Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
The Village of Ubly wasted little time rescinding its medical marijuana ordinance, following a discussion at its original monthly meeting last week.
Medical marijuana has been at the forefront in recent months, with the latest version of the Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act going into effect Dec. 15.
In response to the change, Huron County Prosecutor Timothy J. Rutkowski has been traveling around to address a number of groups across the county regarding the issue. He was present at Thursday's Ubly Village Council meeting to talk to the council.
After the meeting was cut short Thursday, council held another meeting on Monday to get through the remainder of the agenda. During Monday's meeting, council voted to rescind its marijuana ordinance.
A marijuana facility cannot operate in a municipality unless that municipality has adopted an ordinance authorizing that type of facility.
"If you don't have an ordinance in place, or you dissolve your ordinance, you go under the state law," said Rutkowski during last week's meeting. "This means a municipality would not have to do or say anything."
In 2008, Michigan voters approved the Medical Marijuana Act, which legalized marijuana for medicinal use. The law has been updated and tweaked at various times, with the latest change taking place in December 2016. It established a licensing and regulation framework for medical marijuana growers, processors, secure transporters, provisioning centers, and safety compliance facilities.
Rutkowski said he was in Ubly to explain the details of the situation, its potential risks and possible rewards.
Essentially, a municipality has two options -- enact regulatory and zoning ordinances to authorize, regulate, and zone certain types of marijuana facilities as well as limit the number of licenses for each type of facility, or chose to have no ordinance at all.
"That's really the beauty of this -- if you choose as a board not to adopt or not to grant any licensure, you don't have to if you don't have an ordinance on the books," Rutkowski explained. "And they have to come to you first, before they can go to the state."
At Thursday's meeting, Village President David Jaroch questioned whether the state could come in and grant licensure in a community. Rutkowski said that is always a possibility unless you have an ordinance, but under current law, it cannot.
According to Ubly Police Chief David W. Rothe, the former ordinance was very vague and did not get into any specifics on how things would be handled. It did not cover how many licenses the village could give out, which specific licenses it would allow, fees for a license, or inspection and zoning guidelines.
"The ordinance we have is useless," Rothe said last week.
Rothe explained at the meeting the village already had people inquiring about licensure because of its ordinance.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Ubly rescinds outdated marijuana ordinance - Huron Daily Tribune
Author: Seth Stapleton
Contact: Huron Daily-Tribune Contacts - Huron Daily Tribune
Photo Credit: Kyle Nelson
Website: Home - Huron Daily Tribune
Medical marijuana has been at the forefront in recent months, with the latest version of the Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act going into effect Dec. 15.
In response to the change, Huron County Prosecutor Timothy J. Rutkowski has been traveling around to address a number of groups across the county regarding the issue. He was present at Thursday's Ubly Village Council meeting to talk to the council.
After the meeting was cut short Thursday, council held another meeting on Monday to get through the remainder of the agenda. During Monday's meeting, council voted to rescind its marijuana ordinance.
A marijuana facility cannot operate in a municipality unless that municipality has adopted an ordinance authorizing that type of facility.
"If you don't have an ordinance in place, or you dissolve your ordinance, you go under the state law," said Rutkowski during last week's meeting. "This means a municipality would not have to do or say anything."
In 2008, Michigan voters approved the Medical Marijuana Act, which legalized marijuana for medicinal use. The law has been updated and tweaked at various times, with the latest change taking place in December 2016. It established a licensing and regulation framework for medical marijuana growers, processors, secure transporters, provisioning centers, and safety compliance facilities.
Rutkowski said he was in Ubly to explain the details of the situation, its potential risks and possible rewards.
Essentially, a municipality has two options -- enact regulatory and zoning ordinances to authorize, regulate, and zone certain types of marijuana facilities as well as limit the number of licenses for each type of facility, or chose to have no ordinance at all.
"That's really the beauty of this -- if you choose as a board not to adopt or not to grant any licensure, you don't have to if you don't have an ordinance on the books," Rutkowski explained. "And they have to come to you first, before they can go to the state."
At Thursday's meeting, Village President David Jaroch questioned whether the state could come in and grant licensure in a community. Rutkowski said that is always a possibility unless you have an ordinance, but under current law, it cannot.
According to Ubly Police Chief David W. Rothe, the former ordinance was very vague and did not get into any specifics on how things would be handled. It did not cover how many licenses the village could give out, which specific licenses it would allow, fees for a license, or inspection and zoning guidelines.
"The ordinance we have is useless," Rothe said last week.
Rothe explained at the meeting the village already had people inquiring about licensure because of its ordinance.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Ubly rescinds outdated marijuana ordinance - Huron Daily Tribune
Author: Seth Stapleton
Contact: Huron Daily-Tribune Contacts - Huron Daily Tribune
Photo Credit: Kyle Nelson
Website: Home - Huron Daily Tribune
