Lansing marijuana policy could get Hash Bash spotlight

LANSING – Mayor Virg Bernero's planned speech Saturday at Hash Bash in Ann Arbor is expected to get plenty of attention, but it's unclear if words will lead to any action that makes Lansing's policy on the drug easier to understand and enforce.

The city already allows limited use of marijuana beyond medicinal purposes. Bernero is expected to help drive the effort for a possible 2016 ballot initiative that would make recreational use of the drug legal in Michigan.

Residents who possess the drug, however, can still be charged with a crime under state or federal law.

"I just don't see how you justify demonizing a natural substance that people have such wide access to," Bernero said.

Furthermore, the region has seen an ebb and flow of dispensaries open since 2008 — the year medical marijuana became legal in Michigan — that don't appear to be regulated much or at all.

Lansing doesn't have a licensing process for dispensaries in the city, but at least 30 businesses applied for licenses in 2011 when City Council passed its first ordinance about the businesses, City Clerk Chris Swope said.

The city never did license dispensaries. The Court of Appeals in 2011 struck down dispensaries as a violation of state law.

Marijuana remains a controlled substance in Michigan, but businesses manage to position themselves in gray areas in what many say is a poorly written law.

City Council member Carol Wood, chair of Lansing's Public Safety Committee, said Lansing's current lack of oversight is like letting someone buy a car and use it without a driver's license.

"We should look at this no different than a pharmacy," Wood said. "You're not going to allow the sale of insulin at a street corner or some liquor store. Why should this be any different?"

Michigan's Department of Licensing & Regulatory Affairs doesn't regulate dispensaries, but says there are 172,323 active registered medical marijuana patients in the state and 32,680 registered caregivers for the drug.

LARA spokesman Michael Loepp said he wasn't sure if the term "registered caregiver" could apply to a dispensary owner.

Loepp wrote in an e-mail that, as of Friday, there were 9,029 registered medical marijuana patients in Ingham and Eaton counties.

Benero said he doesn't know how many dispensaries are in the city, but believes they are all following state and federal guidelines.

If they aren't, he's confident the Lansing Police Department will find out and take action.

"We're trying to comply with the law," Bernero said. "We continue to try and deal with the legal rubric that's out there. I try to follow what's out there (at state and federal levels), but right now it's a bit of a hodgepodge."

Despite Bernero's focus on stopping illegal activity at dispensaries, he's expected to stress at Hash Bash that criminal charges against low level use of marijuana is not a priority in his city and shouldn't be anywhere else.

Lansing already allows limited use of marijuana beyond medicinal purposes.

Voters passed a City Charter amendment in 2013 that says nothing in its code of ordinances shall apply to the use, possession or transfer of less than one ounce of marijuana on private property by a person at least 21 years old.

Shannon Sterner, co-owner of Lansing marijuana dispensary Puff-n-Stuff, is encouraged by Bernero's stance and believes he could ignite a fire that helps legalize statewide recreational marijuana use in 2016.

Sterner, a marijuana cardholder and single mother of two children, said Bernero's Hash Bash speech will either "make or break him" because he has an opportunity to at least change stereotypes associated with marijuana users.

"I want Lansing to stay as open-minded as it has so far, but I do believe more structure is needed," Sterner said. "Although I support everybody's (dispensary) business, I do believe it should be professional and properly done."

Puff-n-Stuff's opened March 20, passed a city building inspection and hasn't received any visits from police, Sterner said.

The business in Lansing's Old Town draws up to 50 medical marijuana cardholders daily and has invested in technology that will allow customers to place orders for plants, edibles and oils and other items in the store or online.

While Sterner supports higher standards for the enforcement of dispensaries, she hopes Lansing will continue to offer different kinds of marijuana-related business that can generate public interest and protect patient privacy.

"Everyone has a preference," Sterner said. "Some people like Walgreens; some people like CVS. Some people like Walmart; some people like Meijer. It's good to have choices."