On December 12, The Madison City Council briefly discussed the possibility of future marijuana dispensaries in the city. At the December 21 meeting, the Council voted on whether to allow marijuana dispensaries in the city. The vote failed.
During discussion, several concerns were voiced:
- As of December 12 it was unknown whether any dispensaries have already acquired property in the city, but a marijuana cultivator had inquired about establishing a facility in the city.
- Concern over a possible increase in loiterers around dispensaries was expressed, based on observations from other cities.
- Also noted was the likelihood of frequent closures of other business near dispensaries, as observed in other cities.
- Another concern was personal security for patrons of dispensaries, since marijuana transactions are cash-based. Electronic transactions for marijuana are prohibited, so the necessary transportation of cash to and from banks, both for customers and dispensary owners, presents additional opportunities for theft or other crime.
- Nonetheless, overall crime rates do not apparently increase in areas with marijuana dispensaries, according to some reports.
The Council concluded that the best course of action was to wait and consider changes in other
areas before revisiting the question of marijuana dispensaries in the future.
Complete minutes of this meeting are available at https://mccmeetings.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/madisonal-pubu/MEET-Packet-b711f6a5211f43ac949c5dba553cdb24.pdf