Marijuana Blog

The Ann Arbor City Council unanimously voted to delay the decision to vote on the marijuana regulation ordinance, instead deciding on a temporary moratorium for the next two months.

The decision from council came after deliberating over the newest ordinance. Dispensaries within the city have been operating on a temporary moratorium since August 2010.

“We are going to be extremely careful that we craft some legislation that we believe is going to best serve the patients and the caregivers — and anyone who is involved in what is for our state, certainly for our community, a new endeavor," Mayor Hieftje said, regarding the amount of time it has taken council to make a decision on the subject.

Local marijuana advocate and dispensary owner Chuck Ream was present at Monday’s meeting, and shared his concern over the delay of the official ordinance.

“I’m certainly happy about the progress but there are still a few steps left to go,” said Ream. “In the current text, it says that the dispensaries will have to display the name and contact information for all owners, all business managers. Yes, there should be a contact person, but not a multitude of people’s names, right up there in public, where any criminal or wacko can see them and go rob their home or hurt their children.”

Ream also expressed concerns about members being able to maintain privacy, as well as issues dealing with the delivery of products. But his main concern was with record keeping at the dispensaries as well as presenting them to the city if requested.

“This is chilling. It’s illegal…only the big guys would participate in this type of system. The little growers would never take the risk of having their names on such a dangerous list that the Feds could demand at any time.”

Council will be voting on the ordinance Feb. 7. The moratorium will be extended until March 31

(Source)