Ninety-eight dispensaries will begin selling marijuana for recreational use Tuesday, including just one in Tuscarawas County.
The Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Cannabis Control has issued a certificate of operation to Ratio Cannabis and lists its address as 1145 West High Avenue in New Philadelphia. However, it is just barely in Goshen Township.
New Philadelphia Law Director Marvin Fete says if it were in New Philadelphia, it wouldn’t be allowed. The city, which previously banned medicinal marijuana sales, banned recreational marijuana sales earlier this year.
Fete says the city has no authority to enforce its ban in Goshen, but he would like to see the township ban marijuana dispensaries, too. Fete says they send a bad message to kids and to people recovering from addiction.
“We have a homeless shelter in the city of New Philadelphia that’s going to be located right downtown. It’s being built there. Many people that are in that situation are battling drug addiction. We thought it sends the wrong message to have those people who are trying to get back on their feet, and it sends the wrong message to young people that that type of behavior is acceptable.”
Recreational marijuana use is legal across the state after voters approved Issue 2 this past November. However, the state does allow municipalities to ban the sale of marijuana in their communities. New Philadelphia and Dover are among the local governments that have approved bans.
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