FLINT TWP., Michigan — The clock is ticking if Flint Township officials want to keep medical marijuana dispensaries from setting up shop.

The township rejected an amendment Oct. 4 that would have effectively outlawed businesses that profit from selling, using or growing marijuana under the state’s medical marijuana law.

The ordinance would have amended the township’s zoning rules to require that all “uses or businesses seeking approval or permits from the township must comply with federal, state and local law.”

The state allows people to grow, use and sell marijuana for medical purposes, but federal law still bars the practice. The U.S. Department of Justice has said it will not prosecute medical marijuana use in states where it has been legalized.

A temporary moratorium on medical marijuana businesses in the township expires Nov. 8.

“We’re going to have to do something soon because, you know, the moratorium expires in November,” said Supervisor Karyn Miller.

Miller said she didn’t know whether the township will use a zoning amendment or a different type of ordinance to address medical marijuana.

The zoning amendment was unpopular among several township trustee. Before voting on the amendment, the board pulled the federal restriction from the amendment, effectively stripping it of its teeth.

The board then voted down the amendment anyway.

“It bans it completely, that’s what you’re doing behind the back door,” said Trustee Franklin Kasle.

The township planning commission passed the amendment Sept. 9 and had recommended the board adopt it.

Trustees Barb Vert and Belenda Parker said they voted against the ordinance because the township needs to address medical marijuana businesses more directly.

“It needs to be very clear, no watered-down ordinances,” Vert said.

Advocates of the medical marijuana law spoke against the ordinance.

“For you guys to circumvent the law does not get it,” said Randy Lalone, of Flint.

“The patients, the people that I deal with on a regular basis, are the ones who get lost in all this,” said Nick Panessidi, owner of the Michigan Center.

In July, the township came one vote shy of using the moratorium to shut down the Panessidi’s business. The Michigan Wellness Center charges for consulting sessions on obtaining medical marijuana cards from the state and offers classes on medical marijuana topics.

The center would not have been subject to the law since it has no marijuana on site and doesn’t break federal laws.

At the time the township pledged to draft an ordinance before the moratorium expires.

Kasle, Supervisor Karyn Miller and trustee George Menoutes voted for the amended ordinance.