2 days ago
Salem City Council tables marijuana ballot measure
SALEM, Ohio (WKBN) — The City of Salem is once again weighing in on the future of marijuana sales in the community.
The question of whether or not Salem should allow a marijuana dispensary has sparked passionate discussion among city leaders and residents. On Tuesday, City Council faced a key decision on whether to put a ballot measure before voters in November — an issue that was ultimately tabled.
Mike Dombrowski owns Mike's Meds and More on State Street and wants to be the owner of the new dispensary if it gets the green light. He addressed council on the potential impact.
'A lot of the businesses have said they had about a 25% increase in business since the dispensary came to town,' Dombrowski said. 'I have a lot of people dealing with cancer issues. I have several ex-military people with PTSD issues that want me to provide these products, but right now, I'm not allowed.'
Meanwhile, other downtown business owners had questions of their own.
'We were just curious as downtown business owners, is there some type of increase in traffic revenue that's spent in the area surrounding dispensaries?' one attendee asked.
The council decided not to put the measure directly on the ballot. Instead, they voted to table it and send the issue back to a committee for more in-depth study and community input.
'I'm not sure what to think. I was here a month ago, we discussed all of the issues on the table and all the concerns. So, we thought we were ready to go with the vote tonight,' Dombrowski said.
With more work to be done, Salem voters will have to wait before deciding on marijuana sales in their city. For now, the conversation continues.
'I do know if we wanted to do a public initiative to get it on the ballot, this could take us a few months to get done. So, I think every week that we're delayed, this could be a problem,' Dombrowski said.
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