locals to make the final call…
Tuesday night Benton Harbor City Commissioners shot down a plan to prevent dispensaries from opening there.
Buchanan City Officials plan to make a decision by the end of the month, but they technically have until Dec. 15, 2017 to make the final call because that’s when the act takes place.
Berrien Springs Village Council voted against the Medical Marijuana Facilities Act Monday.
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Oakland County
Rick Colon, at OG Smokes & Accessories in Waterford, thinks the new laws may expand medical marijuana businesses.
“Possibly, if Waterford lifted its moratorium and Oakland County wasn’t beating down on everything,” he said. “People are going to have to rely on dispensaries.”
The new regulations may also be a chance for municipalities, some of which have shunned medical marijuana, to capitalize on taxes and fees from allowing the businesses.
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Belding
http://thedailynews.cc/2017/02/23/belding-city-council-considers-medical-marijuana/
Local business owner Sam Mason said he would like to see Belding lead by example “for once” and to move forward with opting in to allowing those licenses within the city.
John Sparks, a city resident and member of the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals and the Planning Commission, said he is a registered patient under the MMMA and he hopes to see the city opt in. He said if the city were to opt out of granting licenses, it won’t change the presence of legal medical marijuana within Belding. He noted that government oversight assures the medical marijuana that’s purchased and consumed is safe.
Carl French of Belding told the City Council to “do what’s right for the people” and opt into the licensing.
“I hope you consider it with the knowledge that it does help people who are out there struggling,” he said.
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Niles
Nearly 200 people flooded into the Niles Fire Station Complex Thursday night for a forum about the potential of having medical marijuana businesses in the city.
Three people spoke against allowing such businesses in Niles, and 26 spoke in favor of allowing them. One speaker took a neutral stance…
Among the other Michigan locations considering local ordinances on medical marijuana are Buchanan and Galien Township. Buchanan’s city council is expected to vote on the issue at its Feb. 27 meeting. Galien Township trustees are likely to vote April 3 on a request for a special-use permit to operate a medical marijuana growing operation within township limits.
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Pittsfield Township
http://www.mlive.com/business/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2017/02/pittsfield_township_considers.html
The Pittsfield Township Board of Trustees is considering an extension of a 180-day moratorium related to medical marijuana grow operations and facilities.
According to an agenda posted on the government website, the Board of Trustees will discuss the moratorium put into effect October 12, 2016 as a result of state legislation. The meeting takes place at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22, at the township building, 6201 W. Michigan Ave…
The moratorium was also a response to board members concerns of upcoming state legislation regarding medical marijuana, which went into effect Dec. 20 and is known as Public Act 281 or the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act.
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Roseville
http://www.candgnews.com/news/council-repeals-medical-marijuana-dispensaries-ordinance-again-99562
The Roseville City Council voted unanimously Feb. 14 to repeal the city’s ordinance governing medical marijuana dispensaries.
This topic was brought up during the Oct. 25 council meeting, when members had repealed the ordinance in reaction to the new Medical Marihuana Facilities Act that Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law in September 2016.
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Alpena
The City of Alpena has reformed a committee to review new medical marijuana legislation.
The committee plans to make a recommendation sometime this summer or early fall on whether or not to allow medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.
The committee will also study recently signed legislation and how it might impact the area.
In 2011 Alpena adopted their own set of rules and regulations regarding the medical use of the drug, which included banning dispensaries.
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