Jackson aldermen discuss decriminalizing medical-marijuana possession

The Jackson Board of Aldermen discussed changes to city ordinances Monday night that will decriminalize the possession of marijuana as long as it has been properly prescribed and obtained through a licensed medical marijuana dispensary.

A proposed ordinance decriminalizing the possession of medical marijuana was presented at the board’s study session by city attorney Tom Ludwig. In April, the board reviewed proposed changes to Jackson’s zoning ordinance while the State of Missouri prepares to issue licenses for the cultivation, manufacture and distribution of medical marijuana starting in 2020.

The board is expected to take action on the ordinance at its May 20 meeting.

In the meantime, the Jackson Planning & Zoning Commission will take up the medical marijuana zoning ordinance when it meets Wednesday and is expected to set June 12 as the date for a public hearing on medical marijuana zoning.

According to Ludwig, Perryville, Missouri, is also updating its zoning ordinances to accommodate medical marijuana processing and distribution. The issue was also discussed last month at the Cape Girardeau City Council’s annual retreat.

Marijuana cultivation, manufacturing and dispensary license applications will be available through the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services (DHSS) website beginning June 4. Applications will be accepted from August 3 to 17, after which DHSS and its “contracted partners” will have until the end of the year to review and score the applications, according to a timeline recently released by the state agency.

A DHSS spokesperson said the licenses to produce and distribute medical marijuana will be scored and ranked. Based on application scores, DHSS will issue up to 60 licenses to cultivate medical-grade marijuana, 86 licenses to manufacture it and as many as 192 dispensary licenses.

“After careful due diligence based on broad input from other states’ experiences, we are establishing the number of licenses in this first year,” according to a statement from DHSS director Randall Williams. “Moving forward, we will continually reassess to ensure access for patients is adequate.”

Lyndall Fraker, director of the department’s section for medical marijuana regulation, said DHSS’s application scoring process “will ensure that businesses selected for licenses will be those most capable of providing quality service to patients while adhering to the regulations we are implementing.”

Information about the application process is available on the DHSS website, www.health.mo.gov.

jwolz@semissourian.com

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