L’ANSE – A medical marijuana bill that would license and regulate pot dispensaries has stalled in the Michigan Senate, though it’s likely to be taken up again in January, according to Senator Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba.

Casperson confirmed the hotly debated bill wasn’t taken up in the final day of the Senate session Wednesday, but said he expected Republican Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof to bring it to the floor in January, regardless of the wishes of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where the bill bogged down in recent weeks after a controversial amendment.

He’ll support the bill, Casperson said, as long as its basic goals remain unchanged.

Currently, dispensaries are tolerated and even licensed in some municipalities, while others have cracked down on larger-scale distribution. At least three dispensaries are in operation in Houghton County, for example, but a Baraga County dispensary was raided and shut down in September, though charges were later dropped.

According to the Michigan Legislature’s web site, House Bill 4209 would license dispensaries and safety compliance (testing) facilities, and would also require municipalities to recommend dispensaries to a state board before licenses are issued.

The bill passed the state House by an overwhelming 95-11 majority, and at that point, most marijuana legalization advocates were impressed with the legislation, including Ry Kochsiek, co-owner of Noggin Smoke Shop in Hubbell, a dispensary, gardening center and paraphernalia head shop.

“It was a positive bill moving in right direction,” Kochsiek said, “a good baseline and framework for regulation.”

Then a Senate amendment added language imposing a three-tier system that requires separate licensing for pot growers, distributors and retailers, and doesn’t allow any individual or company to operate at more than one of those levels.

Pot advocates cried foul over that change, claiming the distributor classification was unnecessary and the new regulatory system could increase retail prices by as much as 25 percent.

The distributor “just acts as a middle man,” said Weston Kochsiek, Ry’s brother and business partner.

“It’s not good for smaller businesses,” he said. “They’re just looking at pushing another tax.”

Casperson said he didn’t see the need for the three-tier system as long as marijuana can be tracked as it’s moved from growers to retailers to ensure it isn’t disappearing along the way.

He said he discussed the dispensary issue with police before taking a stance, and is convinced that creating uniform rules for medical marijuana providers across the state would empower police to enforce them confidently and consistently. Better regulation, he said, would also help prevent marijuana grown under medical auspices from being siphoned off into illegal markets.

Regulatory frameworks in the legislation could serve as a starting point for managing recreational marijuana farming and sales if Michigan voters pass a ballot initiative to legalize recreational pot use in 2016, Casperson said. He’s not personally in favor of legalizing recreational use, he said, but the state should be prepared to follow through with regulations if voters pass an initiative.

Sale of medical marijuana is still illegal under federal statutes, but the Department of Justice has issued guidelines discouraging enforcement of pot possession or sale that’s allowed by state law.