PORTAGE (WKZO-AM) — The Portage City Council is being challenged by caregivers to update the city’s ordinance regulating medical marijuana following last November’s vote decriminalizing grass in Portage and a recent Michigan Supreme Court decision vacating a Wyoming ordinance.
On Monday, the Portage Zoning Board denied a request from two caregivers to allow them to use commercial properties to pass out marijuana to patients. Currently, the city ordinance requires the practive to be conducted as a home occupation, and advocates claim that has created a shortage of caregivers.
Attorney Glen Smith said homes are not suitable for growing or dispensing medicines. He said many are not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and few have the ventilation, plumbing and electrical systems suitable for growing marijuana indoors.
Bree Hill, who operates out of one of those commercial locations, said it’s become difficult for patients to obtain the drug and caregivers to provide it. They must often resort to Craigslist and travel great distances to obtain the drug.
Portage City Manager Lawrence Shafer said he will propose a six-month moratorium on the current ordinance to update the language of the current law. The ordinance will be presented in a couple of weeks, he said.
He said the law may also need changing if new legislative reforms pass in Lansing and a referendum legalizing marijuana appears on the November ballot.
Until then, city attorney Randall Brown said, with whatever ordinance they approve, caregivers are still restricted to growing for just five patients and all other restrictions in the state law still must be observed by local caregivers.
