“Rules still under consideration include, among other topics, ownership, security and operations, license renewals, transportation, uninterrupted cannabis supply, patient confidentiality, advertising, fees, THC content, and employee training,” the legislation reads.
“There had been talks for a while that the Department of Commerce was going to combine the two departments,” Xenia Law Director Donnette Fisher told city council Thursday. “The state general assembly was going to pass some laws to combine (medical and recreational marijuana). That never happened.”
The issues that exist with medical marijuana, also exist with non-medical marijuana, Fisher added, namely the conflict in laws between the federal and state level.
Xenia currently prohibits the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries, and has no pre-existing ones within the city.
Xenia enacted a one-year moratorium on adult-use cannabis operators last December, in order to “review potential impacts of nonmedical operators and understand state rules and guidelines,” per the legislation.
The Drug Policy and Enforcement Center tracks recreational marijuana moratoriums in Ohio. As of this week, a total of 107 moratoriums are active throughout the state, according to the center, with about half of them in jurisdictions with less than 10,000 people.
The 107 municipalities with active moratoriums represent about 14% of Ohio’s population, according to the center.
According to precinct-level data from the Greene County Board of Elections, city of Xenia voters last year supported Issue 2, which legalized recreational marijuana, with 52.46% voting yes.