Marijuana ban returning to Inverness council

By John Labriola - After months of debate and delay, an ordinance to prohibit future marijuana dispensaries in Inverness will soon be back on the Inverness City Council agenda.

The issue came up in December after the Citrus County Commission voted to ban future marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated Citrus County, as the Crystal River City Council had done a year earlier within its city limits.

The Inverness City Council had imposed such a ban in 2017 which was repealed two years later, but council members agreed to bring it back this year after local residents, including Anti-Drug Coalition of Citrus County Director Renea Teaster, urged them to do so.

When the ordinance finally returned to the council two months later, several council members had changed their minds. Led by liberal Councilwoman Crystal Lizanich, the council instructed staff to instead look into making marijuana dispensaries and pharmacies a special exception, which would require city approval on a case by case basis. In April, City Attorney James Hartley said that was no longer possible because the Florida Legislature had failed to pass a bill this year that would have allowed the city to do so, leaving the council with only the option of banning dispensaries outright. Although council members ignored his comments at the time, resident Lala Sanders tried but failed to get the council to address the issue at its next two meetings.

This week, Sanders was joined by other Inverness residents who again asked the council for an update, and Councilman Gene Davis finally relented.

"We have kicked this ball down the field too many times," Davis said. "I've talked to our city attorney. We do have the option to do a prohibition."

Council members Tom Craig and Linda Bega, who said she supported the ordinance while also believing marijuana has medical benefits, both agreed it should come back for a vote. Lizanich was absent.

Only Councilwoman Jacquie Hepfer objected.

"I keep hearing verbal assaults describing street drugs like out in Colorado. That is remotely not what these are," she said. "If you are truly having issues, you do not get a buzz or high. You just get relief without the toxic side effects from the man-made medications that are traditional."

Davis agreed marijuana can help individuals with severe pain, but he said those needs are already being met by existing facilities, which would not be affected by a prohibition. 

There are currently nine marijuana dispensaries in Citrus County. Four of those are in Inverness, two within the city limits and two in the immediate outskirts, with the Ayr Cannabis Dispensary opening in the last few months.

"If at some point we find out that the two that are here can't meet the demand and there's a legitimate need for more, we can lift the prohibition," Davis said. 

"These people's concerns have been here religiously, endless, and I'm hearing it on the streets, the same thing from our constituents talking about the marijuana. Even though I know it's needed, I think we have an ample supply of it out there now," he added.

Sanders thanked the council for listening. 

"We do want to keep our little town of Inverness conservative," she said. "We're trying to keep Inverness nice."

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