Mich. city defies state pot law, votes ban

The city council of Wyoming, Mich., reaffirmed a November vote Monday giving the ban a second and final reading that makes medical marijuana illegal within city limits, the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press reported
Tuesday.

The vote goes against a 2008 statewide vote approving medical marijuana.

Voters in 27 of Wyoming's precincts supported that marijuana proposal.

John Ter Beek, a lawyer who has sued the city, plans a campaign to recall all seven elected officials and says he is recruiting volunteers to circulate recall petitions.

Mayor Jack Poll, a pharmacist, and the council said the voter-approved state law is dangerous because it does not regulate distribution of marijuana through typical medical channels. The council said medical marijuana should be dispensed through pharmacies.

Council member William Ver Hulst said the medical marijuana proposal "sounded good (in 2008), just like apple pie and motherhood." But "I guess I assumed it would be properly controlled by medical dispensaries," he said.

Poll said he is "not at all" worried by a recall, saying the 2008 marijuana proposal was approved "without full knowledge of the ramifications."

Voters would not pass the same measure today, he said.

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