Florida County Split on Dispensary Vote Again
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]O[/dropcap]ne Florida county has again denied its citizens access to medical cannabis, citing disagreements over zoning.
The vote at Collier County’s commissioner board meeting this week was split 3-2, leaving the chance for medical cannabis dispensaries to open in the same areas as pharmacies in the dust. The zoning change needed a supermajority of 4-1 to pass.
“In the city of Naples, two schools, a middle and a high school, are in walking distance of those drug stores. I just think it’s so inappropriate,” said Commissioner Penny Taylor. She stated she wants to see more control over where cannabis dispensaries can open.
“It’s always been about the zoning,” said Taylor, who spoke before the vote. “Always for me. Never the value of what you take and the importance of it to your health. So I want to make that very clear. But I am not willing to have the rights of people who do not want dispensaries next to a school, I’m not going to take those away from those people.”
Collier County voted on the same issue in May and decided to allow six months to monitor how medical cannabis patients in the county were doing. Many are paying extra to get the cannabis delivered from other areas, upsetting advocates that want cannabis to be more accessible.
Florida voters passed the measure that legalized medical cannabis two years ago with a 70 percent majority.
State rules adopted last year allow municipalities to regulate the dispensaries with two different options. Either they would need to be banned outright, or they need to be regulated like pharmacies—allowed in any commercial district without being within 500 feet from a public or private school. Only 11 of the 64 approved medical cannabis dispensaries have been allowed to open.
“The voters in the state of Florida approved a constitutional amendment that provides for access for medical marijuana,” said Commissioner Andy Solis. “I personally don’t think that we can stand in the way of that.”
