BLUEFIELD — The Mercer County Board of Health has given the green light for the location of a medical cannabis dispensary, but all members continue to say the board should never have been in the position to make that call in the first place.
During the board’s monthly meeting Wednesday, members voted 3-2 to approve a request for the location of Greenlight Dispensary off Glenwood Road in Green Valley, with board Chair Dr. Randy Maxwell and Vice Chair Stacey Hicks dissenting.
However, the vote came after a lengthy discussion and a reluctance to make a decision, which Maxwell said is not in the board’s wheelhouse.
All board members agreed the state gave no guidelines on what factors to consider in the decision, other than the dispensary cannot be located within 1,000 feet of a school or day care center. At the Green Valley location, a video lottery business, which follows the same location requirements, is nearby.
But Maxwell said the board has no other criteria to use, including the impact on property values and traffic flow, and that makes it difficult.
“This is not in our wheelhouse. We should not even be talking about this,” he said. “This should not be our decision.”
“We would feel a lot more comfortable voting if we had guidance, but we don’t,” said board member Nicole Coeburn.
Board members have contended all along the county commission should make the decision since it’s not related to health, but to business, property values and traffic issues.
Board member Robb Williams made it clear the board’s obligation was to simply approve a particular location, and requests for approval could continue if the board votes no or takes no action.
“We can say no to this location then next month somebody has another location and another…” he said. “It has already been settled that you can dispense it.”
Hicks said approval of locations should be done by county commissioners, who are elected officials, because they are involved in decisions based on criteria like property value impacts and economic issues.
“We can’t do that,” he said.
Some complaints about the dispensary being located at that particular site also include a small parking area and more traffic congestion at the nearby intersection of Courthouse Road and Rt. 460.
But Williams said anyone who uses medical cannabis must meet certain criteria determined by a process.
“You have got to go through a lot of hoops to get a prescription…” he said. “I wonder if there is going to be a lot cars.”
Williams said if it were a store for the sale of recreational marijuana it may be a different story, but that is not what this is and these dispensaries are coming.
Board member Dr. Daniel Wells said all the board wants is some concrete guidance on what criteria should be considered related to a location, but the decision should not be their’s to make regardless.
“You are asking volunteers for decisions that should be made by elected officials,” he said. “We are not politicians.”
Board members are all volunteers.
But Prosecuting Attorney Brian Cochran, who is also the county’s attorney, attended the meeting and told the board it is “statutorily directed” to make the decision about a location, “even if you think the state is not right in making you do it.”
Cochran said even if the board voted no or did not vote at all, the dispensary could still possibly locate there because the board’s approval or disapproval of a location is one of nine or 10 factors the state considers in giving the final okay.
Hicks said he is opposed to medical marijuana because it breaks federal law.
“Would it put our funding in jeopardy?” he said. “I don’t have the answer to that.”
Both medical and recreational use are against federal law because marijuana is still classified as a Schedule I drug, in the same classification as heroin and cocaine.
However, 37 states now allow medical marijuana and 11 have passed legislation for recreational use.
A move has been under way to change the federal classification so federal law will not be in conflict with states.
The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which would decriminalize cannabis at the federal level, is expected to head to the full U.S. House of Representatives for a vote Friday.
Maxwell has always been opposed to medical marijuana.
Greenlight Dispensary already has completed work on the building, located on Expert Circle off Glenwood Road in Princeton beside the Rt. 460 and Courthouse Road intersection. The store has a sign that says it plans to open this spring.
The national company, which has more than 15 dispensaries around the country, is also working on a dispensary for Highland Avenue in Bluefield between Bluefield Avenue and Rt. 52.
Approval of that location has not yet come to the board.
The back-and-forth on the issue started in February when the board of health sent it to the commission to make a decision.
But after tabling the issue in early March, the commissioners sent it back to the board during their March 23 meeting.
“We have to go by state code, and state code does not allow us to make those decisions,” Commission President Gene Buckner said.
“You’re correct. State code dictates what’s allowable,” Commissioner Greg Puckett said to Buckner. “I believe that the ordinance that was passed back in 2017 reflects that it cannot be located within a thousand feet of a school, daycare or church. It does not meet any of those qualifications (to be rejected), so there is really no ruling and it’s going to be another business that we have in our community wherever it is located. We do not have zoning in this county; so, therefore, it’s permitted to be in that location.”
The board of health approved allowing medical marijuana dispensaries in the county in December 2020 after the state made the use of cannabis to treat a variety of medical issues legal. Anyone who uses medical marijuana must obtain a prescription from a doctor who has taken special training to be certified to write them.
— Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com
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