Marijuana. (AP file photo)
POWNAL — After nearly three months of workshop sessions and public hearings, Pownal officials decided not to allow marijuana retail, cultivation or manufacturing in town and tabled efforts to establish rules and regulations.
“It was decided that the proposed ordinance was not in Pownal’s best interest,” the selectmen said in a statement. “The marijuana (industry) is fast changing and complex and the town does not have the resources to regulate and enforce.”
Pownal, a town of about 1,500 residents, has a constable but no police force.
Moving forward, the board said, “there will be no adult use retail marijuana operations in Pownal. There will be no medical marijuana retail facilities as well. All licensed medical caregivers are permitted by the state and must follow state restrictions. The town has no regulatory authority over their operations.”
The effort draft an ordinance officially started in late January, about six months after a community member petitioned the town to start working on it, according to board Chairman Jon Morris. The ordinance was originally going to come before the town for a vote at the annual town meeting in June.
Even from the get-go, the town was leaning against allowing any marijuana retail in the town, as Morris said at the time that he did not think Pownal was “ready” for cannabis retail shops.
Monday night’s tabling of the ordinance also tabled the conversation on manufacturing and cultivation, according to Town Administrator Melissa Henes.
Between 10 and 15 community members came out, the majority of whom expressed their support of putting the issue aside, she said.
“We just don’t have all our ducks in a row,” Selectman George Anderson said Tuesday. “We can’t bring it to the town to vote on. … It’s not ready yet.”
Part of the reason they tabled the ordinance was that throughout the public comment period, people were decidedly split on the issue. It was hard to get a consensus, Anderson said.
In January, some argued that adult use marijuana and cultivation would bring people to town.
David Stevenson, a cannabis grower in Durham looking to open a business in Pownal, agreed. If properly regulated, just like any crop, it would bring in a lot of business and money, he argued.
“This isn’t an evil plant,” he said. “If you opened your arms to the cannabis community, people would flock here.”
But others, like resident Tom Hall, were concerned about just that. Studies have shown, he argued in January, that when marijuana is legalized, driving under the influence and driving fatalities increase, “I don’t want to bring people into town who are more likely to imbibe in marijuana,” he said. If it does come, he said he wanted it to be “especially well vetted.”
“We’re not under any obligations to create an ordinance” right now Anderson said, adding that if or when this will come up again “remains to be seen.”
All the materials, including drafts and other town’s ordinances, are available on the Town of Pownal’s website.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
