South KingstownAs momentum to legalize recreational marijuana in Rhode Island builds, the town council held a work session Wednesday as it prepares to address zoning for medical marijuana facilities in the town.
Joee Lindbeck, assistant attorney general, visited the council chambers to provide insight into zoning for marijuana for both medical and recreational purposes.
Our question that were posing to the cities and towns is, if this is all inevitable, what can we do about it, she said. We think municipalities should be able to have a voiceto say no, to regulate, to govern.
She added that in Colorado, 75 percent of the municipalities either opted out of or placed a moratorium on legalization.
Under zoning principles, you have the entire authority to zone, Lindbeck said, whether its between a medical marijuana patient, a medical marijuana cultivation center, a testing facility, or forward looking into marijuana lounges, marijuana stores. We think the town has that ability and should be able to make those decisions for itself.
In Rhode Island, Lindbeck explained, Marijuana has been decriminalized, meaning possession of marijuana in the amount of an ounce or less is grounds for a $150 fine.
Its basically a traffic ticket, she said, adding that minors being caught with that amount of marijuana are subjected to a substance abuse assessment in family court.
In South Kingstown, Lindbeck explained, 22.3 percent of teenagers reported using marijuana within a 30-day period, according to a student survey administered last spring. She added that marijuana edibles and oils make it easy for teenagers to use discretely.
As for medical marijuana facilities, there are multiple tiers in Rhode Island.
The largest operations are compassion centers, or medical marijuana retail facilities. State law currently limits the number of compassion centers within the state to three. There are already three existing, including one in Portsmouth, one in Providence and one in Warwick.
There are also cultivators, whose purpose is to cultivate marijuana and marijuana products for wholesale to compassion centers. Beneath cultivators are cooperative cultivationstwo or more patients or caregivers growing marijuana togetherand beneath cooperative cultivations are caregivers, who provide marijuana to designated patients.
How the towns come into play in the cultivation sense is that in the initial application they have to provide proof that their cultivation site is in the zone permissible by the city or town for that function, Lindbeck said. You have full ability to make zoning decisions on them.
A commercial operation, she added, must be inspected regularly by zoning officials and a residential operation requires an affidavit by a licensed electrician to prove its in compliance with municipal zoning and safety codes.
Our question to the town is, is there really any way to ensure compliance with those laws? I dont know if anyone, in the three years that theres been [marijuana cooperatives in the state], has knocked on the towns door asking for an inspection by zoning officials, Lindbeck said.
Lindbeck explained to the council that there have been several unintended consequences of having medical marijuana cultivation facilities in the state.
She spoke about the practice of using butane to extract THC from marijuana leaves to produce high-concentrate liquids.
The trouble with the butane is its a weightless, odorless element, Lindbeck said, so you dont know when its gone from the room. A simple spark or a light of a lighter can explode a whole facility.
She said there have been four fires reported at cultivation centers, and four explosions at butane hash oil production sites, including a deadly 2015 explosion in South Kingstown.
We do believe this is severely under-reported because theres not very good data collection going on in Rhode Island right now, she added.
Because of the large amount of energy needed to grow marijuana, Lindbeck said, some growers adapt their electrical needs to fit their grow needs, making their facilities not in compliance with municipal codes.
She added that the disposal of excess marijuana from patients and caregivers is also a cause for concernwhereas the sale to compassion centers was once permitted, as of Jan. 1, only cultivators are allowed to sell to compassion centers.
Where is all this excess marijuana going, Lindbeck asked. We think its going on the streets. We knew it was going on the streets before, we think its going to be worse now because theres so much excess marijuana out there and no place to send it to anymore.
Based on everything weve seen in the medical market, we question if adding a legalized market on top of that right now would worsen what were already seeing, she continued.
Chris Sands, a South Kingstown resident and marijuana proponent, said he was disappointed by the one-sidedness of Wednesdays presentation.
I was not prepared to speak tonight, he addressed the town council, but I thought I was going to listen to a non-biased presentation.
Sands, a physician assistant who runs North Kingstown-based Medical Marijuana Consultants, said he was skeptical about the data presented.
Out of what I heard tonight, there might have been some skewed statistics, he added. We like to hop on statistics and data that prove the point that we would like to make. I heard quite a bit of that tonight, and that was a little disheartening.
For example, in a lot of the states where child use is the highest in the country, it was the highest before cannabis was legalized, he continued. I urge you to move with an open mind and do some of your own homework.
Town Solicitor Michael Ursillo said his office has been examining other towns ordinances related to marijuana zoning, as the town prepares to amend its own zoning ordinance.
Were going to do our best to give you some options and alternatives, he said.
There is currently no language in the towns zoning ordinance to address the use of land for medical marijuana related purposes.
The planning board discussed last month setting regulations in the event that a compassion center or a cultivation center is to come to town.
Under a draft addressing the proposed amendment to the zoning ordinance, a compassion center would only be allowed by special use permit in the Old Tower Hill Road/ Dale Carlia vicinity or in the West Kingston vicinity. The planning board is still working to determine what size buffer zones would be appropriate in residential zones.
Town Manager Stephen Alfred said the planning board will soon present its draft to the town council for review.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: Council Addresses Zoning For Medical Marijuana Facilities
Author: Kendra Gravelle
Contact: 401-789-9744
Photo Credit: Adilette
Website: The Narragansett Times
