contributed photo St. Joseph Mayor Adam Scepiak
by Dennis Dalman
[email protected]
Tentative plans for a city-owned cannabis (marijuana products) dispensary in St. Joseph are on hold, at least for the time being.
Last March, the city submitted an application for a dispensary license. St. Joseph is one of 12 applicant cities waiting on a green-light go-ahead from the state, based on those applications.
St. Joseph Mayor Adam Scepaniak, during a Jan. 5 interview with the Newsleaders, said he has no indication at this point if plans for the dispensary will be approved.
The mayor said he himself suggested the idea for a cannabis dispensary in the city while he was a member of the St. Joseph Council about three years ago. At that time, he suggested a municipal cannabis dispensary could be a tax-revenue source for the city.
There are strict regulations for cannabis dispensaries. For example, they must be operated along a highway or commercial district, not anywhere near schools or neighborhoods.
Scepaniak said he fully understands how many people have trepidations about such dispensaries, with some residents believing they promote the taking of drugs – marijuana in particular.
“Many people have different opinions on it, different reactions,” he said.
Cannabis is another name for marijuana, which comes from the Cannabis Sativa plant. It’s consumed in various ways such as by smoking, vaping or eating.
Most cannabis dispensaries sell a wide variety of substances derived from the cannabis plant – from “recreational” marijuana to sleep aids, gut aids, pain relief, mental-clarity aids, certain drinks in liquor stores and even in some dog treats. In other words, so many cannabis-derived products have positive uses other than just ‘getting high.’
According to research online, “recreational” marijuana was legalized in Minnesota as of August 2023, allowing possession for its use. However, licensed dispensaries are still developing because the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management is still setting up regulations.
According to online research, there are about 50 cannabis dispensaries in Minnesota, including a few in the greater St. Cloud area. But, at this time anyway, the state licensing process for new requests is rather slow.
Dalman was born and raised in South St. Cloud, graduated from St. Cloud Tech High School, then graduated from St. Cloud State University with a degree in English (emphasis on American and British literature) and mass communications (emphasis on print journalism). He studied in London, England for a year (1980-81) where he concentrated on British literature, political science, the history of Great Britain and wrote a book-length study of the British writer V.S. Naipaul. Dalman has been a reporter and weekly columnist for more than 30 years and worked for 16 of those years for the Alexandria Echo Press.
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