Ohio’s medical cannabis program is off to a rough start.
One city has enacted a complete dispensary ban, two Ohio municipalities have passed six-month moratoriums on dispensaries, and two more cities are considering similar measures, WKYC 3 reports.
Rocky River has completely banned dispensaries over concerns about who will police the businesses, according to Andrew Bemer, the city Law Director. He says the law does not specify if enforcement is the responsibility of the city, the state, or the West Shore Enforcement Bureau.
“Given our tight knit and dense intense community, it’s our belief our best road would be to do an out and out ban,” he said in the report. “Our West Shore Enforcement Bureau is advocating against allowing any of those three processes (growing, processing and selling) to go on in any of the cities, so that’s the tack we’re taking.”
Brooklyn and Lakewood’s moratoriums are, right now, only for six months. Lakewood has taken the additional step of halting the changing of building and zoning laws, which could allow for dispensaries.
Brecksville and North Royalton are considering enacting their own measures but have so far not codified any attempts to prevent dispensaries.
Officials plan for the program to be rolled out in Sept. 2018.