Mayor Whitaker weighs in on recreational use of marijuana

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Greenville Mayor Jeff Whitaker (Gaylen Blosser photo)

By: Greenville Mayor Jeff Whitaker

GREENVILLE – On November 7, 2023, Ohio voters chose to approve a citizen-led initiative that legalizes the recreational use of marijuana statewide. However, in Darke County, with a voter turnout of 53.26%, this initiative failed, with 62.11% of the voters saying ‘NO.’ Throughout the City of Greenville, 52.88 % of the voters said ‘NO’.  Ohio Revised Code, Section 3780.25 authorizes a municipality to prohibit it entirely.

As a result of these local vote totals, and on their behalf as a majority, I have chosen as Mayor of the City of Greenville to introduce an Ordinance to our City Council that imposes a moratorium on the issuance and processing of any permits allowing recreational adult-use cannabis operators within our city.  As stated in the ordinance, adult-use recreational marijuana operators, including cultivators, processors, and dispensaries, do not promote and provide for the public peace, health, safety, convenience, comfort, prosperity, and general welfare of its residents.

Pursuant to the authority provided by the above-mentioned Ohio Revised Code 3780.25, on behalf of the majority of voters, we wish to prohibit adult-use recreational cannabis operators, including cultivators, processors, and dispensaries within the City of Greenville.

A tremendous amount of medical research has been done on this topic.  Upon examination of the material provided by the National Institute of Health (NIH), there is a growing alarm among Healthcare professionals, especially addiction specialists, about looming risks to population health and the underappreciated costs to society.

Among the top concerns are increasing rates of daily heavy use and the development of cannabis addiction; earlier age of initiation of regular cannabis use and the impact it has on cognitive functioning and psychological development; worsening courses of more severe mental illness among those with a certain familial predisposition (ie, for schizophrenia); and the use of cannabis as a gateway to more serious and risky subsequent drug use.

For instance, a study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics finds that adolescents who use cannabis are 104 times more likely to use cocaine than those who never use cannabis.  Recent discoveries have been made whereby cannabis use could biologically introduce additional risk for the likelihood of opioid use disorder that otherwise might not occur within that individual.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse provides proof of the long-term effects of cannabis usage, affecting brain development, impaired thinking, memory, and learning functions.  Cannabis usage has been linked to depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts among teenagers. Those frequently using cannabis experience lower life satisfaction, poorer mental health, poorer physical health, more frequent relationship problems, less academic and career success, a higher likelihood of dropping out of school, and more job absences, accidents, and injuries.

Given all of the studies indicating all of these effects of cannabis usage by medical professionals, and as we continue to encourage drug prevention and drug education among children in our schools, how is it a good idea as a local government authority to promote the sale of cannabis in our community by permitting marijuana dispensaries?  The drug problem is bad enough already, and as Mayor of our city, on behalf of our citizens, I do not wish to promote it.