VILLAGE OF MINOA – The Village of Minoa will pass a local law that lets the municipality opt out of permitting marijuana dispensaries and consumption sites inside its boundaries.
In turn, the village will place mandatory referendums on its upcoming March ballot to let the residents decide which route should be taken.
An early general sense of public opinion could be gathered at the Sept. 7 open session that took place in the village hall on North Main Street.
Although the public hearing briefly became heated, a cross-section of opinions on the matter ended up being heard that Tuesday evening.
One local said she expects the traffic leading to cannabis dispensaries and consumption sites to then flow to area restaurants as a result of the munchies, a craving that would thus bring in additional revenue for the village.
She also said the out-of-state dispensaries she has visited strike her as “secure and safe”—a departure from the sight of someone dealing drugs on a corner.
Along the same lines, a self-described lifelong village resident said a dispensary is unlikely to bring the proverbial man in a black trench coat to Minoa.
One former law enforcement officer who has lived in the village since 1999, however, said that he believes opting in would attract a “pervasive criminal element.”
“We have a wonderful tradition here in this village, and I don’t want to see it tarnished or lost with the idea that we need to get on with this progression of ‘well, everybody’s doing it,’” he said.
He added that another reason he is “diabolically opposed” to this cannabis-friendly attitude is because he believes marijuana can act as a gateway to the use of harder drugs like cocaine and heroin.
A few attendees shared during the Sept. 7 public hearing that the vote they cast would rely on the regulations adopted by the state’s Cannabis Control Board, while other comments conveyed that the village should take advantage of the excise tax procured through distribution since people would choose to smoke marijuana whether or not dispensaries popped up in the vicinity.
“Marijuana is here to stay, and it’s legal,” one man said. “As long as it’s going this way, we might as well opt in.”
The referendums would allow residents to either support or oppose dispensaries and designated on-site consumption on a separate basis.
If the village had gone without making any cannabis-related decisions by the time this year ended, it would have automatically had to opt in without being able to later opt out of the authorization of such establishments.
The March 2022 voting results will also determine who will be appointed to two open trustee spots and the village justice seat.
