Aug. 18, on a 3-2 vote, the Carson City Board of Supervisors elected to revise an existing ordinance on first reading to lift the cap on the number of retail marijuana dispensaries permissible within the city limits.
Despite three hours of passionate testimony from a standing room-only crowd consisting mostly of concerned residents testifying in opposition to the proposed ordinance change, the board moved to increase the limit imposed in 2017 on the number of retail pot shops eligible for licensing in Carson City from 2 to 4. I was also surprised and disappointed that Qualcan, a marijuana company from Las Vegas and the applicant, was given preferential treatment by receiving additional time to rebut the comments of opponents. Based on my experience, this is only done in direct response to board questions.
Supervisor Stacey Giomi along with Supervisor Lisa Schuette voted to leave the cap in place out of deference to the concerns of the community. Supervisor Stan Jones, who endorsed raising the cap, expressed a reluctance to interfere with the free enterprise system in a way that would limit competition in the marketplace. While I respect his defense of entrepreneurship, many of the rules and regulations already enforced by government, including our own Board of Supervisors, from zoning restrictions to business license fees to the imposition of taxes, are all impediments to the free enterprise system, yet some are necessary to protect the health and welfare of the people the government serves. The selling of a federally-controlled substance like marijuana really can’t be equated to the selling of a carton of milk or a loaf of bread.
Supervisor Maurice White insisted there were no statistics to validate the concern that crime has increased in Carson City since the legalization of marijuana. However, in an offline conversation with local law enforcement, the sheriff’s office confirmed the illegal consumption of marijuana in public at the Tahoe beaches within the city’s jurisdiction is an emerging issue and possession of pot by minors in our Carson City schools has risen significantly since the date of legalization.
Although I agree with White assertion that there are conflicting points of view on the health-related effects of the drug, there are, in fact, reports by reputable sources, like the Journal of the American Medical Association, documenting a 25% increase in youth addiction to marijuana in states where the drug is legal. In addition, according to the U.S. Center for Disease and Prevention, 3 out of 10 people who use marijuana on a regular basis become addicted.
If the city had the discretion in 2017 to mandate that retail pot shops co-locate with existing medical marijuana dispensaries and post an advisory notice that it was unwilling to issue additional special use permits, then the city clearly has the authority to respect the wishes of the people and maintain the cap as previously imposed. To do less, in my opinion, is a serious breach of public trust.
There is a delicate balance between exercising your authority as an elected official and respecting the will of the people you are sworn to serve. In this case, where there were genuine concerns about the impact of more dispensaries on the health, safety and welfare of the community, whether fully quantified or not, erring on the side of the residents would have been the responsible thing to do. After all, government in this country still derives its power from the consent of the governed.
