Ansonia Says No to Medical Marijuana

Stay away!

That's what the city of Ansonia's planning and zoning commission is saying about medical marijuana.

Connecticut legalized it last year and at least five communities have approved or considered medical marijuana facilities.

"We got enough as it is. You can probably go anywhere on the street and buy it," said Fred Mekdeci of Ansonia, reacting to tonight's decision that made sure no one will be growing medical marijuana in town for at least a year.

Mekdeci is worried about the elements a facility would bring.

"We could use a lot of jobs to be made but I don't think it's going to be beneficial by just growing marijuana," he said.

But Daniel King of Ansonia disgrees, saying it's "something that could possibly create jobs or help out the community."

The reaction was mixed tonight in the city. Joan Radin has owned Lear Pharmacy for more than 30 years.

"We need to change things, we need to do something and medical marijuana is not the most important issue," said Radin.

But this issue in Ansonia comes on the heels of Tuesday's special legislative committee meeting in Hartford where the state will decide whether to approve proposed growing operations on medical marijuana.

"I want to see what the state guidelines are, what parameters are in place, what assurances are in place," said Bart Flaherty, chairman of the Zoning and Planning Commission.

"There's nothing here. It's a dead dead town. We need more industry," said Mekdeci.

Yet others believe that industry could come from a medical marijuana facility.

"It's not like they're going to have a drive through window where they're going to be selling pot to the community," said King.

The city wants to be able to review the regulations that the state sets forth and see how they will affect the city so they can come up with their own marijuana regulations.

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