FINDLAY, Ohio — Findlay is officially dispensary-friendly after city council voted 7-2 Tuesday night to lift its 12-month ban on recreational marijuana.
Robin Welly, a proponent of the change, said the decision aligns with the city’s responsiveness to public opinion.
“The council is pretty good at doing what the people want,” she said.
Welly believes that access to cannabis will not be as much of an issue as other legal substances, such as alcohol and tobacco.
“You can go into a grocery store and you can look at the wine and the basketball display and your kids can be more influenced by that than they are about a cannabis store that’s inside of a building that they’ll never see,” she said.
Recreational marijuana became legal in Ohio in 2023 following the passage of Issue 2, which saw 52% of Findlay residents voting in favor of legalization. However, Hancock County voted against it overall, with 53% opposing the measure.
Council’s decision, which one member was not present for, sparked dissent among some residents. Bruce Otley, superintendent of Liberty-Benton Schools, was one of several speakers who voiced concerns about the potential impact on youth. He emphasized that easier access to marijuana near schools could cause issues.
“We know that easy access leads to problems for kids, so drugs in the home is going to lead to drugs in the schools,” Otley said.
Council member Holly Frische, one of the two votes against, expressed disappointment in the decision and said council did not fully consider all aspects of the issue.
“I support it for medical reasons, but we are not looking at the entire picture,” Frische said. “We could have done better and I’m ashamed of the vote of city council tonight.”
