NL_110719

8 | November 7, 2019 | the new lenox patriot news
newlenoxpatriotdaily.com
New Lenox Village Board
8
Discussions continue, opinions still split on potential NL dispensary
Jessie Molloy
Freelance Reporter
The New Lenox Village
Board heard comments
from the public regarding
the legalization of recreational
cannabis for the
third time at its meeting,
Oct. 28 with residents still
split on the issue.
Monday night was the
last meeting scheduled
before the board will vote
on the ordinance to opt-out
on Nov. 11. Nine people
spoke at the meeting, five
in favor of allowing the
sale of recreational cannabis
in the village, and four
in opposition. One of the
speakers in favor of allowing
the sale was Edward
Gal, who is requesting permission
to open a dispensary
if the board votes to
allow sales.
Gal thanked the board
for “providing more opportunity
for discourse” on the
issue than any other city he
has talked with in the south
and western suburbs, and
argued that “New Lenox
needs to do what’s best for
New Lenox.”
“I know a lot of the
people arguing against
this have said you need
to stand with other neighboring
communities who
have opted out, but that
should not have anything
to do with this,” he said.
He also noted that his
proposed location is in an
industrial area which has
had vacant properties for
10 years, and that there
has been “little to no uptick
in crime” in Colorado
towns with similar demographics
to New Lenox
which allowed recreational
dispensaries to open.
Still, opponents argued
that the legalization would
create safety and crime issues,
citing drug abuse and
increased rates of DUI in
other states. “I don’t want
truckers coming off of
I-80 in their 18-wheelers
to make drug purchases in
our town,” argued Marilyn
Gallagher.
“People argue that
drinking is just as dangerous
and we have bars in
New Lenox, but I don’t
know a single marijuana
user who can limit themselves
to using once or
twice a month like people
can go to bars,” she added.
“I don’t think I’m better
than people who use
marijuana, but I do think I
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Vince Schilke, by contrast
argued that little will
change and the purchases
will be safer, since marijuana
is already easily acquired
on the black market.
“I went to Carl Sandburg
High School,” he said. “As
a freshman, I could have
gotten pot much easier
than I could alcohol and
there are liquor stores on
every corner.”
Three other residents,
John Fisher, Dawn Rinchiuso
and Donna Fisher
who rely on medical cannabis
argued in favor of the
legalization to make acquiring
the drug easier for
current medical patients
and for those who would
be unable to receive medical
cannabis because their
conditions are not covered
under Illinois’ medical program.
“I’m here today as a recovering
opioid addict,”
Rinchiuso said. “My doctor
had me on 100 milligrams
of Oxycodone a
day for pain. Needless to
say, I was a zombie and I
thought I was going to die
of an overdose.
“I got another doctor to
get me into detox for three
days and get me a medical
marijuana prescription,”
she continued. “I finally
feel like myself again, but
I still owe money for the
treatment. Had I had access
to recreational cannabis,
I don’t think I’d have
needed to go through what
I did.”
Finally, Jane Corradetti
argued that she opposes
allowing a dispensary “on
behalf of children.”
“Even though it’s only
sold to adults, if we say it’s
medicine or it’s legal, then
teens and children will
think it must be safe,” she
said. “In every state that
has legalized it, the perception
of harms amongst
teens have decreased. I
was disappointed when the
state approved it, because
it is not sending a positive
message to our children.”
“This is not about good
or bad people,” Mayor Tim
Baldermann noted when all
the residents had finished
speaking. “This is about
our opinions on something
controversial that is
going to be legal anyway.
There are good people on
both sides of this argument
here, and it seems to be
very evenly split, so it will
be impossible to please everyone.”
The public will have one
final chance to speak on
the issue before the vote at
the Nov. 11 meeting. Since
the default position of the
state law legalizes the use
and sale of cannabis, in order
to opt out the ordinance
has to be written banning
the sales in the village. If
the ordinance fails, the sale
will be legalized. If it passes,
sales will be prohibited
within the village boundaries,
however, the private
use of cannabis products in
residents’ own homes will
still be legal.
Other business
In addition to the cannabis
discussion, the board
held a public hearing and
first read of an amendment
to the annexation agreement
of the Calistoga development’s
units two and
three.
This story was trimmed for
print. View the full story at
NewLenoxPatriotDaily.com
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