Grace Palo
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) The Frederick County Council voted to begin the process of allowing medical marijuana to be grown in the county’s agricultural zone.
The plan passed with a 6 to 1 vote in favor of the scaled-back plan and creates a pilot program for medical marijuana to be grown only by applicants that applied for a medical marijuana growing license with the state before last November.
Many in the public were upset with the idea of fields of marijuana being grown in Frederick County, so an amendment was added to the bill that would scale back to growth. M.C. Keegan-Ayer pointed out that fields would be unlikely to pass with the farming community and added the amendment, stating, “It requires medical cannibas to be grown within greenhouses or other enclosed structures.”
Growing medical cannabis in the agricultural zone has attracted several county farmers, with the going rate in states like Colorado is $2,000 a pound.
Many oppose the plan though, such as the County Farm Bureau. Council Member Kirby Delauter said, “It’s one of those things that where if this crop is potentially grown and we say they can’t grow it then we start to regulate everything they grow.”
An earlier bill, which would have applied more broadly, failed to pass the council earlier this year. A public hearing will be held on the issue at a future date.
Council Member Tony Chmelik, who was the one individual to vote against the bill, said, “I think voting for this amendment and letting the public have their way in on it again, if it has fixed the things that the public seem to be against then I think it’s a good idea.”
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