{"id":53629,"date":"2022-03-17T11:01:38","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T19:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/03\/17\/some-mississippi-cities-move-to-ban-medical-marijuana-businesses\/"},"modified":"2022-03-17T13:45:51","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T21:45:51","slug":"some-mississippi-cities-move-to-ban-medical-marijuana-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/03\/17\/some-mississippi-cities-move-to-ban-medical-marijuana-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"Some Mississippi Cities Move To Ban Medical Marijuana Businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely are disappointed that those four municipalities have decided to opt-out. Especially considering that over a combined 127,000 voters in the counties those municipalities are located in voted for medical cannabis.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Sara DiNatale, Mississippi Today<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mississippians hoping to start medical marijuana businesses are up against a new obstacle: city aldermen.<\/p>\n

Despite voters overwhelmingly passing Initiative 65<\/a> to create a medical marijuana program in November 2020, the state Supreme Court struck it down<\/a> on constitutional technicality. After months of uncertainty, Gov. Tate Reeves (R) signed the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act<\/a> into law in February. Now, some local business people hoping to get a foothold in the industry are being blocked by their elected officials.<\/p>\n

One Mississippi pharmacist\u2019s plans to open a dispensary in Brandon are paused indefinitely and cultivators with hopes of growing the plant in nearby cities are facing the same hurdles.<\/p>\n

Four city boards in Brandon, Ridgeland, Gluckstadt and Pass Christian have already voted to sit out of the state\u2019s medical marijuana program and at least a few others from Winona to Sumrall are likely to take up their own opt-out vote ahead of the state\u2019s May deadline. Patients in opt-out cities can still possess medical cannabis, but the municipalities won\u2019t allow dispensaries or cultivators to open businesses within their limits\u2014at least for now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was expected,\u201d said Slates Veazey, a Jackson attorney and expert in cannabis law. \u201cIt\u2019s something businesses and the industry have been watching closely. More cities are likely to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advocates for medical marijuana call the choice to sit out the program short sighted. City leaders say they\u2019re just being careful: They\u2019d rather see how medical marijuana businesses play out in other cities before allowing them in their own communities.<\/p>\n

If there is anything Mississippi\u2019s cannabis businesses have grown used to, it\u2019s hold ups.<\/p>\n

Veazey said past May, businesses will still be up against zoning laws even in cities that haven\u2019t opted out. The new program, for example, only allows grow operations to open in areas zoned for agricultural or industrial use. While counties may rezone areas to accommodate for the new businesses, some counties could also take the opposite approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the folks who have been planning this for awhile have had informal conversations with local officials to get some assurances,\u201d said Veazey, who advises cannabis businesses as an attorney with the Bradley law firm. \u201cAlready, there are only so many pieces of property these businesses can be located.\u201d<\/p>\n

During a public hearing earlier this month in Brandon, Buell Polk\u2014who owns a chain of local pharmacies\u2014told the board of aldermen his hopes of turning a long-vacant bank into a dispensary nearby one of his existing Polk\u2019s Drugs shops.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been dispensing medicinals in Brandon and Rankin County well over 50 years,\u201d he told the board. \u201cI think I\u2019m qualified. I\u2019ve been dispensing drugs all these years\u2026I think we can do a good job.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said his could-be business would be near several assisted living facilities and nursing homes, the city\u2019s major hospital, and four pharmacies. It would be centrally located for people with severe or terminal illnesses who qualify for medical marijuana under the new state law.<\/p>\n

\u201cGive us the opportunity to help these people,\u201d Polk said.<\/p>\n

Cities have the option to opt out of just dispensaries, just cultivation operations or both. Brandon\u2019s economic development director, Todd Troxler, asked the board to consider allowing indoor marijuana growing facilities.<\/p>\n

Businesses have already started building facilities in the state, taking over abandoned warehouses with the promises of upwards of 100 jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you opt out, we don\u2019t even have a chance to get one,\u201d Troxler told the board.<\/p>\n

Ultimately Brandon\u2019s board voted 5-2. The city\u2019s mayor said he didn\u2019t see the harm in waiting to see how the program worked elsewhere first.<\/p>\n

Cities can opt back into the program. But if they don\u2019t opt out before May 3, they have no flexibility if they want out.<\/p>\n

In Ridgeland, the vote to opt out was unanimous. Pass Christian\u2019s board voted the same way, making it the first Gulf Coast City to opt out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did the right thing,\u201d said Pass Christian Mayor Jimmy Rafferty. \u201cWe can look at other towns, get key learnings from them and decide if it\u2019s the right thing for Pass Christian.\u201d<\/p>\n

Residents and leaders across these cities expressed concerns over crime increasing to needing time to sort out their city\u2019s zoning codes.<\/p>\n

Mississippi\u2019s newest city, Gluckstadt, voted 3-2 to opt out this month. Despite being home to a little over 3,000 residents, the city\u2019s mayor said it still had numerous inquiries about potential businesses.<\/p>\n