Goodyear council requests marijuana amendment changes

I don’t think we’re going to see children going through garbage to pull it out.”

Vice Mayor Bill Stipp, on at-home marijuana waste

I’ve seen a kid at Cobblestone roll up, pull cigarette butts out of the trash, smoke them and then roll off.”

Councilman Brannon Hampton

By Kelly O’Sullivan
Twitter: @AzNewsmedia

After discussion with the Goodyear City Council, Assistant City Attorney Lisa Maxie-Mullins will work with staff to explore two changes as she finalizes proposed amendments incorporating recreational marijuana into city code.

In November, Arizona voters approved Proposition 207, the Smart and Safe Arizona Act, legalizing the sale, possession and use of recreational marijuana by adults 21 and older.

“Adults can possess and have in their possession a certain amount of marijuana,” under the new law, Ms. Maxie-Mullins told the council during a Jan. 11 work session. “Specifically 1 ounce of marijuana. They can have 5 grams of marijuana concentrate and they can have up to six marijuana plants.”

Prop. 207 gave Arizona cities the ability to regulate recreational marijuana use within their jurisdictions, and authorized the Arizona Department of Public Health to issue licenses and establish rules for retail sales, cultivation, manufacturing and processing facilities.

Last fall, the council approved zoning changes authorizing recreational sales only by individuals and facilities that are already licensed to sell medical marijuana and marijuana products in Goodyear.

READ: A brief legal examination of Arizona recreational marijuana

“We expect licenses to be issued within the first quarter of 2021, and ADHS also has up until July to issue rules,” Ms. Maxie-Mullins said. “Also, the law allows for delivery in 2023,” at which time the public health agency will issue rules for that activity.

Public regulations

Proposed changes to Chapter 11 of the city code would prohibit:

• Smoking at locations where tobacco smoking and vaping are already prohibited;
• Smoking, consumption, possession, cultivation, extraction, manufacture, sale or transfer in public places including banks; bars; multifamily housing common areas; educational, entertainment and health care facilities; restaurants; retail stores and theaters, as well as public parks, sidewalks, walkways, trails and pedestrian thoroughfares;
• Delivery to consumers within the city limits; and
• Advertisement or promotion of the transfer of legally permissible amounts of marijuana.

“Under the law, a 21-year-old can transfer marijuana to another person of age. They can’t sell,” Ms. Maxie-Mullins said. “Prop. 207 has language that deals with the advertisement and public promotion of the transfer. It appears the intent of that provision is to ensure that if someone’s going to engage in the transfer that they’re not advertising it ... we can see where that could be a potential safety risk.”

At-home regulations

Updated Chapter 11 code would limit cultivation, extraction, manufacture and processing of marijuana for personal use to an enclosed area within the primary residence or accessory building on the property not visible to the public, with a lock or other security device that prevents access by those younger than 21.

Chemical extraction or synthesis, excluding manual or mechanical means, would be prohibited, and landlords would be prohibited from allowing that activity. In addition to tenants, landlords could be cited for violations under the updated ordinance.

“Using chemicals for this process can result in explosions so it is specifically prohibited,” Ms. Maxie-Mullins said.

As presented, the amendments would prohibit residents from disposing of marijuana or marijuana product waste in unsecured receptacles not in possession and control of the person conducting the disposal.

Penalties for violations on city-owned property would be a Class 1 misdemeanor while other violations would be petty offenses.

“In Prop. 207, most of the violations are petty offenses, except for underage uses,” Ms. Maxie-Mullins said.

Council requests

During the session, the council asked Ms. Maxie-Mullins to explore amendment revisions that would potentially allow:

• Delivery of medical marijuana to continue until the state ban on recreational marijuana delivery is lifted in 2023; and
• Recreational and medical marijuana and marijuana products left over after home use to be treated as regular instead of hazardous waste.

READ: Harvest Health & Recreation Inc. CEO discusses Prop. 207 economic implications

Vice Mayor Bill Stipp brought up both issues.

“If we enact this, we’re basically telling all of our medical users, ‘you can’t get home delivery anymore,’ and I have a concern with that,” he said, noting the city doesn’t prohibit alcohol delivery. “I think we have to be very sensitive to that.”

Other council members agreed with his stance on medical delivery.

Not everyone agreed on disposal, however.

City code currently classifies medical marijuana waste as hazardous, and requires that it be disposed of in receptacles that prevent easy access, Ms. Maxie-Mullins said.

“Marijuana itself is a naturally grown substance. It’s a plant and then its extracts turn into either flower or an edible or some other form of ingestion,” Mr. Stipp said. “Why would we treat this as hazardous waste when we don’t treat other things that are clearly hazardous as such?”

Ms. Maxie-Mullins said a major concern with allowing marijuana and marijuana products to be thrown into regular trash bins is the access it affords to those younger than 21.

“I don’t think we’re going to see children going through garbage to pull it out,” Mr. Stipp said. “If I’m an insulin-taking diabetic, I can take all of my syringes and throw them in a plastic milk jug and throw them in my garbage can, but I can’t throw leftover marijuana away? I’m just struggling with that.”

Other council members disagreed with his contention that people won’t go through trash bins looking for discarded marijuana, but did agree the disposal issue should be explored.

“I think it’s a good idea to look at the language to make it as easy as possible,” Councilman Brannon Hampton said. “I’ve seen a kid at Cobblestone roll up, pull cigarette butts out of the trash, smoke them and then roll off.”

“It’s not all that natural, unfortunately,” Councilwoman Sheri Lauritano said. “I agree with Bill that we want to look into it ... how can we keep everyone safe; pets, children.”

Councilwoman Laura Kaino said the flip side of not letting people throw marijuana away in regular trash bins is that it may remain in people’s homes until hazardous waste collection days.

“I would rather err on the side of too much to start with until we know more than to say it’s not hazardous waste,” Councilwoman Wally Campbell said. “I don’t know what other cities are doing ... I just think we need more information.”

Councilman Joe Pizzillo advised that whatever the council decides in the end, staff should make sure residents know and understand what they can and cannot do.

“If you don’t have a really intense marketing program and advertising program on our code, people are just going to dump it out anyway. Whatever you come up, you better have a really robust information packet that gets out there to everybody, because if you don’t they’re going to do what kind of comes naturally to them. They don’t want it, they’re going to toss it out.”

Mayor Georgia Lord said she would prefer not to have recreational marijuana in the city at all.

“I’m a mother that lived with a son that got involved (with drugs). It started with marijuana, and went to hash and went to other things,” she said. “Medical, I can understand that. But the other, yeah, we’ve got booze let’s put marijuana with it. Hey, you know, let’s have big parties and we can put everything on the table and put it in the middle and everybody can smoke it and chew it.

“I have to tell you I’m just not good on this subject and I have no intentions of bending on it ... I’m here and I will support on some (changes) I think I can, but the whole picture for me is something I never thought I’d have to sit here and talk about,” the mayor said.

Ms. Maxie-Mullins said she will discuss the concerns with Public Works and other staff, and bring revisions back to the council at a later date.

Human Resources policy

Proposed amendments to human resources policy would add marijuana to Goodyear’s current drug- and alcohol-free workplace policy, which prohibits Goodyear employees from coming to work impaired, or from possessing and using at work or when they are on standby.

Ms. Maxie-Mullins said HR will continue to conduct pre-employment testing and background checks for safety-sensitive positions, and will conduct automatic testing after accidents.

Safety-sensitive employees include those with commercial drivers’ license, sworn police officers, firefighters, telecommunications personnel, and employees and volunteers who work closely with young children.

To watch the work session, visit @goodyearazgov on Facebook or the city’s YouTube channel.

Kelly O’Sullivan can be reached at kosullivan@newszap.com or 760-963-1697.