Council votes on marijuana sales

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PAGE – Arizonans voted to legalize marijuana for recreational use.  The new law passed with 60% of the vote.

The Smart and Safe Act, Proposition 207, was a voter initiative that appeared on the November 2020 ballot.

The state had previously rejected legalized marijuana in 2016 when 53.5% voted no on Proposition 205, which would have established fines for smoking or using in a public place, underage use, unauthorized production, and possession over legal limits.

The new law allows cities some flexibility in regulating marijuana use and sales. When discussed at the Jan. 13 Page City Council meeting, the central issue was zoning for retail operations. Page has existing zoning for medical dispensaries but not for retail sales, which includes a wide array of cannabis products.

Mayor Bill Diak expressed concern about violating the new law if the city didn’t take immediate action. City Attorney Josh Smith clarified, saying the city has the option to prohibit sales.

Smith said, “We could make the argument that by not permitting it, it’s prohibited which is allowed under the law, but it certainly doesn’t give any direction to our citizens or business owners who are interested in potentially pursuing a license.”

Smith added, “It kind of leaves them in limbo, so I’d rather be explicit. If we’re going to prohibit it, let’s do that explicitly. If we’re going to permit it, let’s tell people what the conditions are.”

To permit retail sales, the city would need to go through the steps of creating new zoning. Smith said, “The zoning process takes significantly longer than just passing a regular ordinance … Because we already have dispensary zoning regulations on the books, if we tie the retail to a dispensary, we don’t have to write any new zoning or pass any new zoning regulations. They’re already in place.”

Smith told the council they could instruct staff to begin the process for standalone retail sales of marijuana, but it could take two to three months. During that period, possibly into April, sales would be prohibited in Page. Smith points out the licensing period is long and expensive, so it would deter applicants.

The ordinance proposed uses existing zoning. This allows a double license, which means a business could secure both a dispensary and a retail license if they wanted to operate in Page.

Currently, licenses are limited to 133 for the state. Operating dispensaries have first preference for retail licenses. There are 130 dispensaries in Arizona, so this likely leaves only three licenses available for Arizona in the initial opening.

The council voted 5-2 in favor of the dual license (dispensary and retail) in Page. This prohibits standalone retail unless the council takes the necessary steps in the future. It also fills in what is deemed ‘holes’ in the new Arizona law, which, for example, prohibits smoking marijuana in cars but doesn’t expressly prohibit vaping.

Councilors Brian Carey and Theresa Lee were the two dissenting votes. Lee wanted more time to evaluate and was concerned that testing wasn’t allowed in the ordinance. She said it’s needed to test the strength of marijuana products. The argument against it was for fire safety reasons. 

One of Carey’s concerns was the document’s wording because it added home cultivation and processing restrictions. The state law, concerning visibility, only requires that the public can’t see homegrown plants without binoculars or from an aircraft.

Carey said, “It’s also not just about the businesses here if you look at this ordinance and regulations. I’m sorry, but you’re getting into my bedroom and my bathroom and my closet and my kitchen. In section 9506 (of the city ordinance), we talk about kitchens, bathrooms, and primary bedrooms shall be used for their intended use and shall not be used primarily for residential marijuana processing, manufacturing, and cultivation.

“So, there’s a rallying cry of stay in my bedroom. I want you to stay out of my kitchen and stay out of my closet and stay out my bathroom as well. It’s the overreach of government regulation.”