Municipalities pass on pot

• BY MARK JOHNSON - January 14, 2018

Few municipalities vote to authorize medical marijuana businesses

TRAVERSE CITY — State voters legalized medical marijuana with more than 62 percent approval nearly a decade ago, but recent moves to commercialize the industry haven't received such a positive response from local governments.

Data collected from 82 municipalities in the Grand Traverse region – all townships, villages, and cities within Grand Traverse, Antrim, Benzie, Kalkaska and Leelanau Counties — show less than 10 percent of elected boards have moved to allow medical marijuana facilities to operate in their jourisdictions. Officials with three municipalities could not be reached.

Lawmakers approved the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act in 2016, giving municipalities the option to welcome or ban commercial facilities that grow, transport and dispense medical marijuana. Michigan voters approved medical marijuana use in 2008, but it appears those who use the drug for various ailments could soon find it harder to obtain legal medical marijuana in northern Michigan.

An unfilled prescription

Patrick Keating uses the controversial drug to offset heaps of prescription medications and their sometimes debilitating side effects.

Keating, 56, a Blair Township resident, received a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis in 2005. Prescription medications helped address the disease, but left him with side-effects making it hard to walk, drive and enjoy pleasures as simple as sitting calmly in a restaurant.

A chip installed in his brain in 2016 helped take the place of some of the medication. A medical marijuana card obtained eight years ago reduced that amount even more. He connected with an Ann Arbor dispensary near his former home in Dexter where he registered under state medical marijuana laws to obtain the drug.

“Medical marijuana allows me to move more freely,” Keating said. “Medical marijuana doesn’t take the place of medication, but it makes it more effective.”

A move to the Traverse City region in October brought him closer to the “excellent” medical care Munson Medical Center offers, but farther from his marijuana supply and into an area mostly prohibiting dispensaries and other medical pot businesses.

He plans to ride down to Ann Arbor with a caregiver to restock his supply. In the mean time, he has been forced to increase the dosages of other medicines and renew those side effects.

Keating expressed frustration with municipalities that opted out or continue debating the decision.

“I feel only gratitude to the voting citizens of Michigan for approving medical marijuana in Michigan,” he said. “Now it’s time for elected officials to get through the details and do what they are elected to do. If they don’t take action, then we need to get new representatives.”

But municipal leaders who chose to opt out said the decision is not that simple.

Concerns prompt opposition

Adopting ordinances to allow medical marijuana facilities to operate with township limits drew heated conversations and packed council meetings in some areas.

Solon Township officials in Leelanau County voted to opt out of the regulations and ban such facilities last summer. Discussions concerning a proposed grow facility drew standing-room-only attendance at meetings where residents overwhelmingly opposed the project and any facilities.

Information collected by the Record-Eagle shows 25 of the municipalities reached followed suit.

Kalkaska Township officials voted to opt out, according to Trustee David Wolfe. Their vote came despite nearby Kalkaska village council members choosing to welcome the industry.

“I figured that the village is going full-bore into this; there is plenty of medical marijuana operations in the village,” Wolfe said. “We don’t really need any in the township.”

The idea of allowing those operations concerned him after reading about enforcement officials downstate who said the medical marijuana industry brought violence.

“I figure we really don’t need that here,” Wolfe said, acknowledging he doesn’t know whether such facilities would bring problems to the township. But he also would not rule out the possibility.

Many municipalities took no action, which also bans facilities unless they decide later to vote to opt in. A larger cadre of municipalities continue debating the issue.

Waiting for the smoke to clear

Traverse City officials lead a list of 27 municipalities that remain undecided on the issue.

Commissioners Michele Howard and Richard Lewis hope to see more information and final regulations in place before deciding. Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs officials issued 33 pages of emergency administrative rules in December to implement the facilities licensing act in the interim.

“I think the city is waiting, but I’m comfortable opting in on the new regulations and allowing businesses,” Howard said. “What kind of businesses is up for discussion.”

Dispensaries and secure transport businesses could draw tax revenue, some that could be earmarked for addiction education and equipment purchases for city police officers, Howard said. Growing facilities and the sound and smell concerns they bring would require further research, she said.

Lewis wants to review a report from city staff on the issue first.

“We need to have a discussion about that and then we can have a determination,” he said.

A lack of interest in opening medical marijuana facilities prompted other local officials to leave the discussion alone.

Gerald Leaf, supervisor for Boardman Township in Kalkaska County, fielded some calls from people claiming to have medical marijuana business proposals, but nothing panned out.

“Because it hasn’t come up in a situation with someone approaching us with plans or requests, we haven’t had any reason to have any full discussion,” Leaf said.

He didn’t rule out the possibility of welcoming those facilities. He recalled friends and family members who benefitted from medical marijuana use, but he would like to see more factual information to prove whether the drug is more of a “benefit” or a “hindrance.”

Nearby municipalities don’t share the same skepticism.

Igniting an industry

Kalkaska village officials are among the few in the region to allow medical marijuana facilities and appear eager to see the industry grow.

Village President Jeff Sieting said the economic impacts — like the potential for an increased tax base, more funding for village infrastructure improvements and more jobs — are undeniable. The chance to welcome businesses that can help people like Keating ease their reliance on prescription medication in favor of marijuana is an added bonus.

“If medical marijuana can bridge the gap, get them off those drugs and give them a viable option, then I’m all for it,” Sieting said.

He wasn’t surprised by surrounding governments' deficit of enthusiasm.

The number of communities opting in could jump, but for the time being, local decisions show that despite a state vote to approve medical marijuana, communities continue opposing the idea of the drug in their back yard.

“This is something that doesn’t cost anything, but would really help a lot of people in this area,” Keating said.

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