Residents at Vernon Town Council meeting on cannabis near schools

VERNON, Conn. — A public hearing was held at Vernon Town Hall Thursday night to discuss allowing cannabis-related establishments near elementary schools.

The idea, however, has been met with criticism from residents and the mayor himself. 

There were differing views from council members when it came to marijuana-related businesses in town. Some felt it was not an issue as children would be supervised by adults during the day, but others felt differently.

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“Marijuana is a gateway drug,” Vernon School Superintendent Joseph Macary.

Macary spoke against the proposal of allowing cannabis-related establishments which would be 500-feet away from the schools. 

He said he has dealt with students smoking marijuana in school bathrooms many times, not for social matters, but because it has become an unhealthy addiction.

If this is approved, Macary said it would only worsen matters. 

“If anything happens to a student within 1,500 feet of that boundary area…it’s the same if they were to do it in the boy’s locker room,” added Macary. 

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The proposal would allow retail cannabis, which means it can be a manufacturing business, a location where it is grown as well as cannabis in the form of food and beverages. 

A council member argued cannabis is not a drug. 

However, Mayor Dan Champagne, a former police officer, disagreed.

During his time in law enforcement, he said he knew firsthand what marijuana can do to a person especially when someone is behind the wheel. 

“Our children need to be number one here and anytime you bring a drug into an area, it’s a problem. I mean, this whole marijuana bill started out wrong. We legalized it before we opened up the legal centers to sell it,” said Mayor Champagne. 

Others placed the term cannabis in a different category. 

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“Cannabis all around is more of like a…I feel like a holistic approach to things as opposed to going for like pills or medication,” said Sydney Johnson of Tolland. 

No decision was made at Thursday’s public hearing. The conversation will be continued at the next public hearing on Nov. 18. 

Carmen Chau is an anchor and reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at cchau@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

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