Not 'Reefer Madness': Councilmen push for fewer restrictions on medical marijuana dispensaries

Medical marijuana dispensaries would be allowed within 200 feet of schools, day cares and churches in Cape Girardeau’s central business district if several members of the Cape Girardeau City Council have their way.

Councilmen Robbie Guard, Daniel Presson and Ryan Essex voiced support for the proposal at Monday’s council meeting while council members Stacy Kinder and Victor Gunn objected to the idea.

The proposal will be considered by the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission when it meets June 12. The planning commission will make a new recommendation to the council, which could vote on the zoning measure July 1.

City staff and the planning commission earlier this year recommended medical marijuana dispensaries, and cultivation, manufacturing and transportation facilities be allowed only in parts of four nonresidential zoning districts and not within 1,000 feet of existing churches, day cares and elementary and secondary schools.

But Guard and Presson said last month such a zoning regulation would prevent dispensaries from being in the city’s downtown.

Presson, the Ward 1 councilman, repeated that concern Monday.

“I don’t want that part of town to miss out on potential business,’ he said.

Guard and Presson said there is a greater density of homes and businesses in the downtown area, and they were built closer to schools and churches.

They said the city’s historic neighborhood should not be penalized for how it developed.

Guard said Tuesday, “Quite frankly, I kind of find that unfair.”

He added the medical marijuana business would generate additional sales tax revenue to help fund city government.

Allowing dispensaries downtown also would generate additional revenue for that area’s community improvement district, which is supported by a special sales tax, he said.

Guard and Presson previously suggested lowering the distance to 500 feet.

The latest proposal would establish a 200-foot buffer zone for dispensaries in the central business district, including downtown, but would establish a 1,000-foot buffer zone for all medical marijuana businesses, including cultivation and manufacturing operations, in other commercial and industrial zones in the city.

In contrast to Cape Girardeau’s proposed zoning, Jackson city officials are considering a measure that would allow all types of medical marijuana facilities to be within 100 feet of schools, day cares and churches.

As for the latest zoning proposal in Cape Girardeau, Guard said he wanted to make the buffer zone for dispensaries in the central business district match the existing 200-foot buffer zone that applies to liquor stores and bars.

The Ward 4 councilman said he spoke to 15 downtown business owners who voiced support for the idea.

Ward 5 Councilman Essex said he could support a 200-foot buffer zone in the downtown area, but added he would like to hear from the public. The council is expected to hold a public hearing next month.

Guard said he has seen marijuana dispensaries in Colorado.

“They look like Apple stores,” he said.

“These are good jobs,” he said of the industry.

“This isn’t ‘Reefer Madness,’” said Guard, referring to the 1936 film portraying marijuana as a dangerous drug.

Missouri marijuana facilities will be heavily regulated and licensed by the state, he said. There won’t be a dispensary on every street corner, Guard said.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said it will license 338 medical-marijuana facilities, including 192 dispensaries, 86 marijuana-infused-product manufacturing facilities and 60 cultivation facilities statewide.

Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment last year legalizing medical marijuana.

The amendment calls for the state to award 24 dispensary licenses in each of Missouri’s eight congressional districts.

City planner Ryan Shrimplin estimated Tuesday that Cape Girardeau at most might secure half a dozen dispensaries and perhaps a few cultivation facilities and marijuana-infused-product manufacturers.

Kinder, the Ward 6 councilwoman, said she wants to keep the maximum 1,000-foot buffer zone allowed in the constitutional amendment.

Kinder said she doesn’t want marijuana businesses close to homes and children.

Gunn, the Ward 3 councilman, said voters statewide favored the amendment in part because of the 1,000-foot buffer. He said he doesn’t favor less of a buffer zone.

Seattle, he said, has numerous marijuana dispensaries and “the odor of marijuana is overwhelming.”

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