MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — In an abrupt about-face, the Middletown City Council rejected an emergency extension of a moratorium on recreational marijuana businesses in the city on Tuesday by a 3-2 vote, paving the way for the industry to move in.
The state will begin accepting applications for recreational marijuana business licenses starting Friday.
As of May 31, 56 localities across the state had some form of ban or moratorium on recreational marijuana, according to a study by Ohio State University.
Middletown City Councilman Steve West said Middletown won't be one of those cities as long as he's on the council.
“I'm not going to support prohibition on anything when it comes to marijuana right now, period,” West said.
The initial business applications being accepted by the Ohio Bureau of Cannabis Control will only be for existing medical dispensaries, according to David Waxman, an attorney with the law firm McGlinchey Stafford.
“The reason they're doing this is, number one, to communicate things faster,” he said.
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The first phase of approving existing businesses means places like Middletown will be left behind by others, as the city already outlaws medical marijuana dispensaries within the city limits.
“Middletown has done nothing to prepare us for health care,” West said. “We can wait as long as we want, or we can do it all at once, but you can see how much tax money we've missed out on.”
Waxman said it makes sense for a city to institute a temporary ban, as Middletown did last December. Because recreational marijuana is new to Ohio law, many towns prohibit marijuana businesses from establishing themselves to ensure proper zoning laws, rules and regulations are in place, he said.
Prior to the vote, the Middletown City Council argued that it would be prudent to amend city ordinances to give them control over where businesses can set up before lifting the moratorium.
“That's a legitimate concern,” Waxman said.
Meanwhile, Waxman said keeping the moratorium in place for too long could disadvantage applicants when the public has a chance to apply.
He said only 50 pharmacy licenses will be distributed to districts defined by the DCC, and competition for applications will be fierce, Waxman said.
“If they want to get a license they may have to go elsewhere and that will make things difficult,” he said.
Middletown's current ban expires June 16, and several city council members, including Mayor Elizabeth Slamka, have indicated they will consider lifting the ban on medical dispensaries at an upcoming meeting.
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