MOUNT VERNON — Mount Vernon City Council members unanimously postponed indefinitely an ordinance banning the sale of recreational marijuana within the city.
“I think there’s not a lot of clarity on the state level, not necessarily from where council sits,” Council member Amber Keener said at Monday’s meeting.
The city’s ban on medical marijuana played a role in postponing the ordinance.
Currently, only facilities licensed to sell medical marijuana are allowed to sell recreational marijuana. City council banned the sale of medical marijuana in August 2017.
Law Director Rob Broeren said the state has not released rules for deciding how entities outside of medical marijuana get to sell recreational marijuana.
“The current ban on medical marijuana effectively bans the sale of recreational marijuana,” he explained.
“Because we don’t have clarity from the state, it seemed to make more sense to leave what we have there — which will prevent the sale — until we have a better idea from the state of what they’re going to do with the sale of recreational marijuana.”
“I think this is something I will want to bring back and stay on top of, and as the state releases more information, I do plan to bring something back,” Keener said. “But right now I think it’s unnecessary to put the law on the books until it’s necessary.”
Ohio voters made recreational marijuana legal in the November 2023 General Election.
The issue failed in Knox County by 1,125 votes. However, it passed in the City of Mount Vernon by 426 votes (55% to 46%). Mount Vernon had a 45.85% voter turnout.
The Ohio Department of Commerce regulates marijuana sales through the Division of Cannabis Control. The DCC began accepting applications from dispensaries, cultivators, and growers on June 7.
