To prevent neighborhood blight and crime while providing access to legitimate patients in Lansing (rather than the mid-Michigan region) these amendments are proposed to draft #4 of the medical marijuana dispensary ordinance.

Neighborhood Coalition Recommendations for inclusion in Lansing’s Medical Marijuana Dispensary Ordinance

These were developed by and are supported by Allen Neighborhood Center and Eastside Neighborhood Organization with input from a broad range of neighborhood groups and businesses.

1. Cap the total number of dispensaries allowed within the City. We recommend that the City place a cap of 10 on the number of medical marihuana dispensaries to be established in Lansing.  Further, the ten should be distributed evenly throughout the City.  (Note: The City of San Francisco, population 808,000, has fewer than 35 licensed dispensaries.)
 
2. RE: Zoning –The current draft ordinance allows dispensaries in light and heavy industrial areas and in F-1 Commercial areas.  F-1 Commercial is the designation for E. Michigan Ave, Old Town, Reo Town, and W. Saginaw. All of these F-1 commercial districts are nascent ‘renaissance’ districts, characterized by neighbors and businesses working over the last two decades to create appealing urban core communities, and are inappropriate for dispensaries.   
 
3.  Buffering – Dispensaries should not be located within 1,000 feet of any public or private educational institution (elementary, secondary, college, university), child care and/or child development centers, faith-based organizations, community centers, hospitals and hospital-affiliated medical services, parks, pools, or neighborhood centers.  Dispensaries shall also be located a minimum of 1,000 feet from one another.
 
4. Grandfathering –There should be no ‘grandfathering’ for the current collection on E. Michigan Ave. (or anywhere else in the City where clusters of dispensaries have surfaced).  Dispensaries out of compliance with the buffering requirements should be offered 90 days for relocation.
 
5. Full Criminal Background Checks –Thorough criminal background checks should be conducted on dispensary owners, operators, and employees.  Checks should be life-long, involving all felonies, including those having to do with controlled substances.
 
6. Consumption on-site.  There shall be no consumption on site for any purpose.
 
7. Tracking/Documentation – All marijuana delivered to a patient should be packaged and labeled.  For the health and safety of 'patients', the label should include:
- A unique alpha-numeric identifier for the person to whom it is being delivered;
- A unique alpha-numeric identifier for the cultivation source of the marijuana;
- That the package contains marijuana;
- The date of delivery, weight, type of marijuana and dollar amount or other consideration being exchanged in the transaction;
-  A certification that all marijuana in any form contained in the package was cultivated, manufactured, and packaged in the state of Michigan;
-  Appropriate warnings about the fact that the product is manufactured without any regulatory oversight for health safety, or efficacy.
 
8.  Hours - Hours should be limited to 7 am until 11 pm. as indicated in the current draft ordinance, and not be increased to 24 hours.

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