EASTON, Md. - The Talbot County Council has been discussing a cannabis moratorium.
Tuesday evening, the Talbot County Council read its resolution to adopt a temporary 9-month moratorium on weed.
The resolution in the council's agenda read, "A resolution to adopt a temporary moratorium on the processing, review, and approval of applications, site plans, permits, and other authorizations for the location, construction, and/or operation of businesses engaged in growing, processing, and/or selling cannabis for a period of nine (9) months to allow the county sufficient time to enact reasonable, thoughtful, and lawful zoning requirements and other regulations pertaining thereto as deemed necessary to protect the public health, safety, and welfare."
Council members explained the moratorium would give the county more time to figure out zoning requirements. For example, a shop would not be able to be within 500 feet of a school. In other words, it would buy them some time to figure out what might be an appropriate or inappropriate place to set up a pot shop in town.
In a four-to-one ratio, the council voted to approve the moratorium.
But not all towns in Talbot County are affected. Towns like Bozman, Tilghman Island, Claiborne, and Neavitt do not have governments. Therefore, the county's decisions, like this, impact the residents of these small towns.
While weed has been legal in the State of Maryland for 11 days, some residents in Bozman feel a moratorium is for the best.
"I'm definitely in support of a moratorium I think this needs a lot of thinking about and my biggest concern is traffic accidents," says Bill Bulmer. He added, "Bozman doesn't really have any retail or commercial activity. It would be a bit strange to have a weed shop here. The only thing in Bozman would be a weed shop. That's not a great thing from my perspective."
But some in those small towns disagree.
Another resident in Bozman, Justin Bishoff says, "There is definitely an economic impact. There's a lot of money coming in. There are a thousand benefits."
Council member Pete Lesher who voted against the rule says a moratorium is unnecessary.
"I think we've got adequate time without a moratorium and I worry about the consequences of imposing a moratorium past that deadline, past that time in the state. That could be an imposition on future businesses," says Lesher.
According to Lesher, a moratorium is an emergency legislation. So this approval will make this 9-month moratorium effective immediately.