FINDLAY, Ohio — Will a recreational marijuana dispensary be allowed in your town?
That's the question many are asking in our area.
And while recreational marijuana dispensaries could be opening in Ohio later this year, officials Hancock County are still debating whether dispensaries should be allowed in the county.
Currently, Hancock County residents have to drive quite a distance to buy medicinal marijuana. The City of Findlay placed a moratorium on dispensaries in 2016.
Now a similar debate is happening regarding dispensaries for recreational marijuana, which was legalized when voters approved Issue 2 in November. Since the measure passed, some local governments have moved to prevent the sale of recreational marijuana in their communities.
In November, more than 53 percent of voters in Hancock County voted against Issue 2, while around 47 percent voted in favor.
Findlay Mayor Christina Muryn said she believes those vote totals show the community is fairly evenly split on the issue. She said she is worried the community will be inundated with billboards and advertisements for marijuana.
"Making sure that we don't become a state like Michigan, the state up north, where they have the billboards all over the place and it's kind of glamorized or, you know, just widely accessible," the mayor said.
And at the county level, the Hancock County ADAMHS Board is also not ready to support recreational marijuana in the community yet either.
Executive Director Precia Stuby said that unlike tobacco and alcohol, she's seen no national studies on the effects of cannabis on a variety of pre-existing conditions that would allow potential users to make informed decisions about marijuana.
"That kind of science does not exist for marijuana," Stuby said. "So, we don't have any way of saying here is a low risk choice for you."
County leaders also are concerned because cannabis is still an illegal under federal law. Leaders also are concerned about underage users, they said.
"In the array of legal substances, let's make sure it's an adult making an adult decision, and not a child being pulled in," Stuby said.
Muryn said many community leaders would feel more comfortable with recreational marijuana if it was federally regulated.
"Personally I wish it were a federally controlled substance and allow better regulation with banking, taxation, as well as regulations similar to tobacco where we're able to impose it a little bit better," she said. "But that's not where we're at right now, so we have to work within those parameters and find that balance."
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