Local governments across the Treasure Coast are considering whether and how to regulate medical marijuana now that voters on Tuesday said they want it legal in Florida. Two counties already have laws and one city is expected to approve requirements, but another county and some cities are letting the state have first say.
Indian River County has regulated where medical-marijuana treatment centers can open and the Vero Beach City Council is to vote next month on its own requirements.Stuart and St. Lucie County, however, are considering hitting the brakes for a while on adopting rules.
Both are considering whether to temporarily not accept potential applications for medical-marijuana facilities while state lawmakers impose regulation. Stuart and St. Lucie County then would have time to create local regulation, officials said.
The St. Lucie County Commission is to vote Tuesday on whether refuse any applications for treatment centers for a year; Stuart already has imposed a three-month freeze, which could be extended.
“It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to draft and approve an ordinance that may eventually conflict with what the Legislature puts down in a few months. What we are trying to do is essentially wait until the Legislature finalizes … the language so we can make sure our language and our ordinance conforms to theirs,” said Ben Hogarth, Stuart spokesman. “That way you only go at it one time.”
But new state regulations might allow existing local laws on medical marijuana to remain, said Dylan Reingold, Indian River County attorney. In the past, the state had approved laws but allowed for local laws to remain, he said. That’s what Indian River County hopes for now, he said.
Indian River County has restricted where medical-marijuana treatment centers can open – not 1,000 feet of a school or childcare center, for example – leaving an industrial area around the railroad tracks the only allowable location. It’s roughly from 17th Street south of Eighth Street and from just west of Old Dixie Highway to just east of Sixth Avenue.
Vero Beach may require an armed guard on site and ban marijuana smell outside a facility, according to a proposed ordinance. The City Council is to take its first vote on the proposed rules Nov. 22.
For its part, Martin County already regulates where medical-marijuana treatment centers can open. In 2011, it imposed regulation on pain-management clinics, including medical marijuana facilities.
Fort Pierce is not considering regulation, according to Linda Cox, city clerk. Port St. Lucie is studying whether it should pass rules, but there’s no timetable for City Council consideration, said Sarah Prohaska, spokeswoman.
Medical marijuana on the Treasure Coast
- Approved and proposed regulations in the region seek to prevent loitering outside medical-marijuana treatment centers, including in parking lots.
- Some rules also set hours. Martin County facilities must close from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. Indian River allows operation 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to noon weekends. Vero Beach would allow operations 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and from 9 a.m. to noon weekends.
- Local rules address treatment centers rather than simply medical marijuana. Treatment centers, according to Amendment 2, can acquire, cultivate, possess, process, transfer, sell, distribute, dispense or administer medical marijuana or educational material.
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Full Article: Some Treasure Coast Cities, Counties Regulating Medical Marijuana Facilities
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