City to review medical marijuana moratorium

Avon Lake will review its position on medical marijuana as Ohio prepares to legalize it across the state.

The city of Avon Lake will review its position on medical marijuana as Ohio prepares to legalize it across the state.

In a work session held on Oct. 2, council heard a presentation from former Avon Lake Councilman Mike Stanek, who provided an update on the state government’s progress in preparing to legalize medical marijuana statewide.

Stanek serves on the 14-member Ohio Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee. Appointed to a two-year term in 2015 by Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Stanek represents employers across the state in the body coordinated by the Ohio Department of Commerce, the Board of Pharmacy and the state Medical Board in finalizing the rules and regulations for medical marijuana. The law signed in June 2016 by Kasich is set to take effect in September, 2018.

The law allows for certified doctors to provide a recommendation of medical marijuana to patients for a set of 21 different ailments. Patients are allowed to possess up to a 90-day supply and must have their recommendation renewed by a doctor after one year.

Stanek said the committee is proceeding in a way to protect patients and ensure medical marijuana recommendations are being done in a way to prevent abuse of the system.

With 24 cultivators across Ohio, 18 will be located in Northeast Ohio. Doctors will be required to undergo training in order to become certified to recommend medical marijuana to patients. After approving cultivators, the committee is now preparing to accept applications to license up to 40 marijuana processors.

“We have proceeded methodically and the credit really goes to the three state bodies that are in charge of this,” Stanek said. “They have done a lot of research with other states who are already participating in both medical marijuana and recreational marijuana to determine what the pitfalls have been and what works and what doesn’t work.”

Avon Lake Council’s safety committee put in place a six-month moratorium on medical marijuana set to expire at the end of 2017. The moratorium restricts the granting of permits to any business seeking to cultivate, process or dispense medical marijuana to allow more time for the state government to finalize the rules and regulations and its impact on municipalities.

Safety committee chair David Kos asked Stanek for his recommendation on how the city should approach the issue as the moratorium nears expiration.

“At this juncture, the possibility of a facility being placed in Avon Lake is very slim,” Stanek said. “But they have to be placed somewhere. If I were wearing that hat again, I would probably be in favor of continuing a moratorium. Sometimes the best offense is a good defense.”

Avon Lake Mayor Greg Zilka emphasized the potential benefits of medical marijuana and also taking a cautious approach as the state continues the process of preparing for the law to go into effect.

“I think it is important to point out that there are people who have benefited from medical marijuana from the standpoint of the relief of pain and nausea and particularly with cancer,” he said. “So there is an element of cynicism in the room but there are some positive aspect to this or otherwise the state legislature wouldn’t have allowed it,” Zilka said. “So it’s important to note that we’re trying to monitor it, we’re trying to control it and we’re trying to regulate it as safely as possible.”