Bristol mulls ban on retail cannabis
A final draft proposal that would bar recreational retail sales from Bristol will head to the city council for final approval at a special meeting Thursday.
The draft, which has not yet been released to the public, was decided on at a meeting of the ordinance committee on Sept. 15.
“The language excludes both retail and hybrid retail cannabis,” said City Councilwoman and Ordinance Committee Chair Sue Tyler. “While it has not been released yet, the city attorneys are trying to get that out as soon as possible.”
This decision comes after weeks of fraught public hearings with one that turned into a five-hour debate about the risks and benefits of marijuana use, with more than 80 Bristol residents weighing in.
“Medical cannabis is still allowed in the city,” Tyler said. “There has been no change made to the sale of medical cannabis.”
But owners of Bristol’s only medicinal cannabis dispensary, The Healing Corner, had planned to expand to also offer recreational marijuana in town. Owned by Trulieve, The Healing Corner serves over 3,000 patients per month from that location, according
to their website.
Ben Kimbro, public affairs director for Trulieve, has previously spoken at public hearings on Trulieve’s intention to turn The Healing Corner into a hybrid-retailer offering recreational cannabis. Construction work is under way at the former Applewood Restaurant & Bar on Route 6, where Trulieve sought to operate the expanded hybrid dispensary.
The ordinance puts no caps on dispensaries, cultivators, microcultivators, producers, food and beverage manufacturers, product manufacturers, product packaging, delivery service or transporters, according to Tyler. The language purposefully leaves out retailers and hybrid-retailers to allow for the manufacturing and growing of cannabis but not selling.
Under state law, the fee to convert to recreational cannabis is $1 million for retailers and $3 million for producers. That rate is discounted for operators who form 50⁄50 “equity joint venture” partnerships
with a person or business that meets certain income or residency criteria.
Bristol Mayor Jeff Caggiano said that if the ordinance language is approved as written by the council, Trulieve may no longer want to stay in the city.
“I can’t say what is going to happen, but there will be debate,” Caggiano said. “My guess is some members will see a little bit of irony in the fact that, as we have been told in public testimony, ‘marijuana is horrible and bad for kids’ yet the language drafted allows anyone to manufacture, grow and transport but not be able to actually sell it here. It’s a bit contradictory.”
The special city council meeting is scheduled for Sept. 22 at 7 p.m.
“If the final language is approved, it will take 14 days to become law,” Caggiano said. “It’s a big decision for the city, and there will be a lot to say.”