Emotions ran high at the Ann Arbor City Council meeting Tuesday night when council members voted to postpone voting on the implementation of two proposed amendments to the medical marijuana ordinance.
The proposed amendments specifically outline the zoning and licensing of medical marijuana cultivation facilities and dispensaries, as well as the privacy and safety of customers. The ordinance — which will allow the city to more closely monitor medical marijuana cultivation and distribution facilities within Ann Arbor — has been deliberated for months by the council.
In the public hearing portion of the meeting, members of the community voiced their concerns regarding privacy and safety of patients and caregivers.
Chuck Ream, owner of MedMAR Pharmaceuticals Inc. — a dispensary located on Packard Road — claimed that the council members were not following Ann Arbor voters’ wishes of confidentiality that are already in place in the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act, and rather letting their own views influence their decisions on this controversial issue.
“We are not asking you to do what you want, we are begging you to do what your voters told you to do,” Ream said in his first address to the council, which was followed by applause from some observers.
If the amendment passes, medical marijuana dispensaries would be required to keep lists of their clients, raising concerns among community members about confidentiality within the medical marijuana community.
Gersher Avery, a founder of the Cannabis Cancer Project — an organization that develops alternative medical uses for marijuana — explained in his second address to council that if the client lists were turned over to the police, patients and caregivers could be at risk for residential police raids.
With these concerns in mind, Avery said the proposal would establish “a highly attractive target for abusive behavior” among police and law enforcement, and fostering increased incidents of violence, even if the person in possession of the drug is legally permitted.
“There is a great deal of hindrance to public safety by compiling these lists,” Avery said.
Following the hearing, the council decided to postpone voting on the amendments until May 2, allowing council members time to reflect on new ideas and proposed changes.
Also addressed in the meeting was an amendment to the city’s panhandling ordinance, which aims to cut down on increasingly aggressive techniques used by panhandlers in Ann Arbor.
The council passed the amendment unanimously after hearing from several concerned members.