After a marathon public hearing that stretched beyond the four-hour mark, the Ordinance Committee of the city council voted Tuesday night to recommend a ban on the sale of recreational marijuana in Bristol. city councilors Sue Tyler and Jacqueline Olsen voted to recommend the ban, while Councilor Cheryl Thibeault voted no on the proposal to ban recreational dispensaries.

The hearing room in the basement of the main library was packed beyond capacity, as people lined up along all the walls because there were not enough seats in the hearing room. Approximately 100 Bristol citizens were there for the 5:30 p.m. start of the meeting and many more were participants on Zoom. Still more wrote letters to the committee to express their opinion.

Seventy-two people in total expressed their views, and a solid majority (52) were adamant that legal marijuana sales for recreational purposes should be banned in Bristol. Their arguments primarily went as follows:

• Marijuana is a gateway drug leading to more dangerous and lethal drugs.
• Driving under the influence of marijuana can lead to more accidents and fatalities.
• Some people (around 10%) are prone to addiction to marijuana.
• Side effects of using marijuana can include delusions, hallucinations, impaired judgement, reduced coordination, paranoia.
• Police are concerned that there is no reliable roadside test for cannabis and the potential for accidents is great.
• Legalizing cannabis creates a norm that it is ok to use and accessibility increases. This leads to increased use by teenagers and minors.

The proponents of a marijuana dispensary espoused the following arguments in favor of legal recreational sales:

• Legal cannabis will not be sold to children. There are many safeguards to ensure that fact.
• Legal cannabis is a well-tested product that will not be contaminated by mold or pesticides or laced with fentanyl.
• Marijuana has been available to teenagers for many decades. Legalizing recreational sales to adults will not increase use by teens.
• Bristol has had a medical marijuana dispensary for years, and there has never been a problem.
• This is a product that will be sold to adults. Adults should have the freedom to choose to use this product, just as they are free to choose to use alcohol, tobacco, etc.
• If Bristol denies this dispensary in town, it will just be established in one of our neighboring towns. It has already been legalized, so it will do business somewhere.
• Marijuana is not a gateway drug; studies show that alcohol and tobacco lead to drug abuse more than cannabis.

After listening to the arguments, pro and con, the committee had a short debate on the merits of the ordinance as originally written. Thibeault spoke first and came down in favor of a hybrid model for a dispensary. A hybrid would sell medical and recreational marijuana. Thibeault stated that she was influenced by the fact that street weed is contaminated with mold, pesticides, etc., and a retail operation resolves that issue. She also stated that the state law makes it possible for marijuana to be delivered in Bristol even if it is purchased from another town, so banning a store in Bristol does not keep the product out of our community. And finally, she said that Bristol could lose our medical marijuana dispensary if the hybrid model is not approved. That would be to the detriment of the 3,000 people who currently patronize the medical dispensary in town.

Tyler voiced several concerns. One was the impact of marijuana smoke on other people. There is currently a prohibition on smoking in public parks, but not in other public areas. Tyler also stated that she thought everything was going too fast, that rules from the state were still changing, and in her words, “Why are we rushing this?”

Tyler also addressed the idea that the Trulieve Dispensary would leave Bristol if they were not granted a hybrid license. She said, “If a business is threatening the City of Bristol to leave and abandon 3,000 of their medical patients, I’m sad to hear that. But if that’s the case, then that’s their choice.” She went on, “I can guarantee that there will be another medical dispensary who will step up and fill that space and take care of 3,000 medical patients.”

Olsen said that she was fine with the use of cannabis for medical reasons, but for recreational use, she stated that she was strongly against it. She basically repeated all of the arguments against recreational cannabis sales stated during the evening.

When it came to the vote, the decision was against recreational sales in Bristol. Now the committee’s recommendation goes to the full city council for their approval.

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