This article was originally published on the Marijuana Patients Organization site on May 25, 2011.
Lake Orion township meeting minutes A. PC-2010-02, Text Amendment to Zoning Ordinance No. 78, Article III, Medical Marijuana (Compliance with Federal, State, and Local Laws): Mr. R. Donald Wortman, of Carlisle/Wortman Associates, Inc., overviewed their correspondence, dated March 22, 2010*; attached proposed text amendment*; and, attached correspondence from Sheriff Michael Bouchard, dated March 8, 2010.
In 2008, the State of Michigan approved Michigan’s marijuana program and with that, it does allow medicinal marijuana to approved applicants and at that time they receive a certificate from the State. This has opened up the issues of how that would apply to local land use and local zoning. Michigan Building Departments have been getting questions regarding just how it will relate to the local government, particularly regarding paraphernalia, for growing marijuana, for distributing it, and compassion care clubs, etc. There is a bit of a retail trade and also a use trade. We need to determine where to site these types of facilities. Some communities have been coming up with zoning amendments addressing this issue. Auburn Hills recently came up with amendments pertaining to dispensaries, refining the language, regulating them, restricting them, etc.
April 07, 2010 Reposted from The Citizen “You may find (it) useful as you consider issues that may arise should these businesses become established in your community,” the sheriff wrote.
Bouchard said the state law doesn’t deal with “retail locations and zoning and other kinds of issues that a community may have their own wishes (as to) how they proceed.”
According to Bouchard, medical marijuana dispensaries come with “image issues” for communities as well as safety issues.
“For example, in California, in a number of cities, they have more medical marijuana stores than they do Starbucks,” he said. “A number of those establishments in California have been held up at gunpoint because (the robbers can) get cash and drugs.”
His quote on the Oakland County Sheriff’s website after raiding dispensaries in August 2010, “There is no such thing as dispensaries, where people can sell marijuana, retail it.”
Many other examples of legal acknowledgement as it pertains to dispensaries by Mike Bouchard are out there. Other statements, speeches and letters by the Sheriff will most likely be reserved for current legal battles and subsequent civil cases against Oakland County and the Sheriff’s department in particular.
This piece of garbage showed up at my kids school. All I kept thinking is how self loathing and ugly this man is and wondered if it was illegal to take off my shoe and chuck it at his fat head.
What a punk bully.
Ok so since robbers “want drugs” then shouldent pharmacys and liquor stores should be raided and minimized?