Dispensaries for medical marijuana will not be allowed in the village of Fayette following a decision by a sharply divided council.
The council voted 4-3 (with Mayor David Borer casting the deciding vote) to prohibit dispensaries. The ordinance was passed after council declared an emergency. The prohibition allows the village to further study the law without a time limit.
The vote came after Beth Thomas, program director of Healthy Choices/Caring Communities spoke on the new law in Ohio and what it regulates.
The law allows medical marijuana to be grown and cultivated and given to people with a recommendation from a physician who have a condition on the state’s list. Chronic pain is one such condition.
That could open abuse of the law. Thomas cited Colorado, which was the first state to approve of medical marijuana, has 108,000 registered patients and 90 percent of those qualify based on pain, she said.
The marijuana will not be dispensed through pharmacies, rather through dispensaries. Many communities are passing moratoriums of varied lengths of time to further study the issue, Thomas said.
Dispensaries cannot be within 500 feet of a school, church or public library, Thomas said.
“You can’t grow it at home,” Thomas said.
Patients cannot smoke it, but they can vape it or consume it in edibles such as Gummy Bears.
The key ingredient in marijuana, THC, is at 35 percent strength in plant matter, but is at 70 percent in edible form, Thomas said.
Employers will retain their rights to a drug-free workplace and can terminate workers who fail drug tests. Those workers will not be eligible for unemployment.
The concerns some organizations have is the new law will make it easier for young people to access the drug. Overall use by adults and youth is likely to increase, Thomas said.
“Will employers be able to find employees to pass a drug test,” she said.
In other news, Mayor Borer said the village has to decide whether to store materials to treat the lagoon in the spring or try to do it in the fall.
The village will advertise for bids to rid itself of a parcel by the creek donated in 1956. The village doesn’t want the land and will look for a buyer.
The village also swore in a new police officer, Darrel Griffin.
James Pruitt may be reached at
publisher@thevillagereporter.com