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Portage Township continues to wrestle with the question of whether to opt in and continue to allow a local dispensary to operate under Michigan’s new medical marijuana law.
The Portage Township Board of Trustees heard from all sides at last Monday night’s meeting.
The big topic of discussion was marijuana—more specifically, whether or not a local dispensary can continue to operate and grow.
“Each township, each city, each village has to go though this discussion right now and we have to decide for our township whether it’s appropriate for us or not,” said Portage Township Trustee Bill Fink who, along with fellow board members, voted last fall to allow the dispensary to set up shop at the Copper Country Mall, but as state regulations are changing, the township must act by Friday or the dispensary will be forced to close.
Fink said, “We’re looking at what could potentially be significant change in the way that medical marijuana is administered within the state.”
After hearing public input, the board decided that it needs more time to review the information so a special meeting has been called for this Thursday at 6:00 pm.
During public comment, the board also heard opinion about the dispensary’s plans for growth.
The operator wants to occupy the space where JC Penney once was, and use it for a large scale grow operation.
“For the JC Penney grow operation, honestly have to say that I’m actually against it for the fact that it is within the limits of a school,” said Phil Vasquez, a local entrepreneur planning to install his own growing outfit in Portage Township.
Although the board has not made any decisions at this point, some areas of concern that were mention included filtration of any odors that might be produced by the operation, and the close proximity to Gogebic Community College and The Department of Health and Human Services, both also located in the Copper Country Mall.
