Medical marijuana ordinance can be a slam dunk for officials

Fire Chief Danny Hagen summed it up perfectly at last week’s city council work session on drafting regulations for medical marijuana operators.

“You don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” he said.

Indeed.

At first glance it looked like city officials were going to be bogged down with numerous regulations to license medical marijuana sellers, growers, transporters and those doing quality control.

It seems to us state legislators have needlessly created an endless amount of red tape in allowing this legal business to go ahead.

But there are communities out there who have waded through this and have come up with sensible regulations.

That is what Hagen was referring to you.

Hamtramck can easily take another community’s licensing ordinance, tweak it and call it a day. The important thing is to allow these businesses to get up and running.

The medical marijuana industry is a tax revenue stream waiting to be tapped into.

City officials would be wise to set a goal on how long this process should take. We say it can be accomplished within several weeks.

June 29, 2018