Town advances marijuana dispensary ban

Longboat Key in early November will likely join most other communities in the area in banning medical marijuana dispensaries.

On Monday, the Town Commission moved ahead by a 4-2 vote a measure that would disallow the sale of the drug anywhere in town, extending by formal rule the effect of a yearlong moratorium passed in December, 2016.  A final vote on the outright ban is planned on Nov. 6. 

Bradenton has allowed one dispensary to open. North Port is the only other jurisdiction in either Sarasota or Manatee counties that has shown interest in allowing such centers.

Vice Mayor Ed Zunz, in voting against the measure, said he wasn’t necessarily opposed to a ban, but wanted clarification on the language behind it. He said he wasn’t sure whether or not language in state statues could allow for drug stores to sell marijuana but not cultivate it themselves. Zunz and Commissioner Irwin Pastor, who also voted no, both said the town should investigate the statue further before the next vote.

Mayor Terry Gans said the vote doesn't preclude a change of heart later if the state changes its stance on local regulation.

In Nov. 2016, Florida voters approved Amendment 2, which legalizes the use of medical marijuana throughout the state for individuals with “debilitating conditions.” It furthermore allows licensed medical treatment centers to cultivate, process, distribute and sell marijuana.

After the amendment passed, the state legislature allowed jurisdictions to impose a 12-month moratorium banning any marijuana centers, which Longboat leaders did. That moratorium expires Dec. 5.

Following the approval of Amendment 2, the state legislature then gave jurisdictions two options to impose regulations.

Jurisdictions could treat medical marijuana dispensing organizations and treatment centers exactly the same as pharmacies, and allow them in any zoning district where a pharmacy would be allowed, with no additional restrictions or regulations. In that case, Longboat would have no authority to regulate the number of dispensary centers or enforce any other restriction or regulation that would not be applicable to a pharmacy.

The other option was to prohibit these organizations in their entirety.

In its proposed ordinance, the town laid out concerns over the quantity of dispensaries, which it can’t regulate should it allow them on the island. Citing the Marijuana Policy Group, Florida should not have more than one dispensary for each 50,000 residents, far beyond the town’s population of around 7,000.  Gans echoed that sentiment while outlining his opposition.

Longboat Key Planning, Zoning and Building Director Alaina Ray said there was no separation between sellers and growers permitted in the statues. Ray, whose department crafted the ordinance, said that meant the town could not allow sellers without allowing cultivators. If the town allowed an existing or new pharmacy to sell marijuana, it would also have to allow the right to cultivate it.