DELTA, Ohio — Dozens of Delta locals packed village council Monday; the standing-room-only crowd sending the message that the medical marijuana industry is not welcome there.
Village administrator Brad Peebles says they have been approached by two firms interested in opening a dispensary in Delta.
"I think there is interest," Peebles said.
But only one person in a list of public commenters was in support of the industry.
"Ban it, we don't want it in our community," one resident said during public comment. "I don't care how much money it will generate, it's not the money we want to build our community on."
There is a Nov. 4 deadline for medicinal marijuana businesses to get paperwork into the state letting them know where they want to be located.
As of now, there is no law prohibiting them from opening in Delta.
"This is controlled by the state board of pharmacy, so for us I think it is a viable and a legal use," Peebles said.
Council voted to delay the vote on stipulations for this type of business, but community members weren't satisfied.
They don't want rules and regulations; they want a ban on any and all types of medicinal marijuana sales or growing in the village.
"We don't want our children to be around it, we don't want access to our kids. I'm not naïve, kids can find a way to get that, but we don't need to make it easier," Pike-Delta-York school board president Michael Mattin said.
Even though it wasn't on the agenda, after a non-traditional back and forth between the mayor, council and constituents, councilwoman Lynn Frank asked the city law director to draft legislation banning those types of businesses in Delta for 12 months, Her suggestion was approved.
"I want to say thank you to the village council members. People came, shared their opinions and I felt very listened to," said Beth Thomas with the Fulton County Health Department.
The moratorium and the original legislation on where and how medicinal marijuana businesses can operate will be discussed at the village's next meeting on Nov. 1.