TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – Monday night the Sylvania City Council met to discuss the application for a medical marijuana dispensary to open on West Alexis Rd. Since the Ohio Department of Commerce announced the lottery awarding more dispensary licenses, applications flooded in.
Michael Howard is the owner of the property on West Alexis Rd, and although he did not succeed in obtaining a license through the lottery he is still working to get the property permits for when the day comes. “I am a firm believer in marijuana and I’m going to keep advocating for it and hopefully we can get it passed and approved in Sylvania,” says Howard.
According to Howard, medical marijuana in Sylvania would not only be good for the residents but the city’s economy. “You would be giving the right medicine to patients and in their own backyard where they wouldn’t have to travel potentially over the border to Michigan. Which they do accept Ohio medical cards there. You’re taking tax dollars out of the state of Ohio to Michigan.”
Some residents spoke out at the meeting, fearing that dispensaries would lead to substance abuse. “Having lost three members of our family due to drug issues, and knowing that all three of them started with marijuana, I think that marijuana is a stepping stone,” says Sandra Husman, a resident of Sylvania.
Howard says medical marijuana should come to the community, and people should forget the stigma associated with the drug. “Medical marijuana is not a drug it’s a medicine. There are a lot of archaic views that people think that it is a gateway drug and this and that. Most of which have been debunked at this point, but people still hang on to those misconceptions.”
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