Dispensary decision should be easy

This should be easy.

Fort Recovery Village Council spent a good portion of its Sept. 18 meeting discussing whether or not it should allow medical marijuana dispensaries in the village. It did not come to a decision.

Council members planned to take two weeks to think about the issue and seek input from members of the public and vote at its next meeting Monday.

That vote should be simple, and in no way controversial.

One of the stumbling blocks council seemed to be dealing with was whether allowing medical use of a drug in turn encouraged the illegal use of that same drug.

“I guess one thing that you have to think about as a council is by not prohibiting these types of businesses … are we in turn encouraging the use of this stuff?” village solicitor Erin Minor asked.

The answer to that question is simple.

No.

Consider this:

Right now, Fort Recovery residents can walk into Kaup Pharmacy and have a prescription filled for pain relievers like OxyContin, sedatives like Ambien and stimulants like Ritalin.

All of those drugs, and others like them, are illegal to purchase without a prescription.

So, does the fact that they are legally available with a prescription mean the pharmacy or the village are encouraging their illegal use?

Of course not.

The same holds true for marijuana.

Without a prescription, marijuana remains an illegal drug in Ohio. With a doctor’s recommendation, it is a medication that can provide crucial relief for patients with cancer and other illnesses.

Fort Recovery should welcome the opportunity for the ailing in its community to have convenient access to that relief, if they need it. — R.C.