A township in Michigan is putting off any decisions on medical marijuana until next spring, taking a wait-and-see approach as the state wrestles with the issue. It’s something that’s becoming quite common across Michigan and in other regions with medical pot laws on the books, given the precarious state of the industry and mixed messages coming from lawmakers and government officials.
Texas Township – located in Kalamazoo County – will extend a moratorium on medical marijuana businesses for another six months, according to the news site MLive. Officials with the township initially enacted a six-month moratorium last April. With it set to expire on Oct. 19, the township’s board unanimously voted for an extension to give officials more time to assess the political and legal landscape and craft a regulatory framework for growing, selling and buying medical marijuana.
The moratorium covers dispensaries and related MMJ businesses but does not affect caregivers providing marijuana on a very limited scale as well as patients who grow their own marijuana for personal use and are registered with the township.
Officials are essentially waiting to see what happens on a state level before pulling the trigger on any plans. Michigan law allows the production and use of medical marijuana but does not outline how it is to be distributed. That’s caused a fair amount of confusion about whether dispensaries are allowed under the law. Hundreds of MMCs sprouted up across the state in the past two years, but many of them closed after a state appeals court ruled in August that such businesses are illegal.
An appeal is likely on the horizon, and many experts think that the state will eventually clarify rules for the distribution of medical pot.
