Saginaw’s medical marijuana industry progressing slower than in other communities, city attorney says

Gus Burns The Saginaw News
Published: Sunday, September 26, 2010, 4:45 AM Updated: Sunday, September 26, 2010, 10:59 AM

SAGINAW The growth of medical marijuana-related businesses in Saginaw lags behind that of other communities, Saginaw City Attorney Thomas H. Fancher said.

We seem to be little behind the times here, He said. There are about eight different compassion clubs in Ann Arbor.

It’s sort of less open here, maybe, or less active here, even though we were about eight to nine month ahead of the other communities in taking a look at it and trying to get (zoning issues) organized.

Fancher said he is unaware of any Saginaw-based compassion clubs groups created by medical marijuana users to meet, educate one another and exchange medicine — or commercial growing schools, and is aware of only one ancillary business, GrowMart, a hydroponics supply store that caters to medical marijuana growers.

That’s because they’re scared, said Christopher J. Krieger, 28, of Reese, who with Keith E. Beyerlein, 25, of Reese co-owns the growing supply store.

Krieger and Beyerlein opened the shop in mid-July. GrowMart is zoned as a niche hardware store, its owners say.

They’re just selling specialized indoor gardening equipment, Fancher said.

Fancher said he plans to put on a presentation Monday on the status of marijuana and regulation to include a little review of what the rules are and how other communities are reacting.

The Saginaw City Council meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 1315 S. Washington.

Early this year, the city proposed a six-month moratorium on medical marijuana sales and ancillary businesses to give leaders time to sort out zoning issues, but community dissent caused the City Council to discard the idea.

Fancher said the city stepped into a more reactive, wait-and-see mindset. Leaders haven’t seen much.

We eventually concluded that we can regulate it within the present framework, Fancher said. Patients and caregivers relationship is an invisible activity and can go on pretty much anywhere, as long as it stays that way.

He said leaders initially had concerns about growing schools popping up, like truck-driving schools or a welding schools that they used to have on every other corner 30 years ago.

Fancher said he’s broken possible medical-marijuana related land use into three categories: Patient-caretaker sites, compassion clubs which Fancher called the “most concerning and ancillary businesses such as hydroponics and grow equipment stores and growing schools.

Dispensaries are illegal, Fancher said, and we’re not going to zone that.

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