The Constant Gardner

Tony Keene, owner of the Hydro Med medical marijuana co-op on South Industrial Highway in Ann Arbor, tends to his hydroponically grown crops on Saturday afternoon. Keene is asking a judge to force the Ann Arbor City Council to clearly define the terms "cultivation facility" and "dispensary" before proceeding with a new medical marijuana licensing ordinance. Keene, a California native, grows several different strains of marijuana, including L.A. Woman, L.A. Confidential, Vanilla Kush, and Himalayan Gold. He remains hopeful his business will take off. He has big plans for a multifaceted operation that is part indoor farm, part research facility, and part chromatography lab — with quality-control testing for THC and cannabinoids. His hope is to offer "certified pot." "I'm just not interested in selling pot — I'm interested in seeing this become a legitimate business," he said. "We're talking pharmaceutical development, pharmaceutical research. There's a huge, legitimate industry to be built out of this. And the dispensary model, it's turned into a group of people who want to have Amsterdam here. I'm sorry, this is the Midwest." Read the story here.