A Ketchikan woman who runs a drug testing company and is a member of the local substance abuse task force says marijuana retail sales should be banned in her community.
Renee Schofield was opposed to legalization of marijuana when it was a statewide ballot issue in fall of 2014. The initiative approved by voters does allow communities to opt out, a rule that’s similar to other states that have legalized cannabis. Schofield made her comments at a Monday meeting of the Ketchikan Marijuana Advisory Committee.
“In Colorado, 144 out of 180 counties have opted out. And Oregon is following much the same rule,” she said. “We’re just not ready. We don’t have the infrastructure. We don’t have the planning.”
Terrance Robbins, also of the Substance Abuse Task Force of the Ketchikan Wellness Coalition, told the committee that a proposed $10 excise tax would not generate enough revenue to pay for the cost to society as a result of readily available marijuana. He also noted that people can legally grow their own pot, and he questioned how much demand there would be for retail marijuana in Ketchikan.
Three other people also spoke against allowing retail marijuana in the community. Two people spoke in favor. One was Ralph Mirsky, who proposed the $10 excise tax, which he says should be earmarked for student travel related to public school activities.
Mirsky says he’s a former law-enforcement officer, and he doesn’t advocate using substances recreationally, but he has experienced one benefit of marijuana.
“I had cancer almost 12 years ago. Chemotherapy was horrendous,” Mirsky said. “I had to go underground to get marijuana to calm my vomiting, my nausea, to get my appetite back. It works.”
Mirsky says he dealt with the law enforcement side of marijuana as well, and he believes legal retail trade would reduce the black market.
The committee — which includes representatives from the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly, Ketchikan City Council, Saxman City Council and Ketchikan School Board — previously voted to recommend not banning retail marijuana.
Despite that vote, committee member Alan Bailey asked that the next meeting agenda include discussion of temporarily banning retail sales of marijuana.
During discussion of the proposed excise tax, members agreed that they would write down their thoughts on how much of a tax they believe is reasonable and where they believe the revenue should be spent, and send that information to the borough clerk’s office. The issue will be on the next Marijuana Advisory Committee meeting agenda.
