STRONGSVILLE, Ohio – On Monday night, City Council – concerned about a potential increase in crime – unanimously passed an ordinance that will ban the growing, processing and selling of medical marijuana in town.
Council passed the ordinance 11 days before a medical marijuana moratorium, which temporarily banned medical marijuana operations in Strongsville, was set to expire.
The ordinance references House Bill 523 – adopted last year by the Ohio General Assembly and signed by Gov. John Kasich – which allows the cultivation, selling and use of medical marijuana in the state. The law permits individual municipalities to ban the growing and selling of medical marijuana, although they cannot stop patients from using the drug.
The Strongsville ordinance says that HB 523 conflicts with federal law, which still calls medical marijuana an illegal drug, and prohibits the manufacturing, distribution, dispensation and possession of medical marijuana.
“A consequence of the continued prohibition of marijuana by the federal government is that financial services providers, such as banks and credit card companies, are unable to do business with marijuana enterprises, because it is illegal under federal law to transmit funds known to have been derived from marijuana,” the ordinance states.
Marijuana operations, since they’re unable to secure lawful loans, would have to carry a large amount of cash, which would lead to more crime, the legislation states.
Last week, the Ohio Department of Commerce announced 11 companies that will grow medical marijuana. The companies are in Akron, Canton, Carroll, Columbus, Huber Heights, Langsville, Monroe, Oberlin, Ravenna, Toledo and Wilmington.
Minutes before voting, council allowed citizens to comment on the marijuana ordinance at a public hearing. No one in the audience spoke for or against the ordinance.
During a pre-meeting caucus, Councilman Joe DeMio questioned whether council should vote on the ordinance the same night as the public hearing. He proposed delaying the vote until the next council meeting in two weeks, so that council might take into consideration any comments from residents.
DeMio asked if the city might instead extend the moratorium Monday night.
Law Director Neal Jamison recommending voting on the ordinance Monday night. He said the next council meeting is scheduled for Nov. 20, while the moratorium would expire Nov. 17. That would give three days for someone to legally establish a medical marijuana business in Strongsville.
Jamison and Councilman Michael Daymut added that council in the past has voted on ordinances the same night as public hearings on those ordinances.
82 cities
Other cities along Ohio 82 in Cuyahoga County are addressing the medical-marijuana issue in their own unique ways, although all initially established moratoriums.
In Brecksville, voters will decide today whether to ban the cultivation and selling of marijuana in all zoning districts. City Council earlier this year placed the issue on the ballot.
The proposed medical-marijuana ban in Brecksville must go to voters because it would amend the city’s zoning code. In Brecksville, voters must decide all zoning issues.
In Broadview Heights, City Council in late August extended by one year a moratorium on the growing, processing and selling of medical marijuana. The moratorium was first established in August 2016, and its purposed was to give city officials time to study HB 523.
In August, Councilman Glen Goodwin said he didn’t believe Broadview Heights residents want medical marijuana cultivators to set up shop in the city. However, he said council should “move cautiously” before enacting legislation.
Broadview Heights Councilman Joe Price said the Ohio Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee, which is helping the state write rules and regulations for the medical-marijuana program, won’t allow medical-marijuna businesses in communities with moratoriums because “they don’t want the controversy.”
On Monday night, Strongsville council honored local journalist Terry Brlas, who died suddenly Oct. 25 at 59, by placing an agenda and Indians cap in a front-row chair in council chambers.
Brlas, who was a reporter and editor for the Strongsville Post and North Royalton Post, always wore an Indians cap to council meetings.
According to an obituary on The Post Newspapers website, Brlas was an avid fan of Cleveland sports teams. He was an active member of Christ Church, which has campuses in Columbia Station, Elyria and Old Brooklyn in Cleveland. He graduated in 1978 from Firelands High School in Lorain County and was a member of the Sigma Tau Nu Fraternity at Heidelberg College, which is now Heidelberg University, in Tiffin.
On Monday night, Strongsville Mayor Thomas Perciak presented certificates of recognition to, from left, Paul Knapik, 13, Malcom Campbell, 13, Kyle Lesiw, 10, and Sean Patrick Nugent, 9, all members of the Strongsville Youth Hockey League. The boys raised money in the October Saves Goalie Challenge, a community-based charity that supports various cancer-research initiatives.
credit:cleveland.com
