Marijuana rules look restrictive

Growth and processing of marijuana, even for medicinal purposes, will be outlawed within the Clinton city limits as a result of action taken Tuesday night by the City Council.
Following the passage of State Question 788 by Oklahoma voters in June, Clinton and other municipalities are now tackling the task of regulating marijuana as it is used for medication in their jurisdictions.
At Tuesday’s council meeting one new ordinance was adopted and two existing ones were amended. They were prepared by City Attorney Ryan Meacham.
Besides outlawing cultivation and processing of medical marijuana within the city, they banned numerous other activities within 1,000 feet of specified public places, including schools and church buildings.
In preliminary discussion, Councilman Bobby Stewart asked if anything the council passed that night would be effective. He didn’t say so but apparently was thinking about the Oklahoma Legislature possibly passing laws that would override what the council did. 
“I’d say everything we pass tonight will be effective,” answered Meacham. “I didn’t try to reinvent the wheel.”
He said he had surveyed everything passed on the subject to date by other municipalities including Oklahoma City, Elk City and Ponca City, and he believed what he was proposing would be enforceable.
Councilman Jason Hulin said he had looked at others as well and they were a lot more in depth than the ordinances he and his cohorts would be voting on.
The first one considered was Ordinance 988 dealing with “the restriction of smokable medical marijuana and medical marijuana products.” Hulin said the ordinance was no different than the city’s present cigarette smoking ordinance except that it adds “under 18.”
On that issue, the ordinance presented to the council said smoking or ingestion of medical marijuana products would be subject to the same restrictions as the state’s “Smoking in Public Places and Indoor Workplaces Act.”
The sentence dealing with under-18 that was added read: “All smokable, vaporized, vapable and e-cigarette medical marijuana and medical marijuana products consumed or smoked by a patient medical marijuana license holder shall not be smoked nor consumed in the presence of a minor under the age of 18.”
Councilman Don Rodolph said it sounded pretty simple to him and moved that it be adopted.
Before the vote, though, Stewart let it be known he was unhappy about the whole idea.
“I don’t care how we vote,” he said. “I think we’re getting into a bucket of worms. We’re opening ourselves up to the biggest travesty we’ve ever experienced. The more realistic we can be, the better off we are.”
Even so, he voted for all three of the ordinances, along with the rest of the council.
Rodolph made the motions to adopt them. Hulin seconded the first one, No. 988, and Chuy Rosales the other two. Besides them and Stewart, Mayor David Berrong also voted for all three.
Meacham said Ordinance 989 permits the establishment of retail medical marijuana “dispensaries” in areas zoned C-2. Code Inspector Toby Anders said C-2 is “convenience commercial” which is where pharmacies and similar retail establishments are located.
Ordinance 990 is the one banning cultivation and processing of medical marijuana within the city limits and requiring that dispensaries for retail sales be at least 1,000 feet from schools and certain other institutions. It specifies public preschools, elementary schools, secondary schools, vocational or trade schools, colleges and universities.
Other institutions that dispensaries may not be located within 1,000 feet of are libraries, museums, public playgrounds, child care centers, places of worship or religious assembly, public parks, pools and recreational facilities.
Licenses are required to cultivate medical marijuana regardless of where it’s grown, to sell it retail, and to package it into “concentrates, edibles and other forms for consumption.” Meacham said the only one of those that may be done within the city limits is the retail sale through dispensaries
Under a section titled “Prohibited Facilities,” Ordinance 990 states: “Medical Marijuana Cultivator Facilities are hereby prohibited within the municipal boundaries of the City of Clinton, Oklahoma,” and “Medical Marijuana Processors are hereby prohibited within the municipal boundaries of the City of Clinton.”
That ordinance also requires buildings where marijuana is stored or dispensed to be equipped with ventilation and/or air filtration systems “so that no odors are detectable off premises.”
All operators of retail marijuana establishments (again, dispensaries) will be required to obtain a permit from the city clerk. The city will charge a fee for the permit – supposedly to offset costs of issuance, licensing and administration – but no amount is stated. Presumably that will be set by the council at a later date.
“Most communities I looked at already have established rates for licensers,” said Hulin.
“We as a City Council set the fees?” asked Stewart. When someone answered yes, he said, “Good. Maybe we can exaggerate them.”