MONROE, Ohio — Emotions ran high at times Tuesday night as City Council discussed recreational marijuana businesses in the city.
Monroe has four medical marijuana dispensaries in the city, and after Ohio voters approved Issue 2 in November, City Council member Michael Graves wanted the city to impose a nine-month moratorium on adult use cannabis operators in the city.
He wanted the ordinance to be voted on as an emergency, meaning there would be no second reading.
But Graves announced he wanted the legislation pulled from Tuesday night’s agenda due to “bad wording.” Council approved that decision.
Before the vote, Graves said there are “no knowns” regarding how the businesses will be regulated.
Recreational marijuana use is now legal in the state of Ohio, but until rules and regulations are put in place, and licenses are able to be issued, locals can’t yet buy it. The law allows, among other things, adults 21 and over to legally possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana, as well as use and grow (six plants per person and 12 per household). It also imposes a 10% sales tax.
Graves said he wanted to “protect” city staff, employees and residents. He doesn’t want eight more dispensaries opening near Ohio 63 and Interstate 75, he said.
Dr. Kelly Clark, a veterinarian and council member, said the city already has a 60-day moratorium on medical marijuana businesses that expires in April 21, 2024.
She said Monroe voters overwhelming supported Issue 2. She said the issue received 57% support from voters in the city and it passed in nine of the 10 precincts. Not allowing the medical marijuana businesses to sell recreational marijuana would go against what the majority of Monroe residents want, she said.
Earlier Clark said the city, by waiting until after the election, would get “a free look” at how Monroe voters feel about legalizing recreational marijuana.
“I do not want to hinder them in any way,” she told the Journal-News after the meeting.
But, she said, the city needs to “take a pause” and check zoning and where recreational marijuana businesses could be located.
Vice Mayor Christina McElfresh said she didn’t want to “impede and negatively impact” the four marijuana businesses in the city.
Other Butler County cities, including Hamilton, Fairfield, Liberty Twp. and West Chester Twp., have said they won’t allow businesses to operate even if they obtain a recreational marijuana license for dispensaries, cultivation operations or processing operations of the plant.
Hamilton City Council is the latest community in Butler County to enact a temporary ban on recreational marijuana business licenses, approving a 6-month moratorium recently.
Fairfield City Council has approved by a 6-1 vote to enact a nine-month moratorium blocking recreational marijuana license-holders from operating within the city. Liberty Twp. and West Chester Twp. trustees enacted similar 360-day bans.
Journal-News Staff writer Michael Pitman contributed to this report. The Journal-News is a media partner of WCPO.com.
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