By Howard Packowitz
BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington’s cannabis task force is recommending the city council allow regulated marijuana sales for recreational use, but task force members are not unanimous in that view.
At Thursday night’s meeting, downtown business owner De Urban said the city needs more time to prepare for the tremendous paradigm shift she believes will happen when recreational marijuana use becomes legal in Illinois on January 1.
Urban joined the two Bloomington Police task force representatives preferring to opt out of the chance to allow a recreational cannabis dispensary, even if the city government can collect up to a three percent tax on marijuana sales.
“I’m all for tax revenue, but I’m also for putting things into place to be able to manage what we’re asking for. If we’re not managing it ahead of time, we’re inviting disaster,” said Urban.
Assistant Police Chief Greg Scott worries first responders don’t have enough resources to deal with potential problems. That’s why he prefers no dispensaries here, or at least he said the city should impose strict rules to minimize negative impacts.
“We’re already running from call-to-call-to-call, so if these things do take an ugly turn, that could over tax us,” said Scott.
“I’m not sure that even a three percent (sales) tax on it would cover the additional cost,” Scott added.
Six of nine task force members believe the city should keep itself in the running for a dispensary, including addiction therapist Deb Carter. She said cannabis can NOT be compared to alcohol.
“I have never seen anyone die of cannabis withdrawal, and in my plus-20 years, I have seen one case of cannabis withdrawal,” said Carter.
“I can tell you I have lost many, many patients to alcohol withdrawal,” Carter said.
Task Force Co-chair Olivia Butts, a Black Lives Matter activist, said opting out could deny minorities the chance to take advantage of the new law’s social equity provisions.
“There’s no guarantee that a black or brown person would be the recipient of a license, but they have an advantage. It’s built into the system,” said Butts, who teaches at Illinois State University.
“So I think taking away that opportunity for someone in our community, most likely a minority, to open a new business here, I would be against that,” Butts said.
Instead of taking a wait-and-see approach, the city should take proactive steps to educate the public so they can be “safe and smart” about marijuana use, said Julie Emig, one of two city council members who are on the task force.
“We need to take this opportunity to be responsible, and to regulate, and to control its usage as best as we can, as well as by providing avenues for education,” Emig said.
Task Force Chair Linda Foster did not attend Thursday’s meeting.
The task force reports back to the city council at Monday’s committee-of-the-whole meeting, which is scheduled at 6 p.m.
Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]
