The years of Lansing medical marijuana dispensaries operating without licensing or regulation may be drawing to a close.
"We have a licensing ordinance, there's vetting of applicants," Lansing City Council 3rd Ward Member Adam Hussain said.
But first, the city council's public safety committee has to iron out the details. "There's some issues with the ordinance, the way it's written, there's language that conflicts," Hussain, who is a member of the public safety committee, said. "But in any event, we're on the right track."
The committee is reworking a draft of the new rules, which right now, among other things, say dispensaries can't be too close to schools, can't be run by convicted felons, and can't have more than 72 marijuana plants per caregiver. "Our primary goal is we need to provide for responsible, safe access for patients," Hussain said. "That has to come through with licensing, zoning, testing, things of that nature."
The way the ordinance is written right now, only patients are allowed to grow marijuana in their homes, not caregivers, which some at the meeting said unfairly forces caregivers to rent other buildings. "As it pertains to caregivers operating in commercial areas, I think the ordinance is legal," Robin Schneider with the National Patients' Rights Association said. "I think it makes a lot of sense, unfortunately, I don't think it's legal to ban caregivers from operating in their own homes."
The ordinance is also missing any product testing requirements. But community members say it's a step in the right direction. "Neighbors have been working hard to keep up their area, and we need to have protections in the neighborhoods also because we do have rights," Elaine Womboldt of Rejuvenating South Lansing said.
Hussain says the committee hopes to pass the ordinance by July. The committee is still asking for feedback from the community on the ordinance. The committee will have its next public meeting about medical marijuana dispensaries on May 13 at city hall.
