MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It used to sell liquor and thrift clothes, but it will soon become a dispensary.
An old building in Byhalia will be renovated and turned into a medical marijuana dispensary.
The Interim Mayor and Board of Aldermen said yes to the project by one vote earlier this week.
It makes Byhalia the first municipality in the state to allow a dispensary.
Zack Wilson, who is the Vice President of a group that pushed for Mississippi’s new medical marijuana program, said he plans to pour a quarter of a million dollars into the project.
He wants to have it open by Thanksgiving.
”When I was a kid, it was an open store, and it meets all of the requirements as far as distance. It meets all the requirements. It’s been vacant, instead of building a new building. Let’s fix what we have,” Wilson said.
Wilson also said he is opening here because it’s in a small town wedged between Olive Branch and Holly Springs, and he’ll be able to serve a number of different communities.
Jimmy Hankins, of Byhalia, likes the idea.
“That would be nice. That would be really nice. I don’t smoke marijuana, but that would be good for somebody,” Hankins said.
But some have questions about the drug falling into the wrong hands.
Wilson told FOX13 when the dispensary opens, there will be guards during the day.
There will also be security cameras, and at night all medical marijuana products will be locked in a vault in what used to be an old liquor store.
”It will be good for the city of Byhalia. People are going to drink whiskey regardless, but to turn it into a marijuana thing, that will be nice too,” James Dockery said.
Download the FOX13 Memphis app to receive alerts from breaking news in your neighborhood.
Trending stories:
©2022 Cox Media Group
