3 local cities temporarily stopping parts of Issue 2

MONTGOMERY COUNTY — Cities in the Miami Valley are temporarily stopping parts of Issue 2.

So far Kettering, Washington Township, and Centerville have all put a moratorium in place on businesses who want to sell recreationally.

Even though Issue 2 passed and will be added to the Ohio constitution soon, the constitution already allows cities to limit how land is used and the Ohio Revised Code allows them to limit or prohibit marijuana operators.

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“I just think the government is too involved in everything passed in the state. And I think that should be good enough,” Susan Hill told News Center 7.

Steve Bergstresser is the assistant city manager for Kettering, one of the cities that will not allow recreational marijuana vendors to set up shop for months.

“City council voted to enact a nine-month moratorium on business operations,” Bergstresser said.

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He said there are too many questions as to how Issue 2 will work as regulations are still being made.

“The moratorium allows us to do is to monitor things at the state level, and then make appropriate decisions as we see fit,” Bergstresser said.

Centerville has a nine-month moratorium in effect as well, and Washington Township has a 360-day delay as they wait to see exactly how Issue 2 will be laid out.

“That’s too long because it’s been legal in other states for quite some time, and this has been on the ballot for quite some time,” Hill said. “They’ve had plenty of time to do that kind of research. They’re just dragging their feet.”

People living in these areas can still use marijuana. This only applies to businesses and people can still use or grow marijuana recreationally on their own in these cities once Issue 2 goes into effect.

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