Medical marijuana dispensaries fall one vote short in Collier again

For the second time this year, sufficient approval of medical marijuana dispensaries in Collier County was denied, dealing another blow to medical cannabis patients and advocates.

Commissioners on Tuesday were not able to garner the four votes needed to amend Collier's land development codes to permit dispensaries on land zoned to allow pharmacies.

In May, a similar effort failed when commissioners couldn't muster the required supermajority vote to move forward with code changes. Commissioners voted 3-2 in October to have county staff bring back the amendment needed to approve dispensaries, despite uncertainty about whether a renewed push would net the additional vote required.

As they did in the past, Commissioners Penny Taylor and Donna Fiala voted Tuesday against allowing the dispensaries. 

Taylor has said the county's inability to regulate where the dispensaries would go has been a sticking point for her. 

“It’s always been about the zoning," she said before the vote Tuesday. "Always for me. Never the value of what you take and the importance of it to your health. So I want to make that very clear.

"But I am not willing to have the rights of people who do not want dispensaries next to a school, I’m not going to take those away from those people."

After Florida voters amended the state constitution in 2016, state lawmakers gave cities and counties two options: Either ban dispensaries outright or treat them like pharmacies.

This means dispensaries in Collier would be permitted where zoning allows for pharmacies, although they would not be allowed within 500 feet of a school.

The state has set limits on the number of dispensaries that can open in each region of the state, but not in individual counties. The law divides Florida into five sections. Each section is allowed a certain number of dispensaries based on its population.

Fiala said she feared allowing medical marijuana could open the door for recreational use to spread.

"Naturally, I’m wavering, because I can understand the need for medical marijuana," she said before the vote. "You know, my fear has been not people just taking medical marijuana but then slipping right on into recreational."

Fiala also worried about allowing dispensaries that require heightened security measures spelled out in the proposed ordinance that would have changed land development codes.

"All throughout this agenda item, it mentions security, security, extra security," she said. "You never have to have security to go buy a quart of milk, but you have to have security around medical marijuana dispensaries."

Fellow commissioners urged Fiala and Taylor before the vote to change their minds on the issue.

Commissioner Burt Saunders told Fiala the need for security at dispensaries was dictated by the Legislature to make the facilities more secure and have the proper oversight to make sure only patients with the right prescription could receive medical marijuana.

"It’s oversight by the state of Florida," he said. "Nothing wrong with it. But the fact that they have security should give you comfort, as opposed to making you more concerned about it.”

Saunders and other commissioners also pushed back against Fiala's notion that an approval of dispensaries would affect what might happen with any future ballot initiatives on recreational marijuana. It would be “a very difficult challenge” to get the required 60 percent of voters plus one needed to approve recreational marijuana on a state level, Saunders said. 

"I think a lot of people that voted for medical marijuana certainly are not going to vote for recreational marijuana," he said. "So I think trying to mix these two together is a mistake, because they are separate issues."

Commissioner Andy Solis agreed.

“There’s no connection between what the voters of Florida approved and recreational," he said. "I mean, it doesn’t relate to recreational marijuana. This is marijuana that has to be prescribed to a patient by a doctor.”

Solis, who along with Taylor was  re-elected earlier this year, argued it was their duty to uphold the state's constitution, including the right to get medical marijuana.

"When I’m asked this question, it’s not a matter of whether or not even I think it’s a good idea," he said. "I mean we took an oath to support the constitution of the state of Florida, which provides now, whether I like it or not, whether any of us like it or not, that there will be access to medical marijuana."

Advocates of medical marijuana also urged commissioners to pass the ordinance. 

William Tolp, chairman of the Libertarian Party of Collier County and an Air Force veteran, said medical marijuana is vital to many veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other conditions.

"Some veterans’ lives have literally been saved by medical cannabis," he said.

Medical cannabis patients in Collier should have the same rights as residents of other counties, such as Lee, where dispensaries are allowed, Tolp told commissioners. 

“It is unfair for those who are patients here in this county to not enjoy the same liberties, same ease of access, as those who live in neighboring Lee County," he said.

Tolp warned that the continued prohibition of dispensaries in Collier could spawn lawsuits, costing taxpayers in potential legal fees.

"This would only add insult and injury to the citizens of Collier County by then placing on them another tax bill to be paid for for legal fees, which could have been avoided,” he said.