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Wednesday, February 21, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Opinions vary on
marijuana in Sisters
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
During visitor communi-
cation at last week’s Sisters
City Council meeting, three
citizens with connections
to the marijuana industry
offered suggestions to the
Council regarding things to
consider as they study pos-
sible regulation of marijuana
in Sisters. Two people spoke
in opposition.
Dr. Gale Hayes Davis,
whose sons own Miracle
Greens recreational can-
nabis shop in Bend, urged
the inclusion of face-to-face
pre-application interviews
to determine if the business
would be a good partner.
Other considerations she
suggested included: Do the
owners have a connection to
the city? What is their his-
tory of giving back to the
community? Will the busi-
ness’ physical structure fit in
with the city’s architecture
and character? Will the busi-
ness provide marijuana edu-
cation as a part of their busi-
ness model?
Jeremy Kwit, a canna-
bis retailer who owns two
Substance Cannabis Markets
in Bend, cautioned Council
to not be overly restrictive
with marijuana regulation.
He said he already receives
92-page sets of rules from
the state that change every
two months.
Kwit reported he pro-
vides employment for 27
people who all receive free
company-provided health-
care insurance. From an eco-
nomic development point of
view, he said they support
local operators who provide
product and estimated they
help employ 700 people in
those businesses.
He worked on the com-
mittee that helped develop
municipal regulations for
marijuana in Bend and told
Council he is available for
consultation on both recre-
ational and medical mari-
juana operations and invited
them to tour his businesses.
Monica Piatt read a let-
ter from a friend and local
business owner of Faveur
who also has a store in
Bend. She urged Council to
not allow marijuana-related
businesses in Sisters. She
claimed that allowing them
in Bend has led to negative
impacts on the atmosphere
and livability of downtown
Bend. She said her employ-
ees would rather work in the
Sisters store because there
isn’t the loitering, open drug
use, and offensive behaviors
they experience in Bend. She
believes having marijuana-
related businesses in town is
not a move in the right direc-
tion for Sisters.
Mary Ingraham, of
Sisters, testified that allow-
ing marijuana businesses
in Sisters could have unin-
tended consequences.
“What are we offering our
youth?” she asked Council.
There would be, she
believes, “implications for
the health of our young peo-
ple,” and the City would be
inviting problems.
Final testimony came
from Nathaniel Cox, of
Sisters, who has a busi-
ness producing marijuana
edibles. He spoke about the
“unreasonable ostracization
of cannabis over the last 100
years.” He believes it offers
medical and societal benefits
and has “vastly more posi-
[Cannabis has]
vastly more positive
societal impacts than
any negative effects.
— Nathaniel Cox
tive societal impacts than
any negative effects.”
He urged Council to take
an “adult approach to mari-
juana because it is a question
of personal liberty. People
should be able to be who
they want to be.” Cox sug-
gested that Sisters is small
enough to deal with mari-
juana-related businesses on
a unique case-by-case basis,
with no need to impose more
restrictions than the state
already does.
Councilor Andrea Blum
reiterated for those in the
chamber that Council has
no financial motivation
for what they are currently
We have to undertake
these considerations
due to the political
climate on a state
and national level.
— Councilor Andrea Blum
investigating.
“We have to undertake
these considerations due to
the political climate on a
state and national level. We
aren’t doing anything right
now as far as businesses are
concerned,” she said.
MARIJUANA:
No decision on
dispensaries
Continued from page 1
“We should have regula-
tions in place no matter what.
Otherwise, we could have a
whole host of things to deal
with retroactively. We need
to be proactive in trying to
get out ahead of any possible
changes. We can adopt rea-
sonable regulations now and
then decide in the future what
to do about allowing mari-
juana businesses in Sisters,”
said Kucera.
The topics covered by
Dale included: state marijuana
taxation; local marijuana
taxation; hemp-related busi-
nesses; City’s business license
code; time, place, and manner
regulations for recreational
and medical marijuana; and
related land-use matters.
Council examined current
City and state codes as well as
proposed bills at both the state
and Federal levels regarding
marijuana production, pro-
cessing, sales, and taxation,
that could impact Sisters’ cur-
rent stance.
At one point in the eve-
ning, Councilor Andrea Blum
reminded those filling the
chamber that Council is not
currently making any deci-
sions regarding whether or not
to allow marijuana businesses
of any kind in Sisters.
They are educating them-
selves, including taking tours
of facilities in other cities to
observe and ask questions.
Mayor Chuck Ryan told the
assembled residents he plans
to make contact with other
mayors to glean what they
have learned from having or
not having marijuana busi-
nesses in their communities.
Councilors plan to visit retail
establishments as well.
Time, place and manner
ordinances regulate when,
where, and in what fashion
marijuana can be sold. There
are already 10 state regula-
tions enforced by the OLCC,
and cities are allowed to
impose even more regulations
beyond what the state does.
ORS47B.968 provides
the authority for cities to ban
marijuana activities but is not
the only means for doing so.
Regulation can be imposed by
codes or land-use laws, and
Council wants to be sure they
understand the differences
and possible ramifications.
If the City were to permit
marijuana businesses, in any
format, it must amend the
Development Code to autho-
rize specific marijuana uses
in specific areas. The code
should also specify any sepa-
ration requirements for mari-
juana uses (such as between
each other, from schools,
etc.), and any other land-use
requirements.
The City could change the
wording of the licensing code
and issue a license to a mari-
juana business, putting the
onus on the business to under-
stand they may not be in com-
pliance with federal law.
Legal staff has prepared
draft ordinances as examples
of how the wording would
be changed. At this juncture,
Council is not yet addressing
the issue of whether to allow
marijuana businesses and, if
so, what kind.
The purpose of the current
work is to get regulations in
place now so that, if needed,
the City would have appro-
priate controls in place that
reflect the majority opinion of
the citizens.
Council is planning to hold
a public meeting to hear from
citizens their thoughts regard-
ing marijuana businesses
in the community. The date
of that meeting is yet to be
determined.
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