CannAscend has been working to overturn a Logan City ordinance that prohibits medical marijuana entities to establish operations within the city. The problem: CannAscend has already invested over $1.25 million on their Logan location, "Strawberry Fields."
According to the Logan Daily, Mayor Greg Fraunfelter, City Service Director Bruce Walker, and some local residents made their opposition and skepticism towards the dispensary "loud and clear" during a second hearing by Logan City Council members Tuesday night.
Ordinance 59 was placed on the local ballot in the November 2016 election, and voters of Hocking County voted 1,656 to 1,176 in favor of enacting the ordinance that would prohibit medical marijuana entities to operate in Logan city limits.
The Council is expected to make a decision of repeal during a May 14 meeting, which - if passed - would give CannaAscend the green light to open the dispensary for business. In the case of Ordinance 59 not being repealed, the City of Logan faces the possibility of a lawsuit.
The delay of CannAscend's Strawberry Fields dispensary not only affects the City of Logan, but includes all of the surrounding areas as southern-Ohio dispensaries have been slow to become operational to patients. While Logan Council members may feel that they are serving the best interest of their constituents, the indirect effect of their opposition has created obstacles for patients in the entire greater-area.
According to the Logan Daily, local resident Pat Hosler spoke in favor of the dispensary, saying he has nothing to gain, per se, from the opening of the dispensary but feels that it is something that is needed in the community.
One massive advantage to allowing medical marijuana entities is the significant tax revenue that goes back to each city where an entity operates. While opponents to the dispensary may feel that the presence of a dispensary may seem negative, evidence from other state programs beg to differ, including a total of over $319 million in tax revenue for Washington state with all but $4 million coming from the state's marijuana sales tax.
Let's talk about security: it seems pretty crazy to think that a dispensary would cost over $1.25 million to establish a location. The reason? Security is intense and comprehensive at medical marijuana entities. While some may feel that these businesses might attract crime, the presence of such expansive security systems can actually increase the sense of security in the cities they operate.
Furthermore, Police Quarterly published a study that found that it is "plausible that [marijuana] legalization did in fact produce a measurable impact on clearance rates, observing that their models "show no negative effects of legalization and, instead, indicate that crime clearance rates are increasing faster in states that legalized than in those that did not." This is significant, as this would provide evidence that contrary to putting a burden on law enforcement, legalization actually frees up law enforcements time to solve violent and property crime.
According to Marijuana Moment, researchers at the think tank RAND - a nonprofit institution - recently studied the county-level impact of marijuana legalization on the impact of legalization on crime in California. The results were clear: "there was no relationship between county laws that legally permit dispensaries and reported violent crime," furthermore, there was a "negative and significant relationship between dispensary allowances and and property crime rates."
While many patients still require their existing prescriptions, an optimistic side effect of medical marijuana presence in states includes the reduction in opiate-related overdose deaths. According to the lead study author Dr. Marcus Bachhuber, "we found there was about a 25 percent lower rate of prescription painkiller overdose deaths on average after implementation of a medical marijuana law."
If you are an Ohioan suffering from one of these 21 medical conditions you may be eligible to treat your ailment with medical marijuana, which includes both THC and CBD products.
Click here to learn more about what Ohio Marijuana Card's state-certified medical marijuana doctors can do for you, or give us a call at (1-866-457-5559) and our friendly support team can walk you through the entire process, and set you up with an appointment.