TRAVERSE CITY — Art Jones considers himself the target of an effort by Garfield Township officials to weed out medical marijuana businesses.
Jones operates Green Things Plus LLC, a medical marijuana dispensary along South Airport Road. He opened his pot shop in December, he said, a month before Garfield Township adopted a temporary moratorium on medical marijuana businesses.
But township officials believe he opened Green Things Plus after the moratorium. It's become a budding issue that sparked heated debate between Jones and the township.
"I don't know why we're fighting," Jones said. "This is getting crazy. I don't know what's going on with the township. Why try to run us out of business?"
The township recently asked a 13th Circuit Court judge to authorize subpoenas "to compel certain persons associated with Green Things Plus to appear before a committee of the board to be examined under oath and to produce documents related to the opening date and commencement of operations," court records show.
Township Supervisor Chuck Korn said officials are forced to use subpoenas because it's been difficult to get information from those connected to Green Things Plus.
Judge Philip E. Rodgers on July 27 said the township could subpoena Jones, as well as three others who might know more about Green Things Plus.
"Upon review of the petition filed by the Charter Township of Garfield, there is reasonable cause to believe that a violation of the township's temporary moratorium has occurred and the persons who are the subject of the petition may have knowledge regarding this potential violation," Rodgers wrote.
Jones and three others are ordered to appear Aug. 8 at the Garfield Township Hall to testify under oath as to the legitimacy of Green Things Plus. Jones also is required to produce financial records or receipts that show medical marijuana sales before Jan. 11, the day the township adopted a temporary moratorium on medical marijuana businesses.
The township on June 28 extended its moratorium for another 150 days.
"We are not convinced that they're not faking the start date," Korn said. "We feel they're being disingenuous. We would like them to follow the same rules as everyone else."
Jones said he opened the dispensary in late December and plans to explain that to township officials next month. Korn, along with township attorney Scott Howard and trustees Denise Schmuckal and Kit Wilson, will question Jones and three others about the dispensary.
If the township discovers that Green Things Plus opened after the moratorium, Korn said "we would ask them to shut down and wait for the moratorium to end."
Green Things Plus took root thanks to the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, a 2008 voter-approved initiative that allows patients to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and 12 plants. It also allows designated caregivers to grow and distribute plants to up to five patients.
The act doesn't specify where or when patients and caregivers can grow or exchange marijuana, so municipalities were left to decide for themselves. Garfield Township adopted a temporary moratorium to ensure the legality of dispensaries and to gauge their community impact.
"We wanted to make sure that it doesn't create any negative effects on the community," Korn said. "Some of the things that we're looking at is spacing, distance from schools and churches."
Traverse City attorney Corinne Galusky, who represents Green Things Plus, believes the township is trying to run the dispensary out of business.
"I just don't understand the harassment," Galusky said. "They're totally uninformed about the current law. They're just harassing them out of business."
Korn said a post on the popular social networking website Facebook states that Green Things Plus held its grand opening on Feb. 10. Jones confirmed the grand opening date, but said he opened the dispensary long before the event.
"This is my first business, I didn't know," he said.
Meanwhile, Jones said the dispensary remains busy with cancer patients and others who suffer from chronic pain.
"We are busy all the time," he said. "It's crazy because they don't understand how good this is affecting the community. They're fighting against it instead of accepting change."
