[Ord. No. 19-11, 6-27-2019]
The Board of Aldermen of Missouri Cities of the fourth class,
Weldon Spring being such, have the authority to enact ordinances providing
for the reasonable regulation of businesses and activities within
the City limits in order to protect the public health and safety and
maintain the peace, good government and welfare of the City and its
trade and commerce as set out in Section 79.450, RSMo.
[Ord. No. 19-11, 6-27-2019]
This Chapter shall be known as "The Medical Marijuana Ordinance
for the City of Weldon Spring, Missouri."
[Ord. No. 19-11, 6-27-2019]
The provisions of this Chapter shall apply within the municipal
boundaries of the City of Weldon Spring, Missouri.
[Ord. No. 19-11, 6-27-2019]
It is the purpose of this Chapter to regulate medical marijuana
businesses and related activities to promote the health, safety and
general welfare of the citizens of the City of Weldon Spring and to
establish reasonable and uniform regulations to prevent the possible
deleterious operation, location and concentration of medical marijuana
businesses within the City of Weldon Spring. It is not the intent
nor effect of this Chapter to deny access by qualifying patients to
medical marijuana as provided by Amendment 2 which is codified as
Article XIV, Section 1 of the Missouri Constitution. It is neither
the intent nor effect of this Chapter to condone or legitimize the
illicit possession, distribution or delivery of any controlled substance.
[Ord. No. 19-11, 6-27-2019]
A.
Based
upon evidence concerning marijuana and secondary effects of medical
marijuana facilities on the community including factual findings incorporated
in the following documents listed below, the Board of Aldermen finds
that:
1.
Since 1937, Federal law prohibits the cultivation, possession, sale
and use of marijuana without regard to a claimed medical need. See,
Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. Pub.L. 75-238, repealed 1970, replaced
by Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970.
2.
On August 23, 2013, the United States Department of Justice issued
a memorandum entitled "Guidance for Marijuana Enforcement." The memorandum
established eight (8) guidelines for states regarding Federal priorities
in determining whether Federal enforcement of controlled substance
laws should commence against persons involved in specific activities
related to marijuana cultivation and distribution. This Chapter places
the highest priority on meeting the memorandum guidelines; particularly
guidelines related to protecting the public health and safety, restrictions
on the availability of marijuana to minors, and the prevention of
the illegal trafficking and profiteering in marijuana.
3.
In 2014, the United States Congress enacted the Rohrabacher-Farr
Amendment which prohibits the United States Department of Justice
from spending funds to interfere with the implementation of state
medical marijuana laws.
4.
In 1996, through Proposition 215, medical marijuana was introduced
in California.
5.
As of 2018, Twenty-nine (29) states and the District of Columbia
permit some form of medical marijuana.
6.
As of November, 2018, Ten (10) states and the District of Columbia
have adopted laws legalizing marijuana for recreational use. See,
Governing, (January 2019).
7.
In November 2018, the voters of Missouri passed Amendment 2 to the
Missouri Constitution legalizing the growing, manufacturing, transportation,
and consumption of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Amendment 2 is
codified as Article XIV, Section 1 of the Missouri Constitution and
provides in Section 1.7(11) that:
Unless allowed by the local government, no new medical marijuana
cultivation facility, medical marijuana testing facility, medical
marijuana dispensary facility, or medical marijuana-infused products
manufacturing facility shall be initially sited within one thousand
(1,000) feet of any then-existing elementary or secondary school,
child day-care center, or church. No local government shall prohibit
medical marijuana cultivation facilities, medical marijuana testing
facilities, medical marijuana-infused products manufacturing facilities,
or medical marijuana dispensary facilities, or entities with a transportation
certification either expressly or through the enactment of ordinances
or regulations that make their operation unduly burdensome in the
jurisdiction. However, local governments may enact ordinances or regulations
not in conflict with this Section, or with regulations enacted pursuant
to this Section, governing the time, place, and manner of operation
of such facilities in the locality. A local government may establish
civil penalties for violation of an ordinance or regulations governing
the time, place, and manner of operation of a medical marijuana cultivation
facility, medical marijuana testing facility, medical marijuana-infused
products manufacturing facility, medical marijuana dispensary facility,
or entity holding a transportation certification that may operate
in such locality.
8.
Do Medical Marijuana Centers Behave Like Locally Undesirable Land
Use? Implications for the Geography of Health and Environmental .Justice.
Urban Geography (2013).
9.
Medical Marijuana Meets Zoning: Can You Grow, Sell, and Smoke That
Here? American Planning Association. Planning & Environmental
Law. Vol. 62, No. 8, p.3 (Aug. 2010).
10.
Analysis of the medical use of marijuana and its societal implications.
J. Am. Pharm. Assoc. (Wash) (Mar-Apr 1998).
11.
New Study Highlights the Social Impacts of Cannabis Legalization
in California, Forbes, (May 17, 2018).
12.
The Health and Social Effects of Nonmedical Cannabis Use. World Health
Organization, (2016).
13.
The average medicinal marijuana cardholder is a thirty-two (32) year
old white male with no history of chronic illness and a history of
substance abuse. See, The Marijuana Experiment Considerations of Legalization
In Illinois, Illinois Association for Behavioral Health (power-point
presentation).
14.
Local Impacts of Commercial Cannabis, International City/County Management
Association. (September 2018).
15.
The outright prohibition of medical marijuana businesses is in contravention
of Amendment 2; but reasonable time, place and manner regulation of
such businesses so as to curtail and prevent pernicious secondary
effects is both permissible and desirable. See, Section 7(11) of Amendment
2.
16.
When marijuana plants begin to flower and for a period of up to two
(2) months or more during the growing season, produce a pungent and
strong odor detectable beyond property boundaries and that can adversely
impact the peace and enjoyment of persons on nearby properties.
17.
The public health, safety, welfare and convenience of the residents
of the City require that medical marijuana businesses and their locations
be regulated in order to reduce the potential for harm and in order
to preserve and protect the quality of life in the residential and
business environs of the City.
18.
It is the duty and responsibility of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen
to protect and preserve the public health, safety and welfare of the
City and its residents, the stability of the value and use of property
within the City and the character of its neighborhoods and developments.
19.
In order to preserve the public peace and good order and to safeguard
and promote the health, safety and welfare of the City and its citizens,
therefore, it is necessary and advisable to regulate and restrict
the location and operation of medical marijuana businesses.
20.
The general welfare, health, morals and safety of the citizens of
this City will be promoted by enactment of this Chapter.
B.
The
requirements of this Chapter advance the public health, safety and
welfare by providing regulations governing the location and operation
of medical marijuana businesses within the municipal boundaries of
the City.
[Ord. No. 19-11, 6-27-2019]
A.
AMENDMENT 2
DEPARTMENT
FACILITY
IDENTIFICATION CARD
LICENSEE
MARIJUANA or MARIHUANA
MARIJUANA-INFUSED PRODUCTS
MEDICAL MARIJUANA CULTIVATION FACILITY
MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY FACILITY
MARIJUANA-INFUSED PRODUCTS MANUFACTURING FACILITY
MEDICAL MARIJUANA TESTING FACILITY
PATIENT or QUALIFYING PATIENT
PRIMARY CAREGIVER
For
the purposes of this Chapter, the following definitions shall apply
unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
A voter initiated amendment to the Missouri constitution
adopted November 6, 2018, codified as Section 1 of Article XIV to
the Missouri Constitution.
The State of Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services,
or its successor agency.
A medical marijuana cultivation facility, marijuana-infused
products manufacturing facility, medical marijuana testing facility
or medical marijuana dispensary facility, or any combination thereof,
or any business related to the possession, sale, use, cultivation
or manufacture of marijuana.
The card issued by the Missouri Department of Health and
Senior Services that permits a qualified patient or primary caregiver
to purchase medical marijuana.
An entity issued a licensee or certification by the Department
for the cultivation. manufacture. dispensing, sale, testing, tracking,
and transportation of marijuana for medical use.
Cannabis indica, Cannabis saliva, and Cannabis ruderalis,
hybrids of such species, and any other strains commonly understood,
within the scientific community to constitute marijuana, as well as,
resin extracted from the plant and marijuana-infused products. "Marijuana"
or "Marihuana" does not include industrial hemp containing a crop-wide
average tetrahydrocannabinol concentration that does not exceed three-tenths
of one percent (0.3%) on a dry weight basis, or commodities or products
manufactured from industrial hemp.
Products that are infused with marijuana or an extract thereof
and are intended for use or consumption other than by smoking, including,
but not limited to, edible products, ointments, tinctures and concentrates.
A facility licensed by the department to acquire, cultivate,
process, store, transport, and sell or provide marijuana to a medical
marijuana dispensary facility, medical marijuana testing facility,
or to a medical marijuana-infused products manufacturing facility.
A facility licensed by the department, to acquire, store,
sell, transport and deliver marijuana, marijuana-infused products
and drug paraphernalia used to administer marijuana as provided for
in this Chapter to a qualifying patient, a primary caregiver, another
medical marijuana dispensary facility, a medical marijuana testing
facility, or a medical marijuana-infused products manufacturing facility.
A facility licensed by the department to acquire, store,
manufacture, transport, and sell marijuana-infused products to a medical
marijuana dispensary facility, a medical marijuana testing facility,
or to another medical marijuana-infused products manufacturing facility.
A facility certified by the department to acquire, test,
certify, and transport marijuana.
Has the meaning provided in Amendment 2 and any other related
regulations promulgated by the State of Missouri.
Has the meaning provided in Amendment 2 and any other related
regulations promulgated by the State of Missouri.
