Bellefontaine City Council members will see a revised ordinance Tuesday banning all operations related to medical marijuana from the city.
EXAMINER FILE PHOTO
Rules Committee members Diane Hager, Mick Lile and Allen Hadley all voted Thursday to drop an amendment to the city zoning code to allow dispensaries in B-3 (general business) districts and specifically ban the operations along with cultivation and processing facilities.
“I feel bad we’re doing it,” Hadley said.
“I do, too,” Lile responded.
Hadley continued saying, “I’m talking about people who are just like you and me. I feel sorry for the people who are using it for the right reasons.
“But I’m tired of the fight.” Prior to Thursday, just Hager opposed any medical marijuana operation in the city. She believes dispensaries would open the door for people to prey on the patients who would travel here and have to use cash to pay for the products.
Mayor Ben Stahler acknowledged he once felt a dispensary could be beneficial to residents so they would not have to travel out of town to get the products.
But he has shifted his opinion after learning no doctors in Logan County have applied with the state to issue recommendations for medical marijuana to their patients.
Lile said that was a factor in changing his mind as was a recent door-to-door visit with a dozen or so residents in his Fourth Ward.
Two residents noted they have relatives who travel outside the city for medical marijuana and those residents do not support dispensaries in Bellefontaine, Lile said.
The meeting was attended by the committee, Stahler, Service-Safety Director David Henry and City Law Director Josh Stolly Stolly said he would have an ordinance banning medical marijuana cultivation, processing and dispensaries from Bellefontaine ready for the next council meeting which starts at 7:30 p.m.