Herrin for Mayor's BOROUGH BRIEFS October 31, 2017 |
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Welcome to my newsletter - about medical marijuana in the Borough and saving the historic tax credit. Before the election on Tuesday Nov. 7, I'll write about the property tax ballot question. Sign up to receive future issues on my home page, and find my first 4 newsletters
by scrolling through my news blog here! ~Dianne Dianne@Herrinformayor.com |
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Medical Marijuana in the Borough? |
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This month, Borough Council voted to hold a public hearing on an ordinance allowing medical marijuana dispensaries and grower/processor facilities in the Borough. If the ordinance passes, dispensaries will be permitted where pharmacies are already allowed (town center; commercial service district). Grower/processors will be allowed in the industrial district. Municipalities must permit these uses since Gov. Wolf signed PA’s medical marijuana program into law, which made PA the 24th state with such a program. Applicants looking to set up dispensaries have already contacted the Borough. The PA Dept. of Heath regulates the program. Patients must apply for an ID card before they can fill prescriptions. Physician prescribers must also enroll, and prescriptions will be tracked. To date, the Dept. of Health approved 12 grower/ procesor permits and 27 dispensary applications. Each dispensary firm may open 3 locations, and 52 dispensaries are expected to open next year. Right now, Phoenixville and Devon are the closest approved dispensary locations. Why is this happening? Research shows that medical marijuana can help people with serious medical conditions. In PA, it's approved for treating 17 conditions including Parkinson's Disease, autism, |
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epilepsy, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and Crohn's and Huntington's diseases. At October's Smart Growth Committee meeting, a few residents were concerned about possible negative impacts of having a dispensary in town, including increased noise/vandalism disturbances, potential robberies of the dispensaries, lack of FDA approval, and increased drug addiction. Here are some things to consider: - Medical marijuana is formulated to greatly reduce psychoactive effects and enhance analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-nausea, anti-seizure, and anti-anxiety properties. Recreational users use forms with different chemical ratios that produce a "high."
- Medical marijuana may help decrease opioid addition because it is an alternative for pain management. A 2014 study published in the journal JAMA found that states with medical marijuana laws experienced a nearly 25% drop in deaths from opioid overdoses compared with states without those laws. This is because physicians can prescribe it in lieu of opioids, or in combination with lower opioid doses. In Maine, medical marijuana is approved for treating opioid addiction.
Keep an eye out on the Borough's calendar for the upcoming public hearing. |
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Photo Pete Bannan - Digital First Media, Daily Local News |
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Help Save the Historic Tax Credit Arguably, the UPTOWN! Knauer Performing Arts Center would not have been possible without the federal Historic Tax Credit (HTC). It's the most significant investment the federal government makes toward preserving historic buildings, and it was a key financial incentive for investors who helped make UPTOWN! possible for our community. Unfortunately, several tax reform proposals circulating in Congress recommend a repeal of the HTC - even though it stimulates economic growth and returns more to the Treasury than it costs, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The HTC is an important tool for West Chester, as we work together to preserve our history. Without it, historic rehabilitation projects can face lender and investor bias because they often have higher costs and greater design challenges. Add your name to the National Trust for Historic Preservation's campaign to save the HTC and protect West Chester's historic brand! Sign on here. Thank you! |
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