Whether or not Bellefontaine will welcome marijuana dispensaries or processors remains up in the air after a lengthy work session Tuesday of the Bellefontaine City Council.
Council President David Henry said the body will have to see what Councilwoman Diane Hager’s Rules Committee refers to the city’s planning commission.
Hager, for her part, appears to lean toward an outright ban, while committee members Allan Hadley and Mick Lile might be open to restricting such business ventures through zoning.
Allowing dispensaries or processors will not bring many jobs to the city nor will there be very much revenue if any from property taxes, Hager said.
Furthermore there is a legal product — Marinol — which can be legally prescribed, she said.
Mayor Ben Stahler, a pharmacist for 35 years, said he has filled Marinol prescriptions just a few times in his career.
“It’s very rare,” he said, noting Marinol can only be prescribed to cancer patients suffering from nausea and vomiting.
Starting off the discussion, Stahler cautioned council members, saying, “We don’t want to get caught up in the weeds,” by focusing on the illegal use of marijuana.
Ohio law now allows medical marijuana, Stahler and Councilman Zeb Wagner pointed out. “I think the law in Ohio is what it is,” Wagner said. “Medical marijuana is, in fact, legal.
“Some of the concerns expressed tonight are of a morality issue. I have a fundamental disagreement with legislating morality,” he said, or erecting more legal red tape for businesses.
“I’m against prohibiting it. At the minimum, we should zone it responsibly.”
Former Law Director Howard Traul II said he is opposed to allowing dispensaries as he believes it will attract abusers to the area and excerbate the county’s drug problem “There is no doubt there are people who can benefit from medical marijuana,” Traul said. “I just think we don’t need to encourage it. I think it will send the wrong message to businesses and industry that want to locate here.
“In the last 15 years, we’ve turned the corner. I think there is good reasons (Sidney, Piqua and Troy) moved to ban it.”
City resident Jack Haven said medical marijuana is already in the community. An admitted long-time user, Haven said he has been able to get high-grade medical marijuana for five years or so.
It helps him control his seizures from his Type I diabeties, he said, adding he has not had a seizure since.
“Nobody has had any problem getting marijuana in Logan County for 30 years,” he said. “We should look forward instead of being six months late and welcome the investment.”
Furthermore, legalizing marijuana would take it out of the black market, he said, depriving drug cartels of income used to support the networks that produce and smuggle heroin, cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine.
Hadley related his personal observation of people benefited from medical marijuana as did Service-Safety Director James Holycross.
While the deadline for seeking a dispensary license has passed, City Law Director Josh Stolly said there is a possibility the state could reopen the application process while the processing licensure process has yet to close.
“We need to make a decision rather than burying our heads in the sand,” he said. “It could come up again especially if recreational marijuana becomes law.
“This is a national issue and it’s where our country is going. It’s a pretty big issue.”
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