Fagnant: It’s time to act on cannabis

An amendment of the Code of Ordinances, City of Woonsocket, Rhode Island Appendix C, entitled “Zoning: Regulating Indoor Farming” has been proposed – amending one word, “excluding,” to “including” cannabis, also known as marijuana.

This very important issue was first brought to the City Council in September 2017 by a property manager that has a 240,000-square foot mill building located on Singleton Street here in Woonsocket. The property manager wants the City Council to repeal its ban on indoor cultivation of cannabis and help keep the building solvent after the 2016 collapse of Honora Spinning.

Thus, the amendment and changing the word “excluding” to “including.”

This ordinance was introduced on April 16, 2018, by Councilor Richard J. Fagnant, Councilor Melissa Murray, and Councilor Christopher A. Beauchamp. Unfortunately, it was defeated by a three to three vote. The three council members that voted nay were Councilors Daniel Gendron, James Cournoyer, and Denise Sierra, who insisted on acquiring a recommendation from the administration of Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt.

Right now, there are approximately 80 registered patient or caregiver “Home Grows” in the City of Woonsocket according to the DBR (Department of Business Regulations). The DBR does not issue final licenses until the location has been secured and the facility has been built out, and passed a final inspection. However, they do have several applicants whose applications have been approved and are looking for a new or alternate application because their primary locations fell through. They also have about 40 applicants whose applications are being processed, several of whom need to secure a location before they can issue an approval.

In total, according to the DBR, there are a dozen applicants who are looking for a secure location – sites which Woonsocket would likely be able to provide. It’s also possible that licensees who are operating under Micro or Class A license would look for a new location which can support a larger class of license sometime in the very near future.

In April’s 2018 edition of AARP, a new University of Michigan study, cosponsored by AARP, looked at attitudes about medical marijuana among 50-to 80-year-olds. The results: Older people are mostly OK with medical marijuana (four-fifths say it should be allowed with a doctor’s recommendation), and they believe it or probably helps with pain (69 percent). anxiety (59 percent) and appetite (56 percent).

Older Americans also think marijuana is less likely to cause cancer than tobacco and be less addictive than prescription pain medication Twenty-nine states plus the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana, while eight of those states (plus D.C.) also allow recreational use.

The national cost of enforcing marijuana laws is $3.6 billion a year. Instead of tearing communities apart, these currently issued billions could build up communities. The tax revenue generated by this business could put millions of dollars in the city treasury and reduce the high tax burden we all suffer from.

If regulated like alcohol, marijuana becomes safer and the profits of drug cartels cease, being transformed into legitimate tax revenues. The incoming tens of millions of dollars can substantially reduce Rhode Island’s annual budget crisis. Passage of legislation would create new business and jobs for growing and selling marijuana. As suggested by the director of Regulate Rhode Island, Jared Moffat, establishing these businesses could be an economic advantage when neighboring states legalize marijuana.

The Centers for Disease Control reports that U.S. economic costs of excessive drinking for 2006 was $223.5 billion. Moreover, from 2006 to 2010, “Excessive Alcohol use led to approximately 88,000 deaths and 2.5 million years of potential life lost each year.” Both the short-term and long-term health risks are far greater with alcohol than marijuana. These risks include alcohol poisoning, alcoholism, heart disease, various cancers, dementia, miscarriage, stillbirth and infants suffering fetal alcohol syndrome.

Our state cannot continue to waste lives and money in a wrongheaded war on marijuana. With public support, the Rhode Island legislature can pass a law which ensures marijuana’s safety, eliminates over policing, stops enforcement discrimination, reduces wasteful spending, increases tax revenue and creates new jobs.

Let’s encourage approval of Ordinance 18-O-16.52 Indoor Farming and the word “INCLUDING” and vote to allow an indoor agriculture to grow (cannabis) facility in Woonsocket. It’s the right thing to do.