WYOMING, Mich., Aug. 2 (UPI) -- The Michigan Court of Appeals blocked an ordinance in Wyoming, Mich., that banned the growing of medical marijuana.
The three-judge panel overturned the ordinance Tuesday, ruling that cities cannot enact local laws that criminalize patients' legal use of marijuana, The Detroit News reported.
The ordinance enacted by Wyoming sought to ban the growing of medical marijuana based on federal prohibitions against manufacturing and distributing the drug.
"Defendant's ordinance is void and unenforceable to the extent that it purports to sanction the medical use of marijuana in conformity with" the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act, appeals Judges Joel P. Hoekstra, Douglas B. Shapiro and William C. Whitbeck wrote in their opinion.
The ruling may have broader implications as three Metro Detroit municipalities -- Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills and Livonia -- have also enacted similar ordinances, which the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan has challenged, the newspaper said.
"This really will put an end to those ordinances, as well," said Dan Korobkin, staff attorney with the ACLU of Michigan.
