Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
City leaders must soon decide whether to welcome, limit or ban medical marijuana facilities inside city limits, now that several cultivators have expressed interest in opening up shop here.
"Are we going to have a moratorium?" Mayor Steve Mercer asked City Council members Monday night. "Are we going to have a prohibition? Are we going to be welcoming to some or all?"
While council members have not yet indicated how they will vote, some mentioned the jobs the industry could bring to Coshocton, and said they will research the issue and seek public input before deciding.
Mercer and Law Director Robert Skelton are working on a resolution on medical marijuana manufacturing and dispensing facilities they hope to present during a special council meeting set for 7 p.m. Tuesday in Council Chambers, according to Council Clerk Cherry Wilson.
Ohio's Legislature approved medical marijuana production and distribution in 2016, but created a two-year window to establish regulations and procedures. The law took effect Sept. 8. 2016, and the facilities must be operational by Sept. 8, 2018, according to the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Board Program web site, medicalmarijuana.ohio.gov.
Cultivators, or growers, are currently in the process of applying for licenses, and must submit those applications by middle or late June, depending on the size of their proposed facility. Cities, villages and townships can decide whether, where and how they want to allow medical marijuana businesses - cultivators, processors, labs and dispensaries - to operate locally.
Monday, Mercer asked council members to choose Coshocton's stance within the next month, so companies can meet June deadlines to apply for licenses with the state. Those applications require accompanying letters of welcome from the proposed host city, he said.
Dorothy Skowrunski, executive director of the Coshocton County Port Authority, said she has fielded phone calls from several companies asking about six or seven potential sites inside Coshocton, including ground owned by the Port Authority on Paper Mill Road.
Skowrunski declined to identify the companies or the other potential sites, citing the confidentiality of negotiations, but said they are all Level I, or large facilities, which could contain up to 25,000 square feet. Application fees cost $20,000 each, with an initial license fee of $180,000, she said.
Smaller, Level II, facilities can contain up to 3,000 square feet, require a $2,000 application fee and an initial license fee of $18,000.
The state will grant licenses for only 12 facilities of each size, Skowrunski said. Level I applications are due by June 30; Level II by June 16.
The cultivating facilities would be inside secure block structures, "not out in a cornfield," Skowrunski said. The medical marijuana industry is highly regulated and could provide well-paying jobs locally, she said
A Level I facility could provide between 35 and 70 jobs, she said, with an annual payroll of $2 million. The higher employment number would most likely apply to a combined cultivator and processor, which separates the oils on site.
Mercer said whichever direction council takes, it should draft and pass legislation establishing local rules, regulations and procedures.
"The door is open, but it is with due diligence that we go on from here," he said.
Council President Cliff Biggers, senior pastor of Coshocton's Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, said council should "proceed with caution."
"I just want us to be cautious," he said. "I want council to do its homework."
Biggers said he does not know much about the efficacy of medical marijuana, but as a former policeman he does know the effects recreational use can have on people. He views marijuana as a gateway to harder drugs, and said: "We have a serious issue in our community, drugs in general."
Ohio's law still prohibits smoking marijuana and growing it for personal use. Only patients suffering from certain medical conditions would be eligible to purchase medical marijuana, and only under the recommendation of a licensed Ohio doctor.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Leaders consider allowing medical marijuana facilities inside city
Author: Joe Williams
Contact: Contact Us | coshoctontribune.com
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Coshocton Tribune| CoshoctonTribune.com
"Are we going to have a moratorium?" Mayor Steve Mercer asked City Council members Monday night. "Are we going to have a prohibition? Are we going to be welcoming to some or all?"
While council members have not yet indicated how they will vote, some mentioned the jobs the industry could bring to Coshocton, and said they will research the issue and seek public input before deciding.
Mercer and Law Director Robert Skelton are working on a resolution on medical marijuana manufacturing and dispensing facilities they hope to present during a special council meeting set for 7 p.m. Tuesday in Council Chambers, according to Council Clerk Cherry Wilson.
Ohio's Legislature approved medical marijuana production and distribution in 2016, but created a two-year window to establish regulations and procedures. The law took effect Sept. 8. 2016, and the facilities must be operational by Sept. 8, 2018, according to the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Board Program web site, medicalmarijuana.ohio.gov.
Cultivators, or growers, are currently in the process of applying for licenses, and must submit those applications by middle or late June, depending on the size of their proposed facility. Cities, villages and townships can decide whether, where and how they want to allow medical marijuana businesses - cultivators, processors, labs and dispensaries - to operate locally.
Monday, Mercer asked council members to choose Coshocton's stance within the next month, so companies can meet June deadlines to apply for licenses with the state. Those applications require accompanying letters of welcome from the proposed host city, he said.
Dorothy Skowrunski, executive director of the Coshocton County Port Authority, said she has fielded phone calls from several companies asking about six or seven potential sites inside Coshocton, including ground owned by the Port Authority on Paper Mill Road.
Skowrunski declined to identify the companies or the other potential sites, citing the confidentiality of negotiations, but said they are all Level I, or large facilities, which could contain up to 25,000 square feet. Application fees cost $20,000 each, with an initial license fee of $180,000, she said.
Smaller, Level II, facilities can contain up to 3,000 square feet, require a $2,000 application fee and an initial license fee of $18,000.
The state will grant licenses for only 12 facilities of each size, Skowrunski said. Level I applications are due by June 30; Level II by June 16.
The cultivating facilities would be inside secure block structures, "not out in a cornfield," Skowrunski said. The medical marijuana industry is highly regulated and could provide well-paying jobs locally, she said
A Level I facility could provide between 35 and 70 jobs, she said, with an annual payroll of $2 million. The higher employment number would most likely apply to a combined cultivator and processor, which separates the oils on site.
Mercer said whichever direction council takes, it should draft and pass legislation establishing local rules, regulations and procedures.
"The door is open, but it is with due diligence that we go on from here," he said.
Council President Cliff Biggers, senior pastor of Coshocton's Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, said council should "proceed with caution."
"I just want us to be cautious," he said. "I want council to do its homework."
Biggers said he does not know much about the efficacy of medical marijuana, but as a former policeman he does know the effects recreational use can have on people. He views marijuana as a gateway to harder drugs, and said: "We have a serious issue in our community, drugs in general."
Ohio's law still prohibits smoking marijuana and growing it for personal use. Only patients suffering from certain medical conditions would be eligible to purchase medical marijuana, and only under the recommendation of a licensed Ohio doctor.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Leaders consider allowing medical marijuana facilities inside city
Author: Joe Williams
Contact: Contact Us | coshoctontribune.com
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Coshocton Tribune| CoshoctonTribune.com
