Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Medical Marijuana Buffer topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sen. Garner moves to add developmentally disabled facilities to 1,500-foot medical-marijuana buffer
Summary
Senator Garner asked the Agriculture, Forestry & Economic Development committee to add "developmentally disabled facility" to the list of locations protected by the state's 1,500-foot buffer from medical marijuana businesses, citing an El Dorado case and residents' vulnerability; a motion on the item was carried by voice vote.
Senator Garner told the Senate Agriculture, Forestry & Economic Development committee the proposal grew out of a situation in El Dorado where "they're put in a medical marijuana facility within 300 feet of it," and urged the committee to add developmentally disabled facilities to the statutory buffer. "These are a highly vulnerable population," Garner said, noting a personal connection: he has a brother in a developmentally disabled facility in Pine Bluff.
Under current code, the committee noted, the 1,500-foot exceptions already cover schools and daycares; Garner said the bill would "just add a developmentally disabled facility to that." He described the residents as in many cases having the mental age of a child and said the change would be "good public policy."
The chair called for questions; none were offered. The chair then took a motion and second and said, "All in favor, say aye," after which the motion carried by voice vote. The chair stated, as read in the transcript, that Senator Garner had passed "senate bill 6 13." The transcript does not record a roll-call tally or the names of the mover and seconder; those details were not specified.
The committee took no further substantive action on the measure during this meeting and adjourned after routine business. Future steps for the bill—committee referral, any amendments, or a roll-call vote—were not specified in the transcript.
