After the Southaven Board of Alderman voted on April 19 to opt-out of Mississippi’s new medical marijuana program — with a plan to opt back in once they could zone for any potential dispensaries to be located in one place — a group of residents got up and left, gathering outside to discuss what happened.
“I’ve been in the cannabis business legally in Colorado for the last five years,” Doug Stout, director of operations at Mississippi Health Consultants, said during the impromptu meeting. “My last dispensary was literally nestled in a Denver neighborhood. There were no problems, there were no issues. We never ran into these things.”
Gov. Tate Reeves signed a bill legalizing medical marijuana in Mississippi in early February. The legislation allows patients to buy up to 3 ounces of marijuana per month and is designed to be used by people with debilitating conditions such as cancer, AIDS and sickle cell disease.
Cities and counties across the state have until early May, 90 days after the signing of the bill, to vote on whether they want to allow certain medical marijuana-related businesses to operate in their communities. If they decide no, they will still be able to opt back in at any point.
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City leaders expressed concern the law doesn’t allow them to zone more specifically than what it explicitly states, which is dispensaries must be at least 1,500 feet from each other and 1,000 feet from a school, church or daycare.
On Friday, cities in DeSoto County received an opinion from the state Attorney General on the issue. According to Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite, the opinion not only makes it clear that cities are allowed to be more specific in zoning for dispensaries in commercial zones, but that cities also must have a comprehensive zoning plan in place ahead of opting in.
Melvin Robinson, communications director for the Mississippi Trade Association, is one of the activists unsure of the need for an AG opinion, stating they believe the law has always stated cities are allowed to zone for dispensaries. But they also point to the passage that cities and counties are not allowed to “prohibit dispensaries either expressly or through the enactment of ordinances or regulations that make their operation impracticable in the jurisdiction.”
“I haven’t seen or read the AG opinion,” Robinson said. “But as far as the zoning information, there is zoning information that says that municipalities would have power over zoning in the bill, but they cannot be discriminatory because it is a cannabis facility.”
During the April 19 meeting, Musselwhite, who emphasized his support for medical marijuana in Southaven, proposed the creation of a special commercial medical zone near Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto, allowing dispensaries to be zoned specifically near doctors’ offices.
“What I can say is that you don’t limit Walgreens, you don’t limit Rite Aid, you don’t limit CVS, these are pharmacies, they sell medications, but yet they aren’t limited to a medical district,” Stout said. “It seems odd to me that you would take this stance on something you consider to be a medicine just the same.”
Southaven’s city planning director, Whitney Choat-Cook, expects the zoning to be able to be completed within 90 days, meaning Southaven could opt back in by the end of summer with the tighter zoning requirements in place.
Voters have the ability to request a special election by gathering signatures by petition from 1,500 registered voters. Stout and others believe that if they can get the signatures on the desk of the city clerk, they can force a vote on the issue without the zoning requirements attached.
After speaking with the city attorney, Southaven City Clerk Andrea Mullen said over email that the city has the authority “to zone any potential dispensaries to be included in the medical district, regardless of a vote by the residents or the City Board to opt in.”
There is concern amongst Stout and other residents that zoning dispensaries so tightly will limit the opportunities for small businesses to open in the town. There is also concern that forcing residents to drive to a small section of town, or to towns like Olive Branch, which opted in April 19, will prevent patients who need medical marijuana from getting it.
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Andrew Durham, a disabled combat veteran, spoke at the April 19 meeting. Durham does not want to drive into other towns to get medical marijuana and is concerned some patients might not be able to make that drive.
“Why should we have to drive to the next town?” Durham said. “We don’t have to drive to the next town for liquor. We don’t have to drive to the next town for pharmaceutical needs. They’re making medical marijuana sound like a boogeyman, and it’s nothing but a store. A secure store. And it’s not going to bring any crime. The crime is for illegal, not legal.”
Having accessible medical marijuana could change Durham and other disabled veterans’ lives, he said.
“Medical marijuana could take me off of a boatload of pills,” Durham said. “A boatload of pharmaceutical pills and save my kidney and my liver. Medical marijuana could take me off of opioids, these psychotic meds I’m taking to stop me from waking up in the night. I have to go to bed at night and I have to make a choice, do I take a sleeping pill or do I take a pain pill, because I don’t mix the two. And if I take the sleeping pill, I’m able to fall asleep but then I’m tossing and turning all night in pain. If I take the pain pill, I’m up all night, can’t sleep.”
Despite the uncertainty of what will happen to medical marijuana in Southaven next, Durham said just getting it in here in the first place is a good thing, at least for veterans.
“Anything positive is going to work for veterans,” Durham said. “We’re resourceful, we’re surviving. We’re going to go and get whatever we need wherever we can get it. It’s about other people. Thank God I’ve got resources to help me do what I need to do.”
Gina Butkovich covers DeSoto County, storytelling and general news. She can be reached at 901-232-6714 or on Twitter @gigibutko.
