Folks who voiced their opinions on whether the Village of Lakewood should opt out of allowing cannabis retail dispensaries and consumption locations were evenly divided.
Around 20 people attended the hearing that started off with a presentation by County Mental Hygiene Grants Director Steve Kilburn. Kilburn said the three high risk populations when it comes to marijuana use including youth, those vulnerable to mental illness, and those who are at risk for, or currently have a substance use problem.
Several of the residents who voiced support for not opting out cited how access to marijuana may help reduce opioid use including resident Jaron Pollino who said recent studies support this, “And if we were to look at those, they would reflect that there is a direct correlation in between using marijuana and being able to get off of this stuff permanently without having to use suboxone or whatever else you might be addicted to long term. So this would be one of the biggest things to help combat our number one problem in this county.”
Others in support cited the financial benefit to the village including resident Emily Garrick, “You’ve already multiple times during this meeting expressed some anxiety about the budget and I think that this is an extremely lucrative taxable industry that could be beneficial to the village. And I also think that by opting out you would be actively driving business away from the village, not just for potential dispensaries but for other village businesses.”
Several members did request the board provide information on potential revenues the village may realize if the sale of cannabis was allowed in Lakewood.
Resident Jim Larson‘s opinion was shared by several voicing support for opting out of allowing cannabis dispensaries, “I don’t want to see increased criminal activity and I don’t want to promote more drugs to young kids so I’m against it completely.”
Resident Dorothy Larson concurred with her husband, “Number one, I don’t find many good things about having it. We don’t need to make money off of it in Lakewood. We’re doing just fine where we are. And I haven’t heard enough positives things to bring it here.”
The Village Board took no action on the issue and will hold another public hearing on whether to allow cannabis dispensaries and consumption locations at 6:45pm, Monday, August 23rd.
Of the five board members, two were non-commital, willing to listen to what the community had to say. Two were clearly leaning in the direction of being against dispensaries, but claimed they were willing to listen to what everyone had to say, and one blatantly stated his opinion against it. There is another public hearing on this matter in two weeks, but it seemed pretty clear to me, and I heard others stating similar feelings on the way out the door after the meeting, that it was already a done deal, and that these “public hearings” are merely a formality.
The comment made about “non cannibis-related businesses not coming to Lakewood because we don’t have dispensaries or use facilities makes no sense. I would argue that businesses may stay away from opening in Lakewood because we have a dispensary and use facility because of the risk of increase in crime (whether that is actually true or not aside). Perception is everything.