Springfield's City Council could soon approve longer hours and shorter barriers for local medical marijuana facilities under regulations discussed at Monday's meeting.

Members of the public came out in force to speak to council members about two sticking points in proposed rules for the zoning of medical marijuana facilities — hours of operation and the distance between dispensaries or small manufacturing facilities and schools and day care facilities.

Under the initial regulations, medical marijuana dispensaries and so-called "post extraction facilities," such as marijuana bakeries, would have to stand at least 200 feet away from a school, daycare or church.

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But under an amendment proposed by Councilman Craig Hosmer, the barrier for schools and day cares would extend to 1,000 feet. He said it would ensure that children wouldn't be exposed to drugs and the potential pitfalls of a new industry.

"If we place them within 200 feet of a school and we have problems, we're not going to be able to back that up because they have a right to that location, a right to that facility," he told council. "Having these facilities within one block of our public schools and day care centers is bad policy."

David Brodsky, a Missouri native who currently lives in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and represents two local people who want to start a medical marijuana-infused product business, agreed.

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"The fact of the matter is that in Colorado we have experienced many of the pitfalls that have come with this industry ... and have adjusted both our state and local rules accordingly as issues have arisen," he said. "To be blunt, 200-foot dispensary buffer between schools and day care centers is too low."

But proponents of the 200-foot barrier noted the dispensaries would be heavily guarded and inaccessible to anyone who doesn't have a medical marijuana card.

Chip Sheppard, who helped draft the medical marijuana amendment to the Missouri Constitution, noted that nobody from the public schools or any day care facilities had come out to oppose the proposed distance reduction.

"I think the reason is because we need to get the drugs out of the schools," Sheppard said. "It's easier to get drugs in Springfield Public Schools than it will be for any patient with a card to get it 200 feet away. I can understand why the schools aren't here."

(City planning director Mary Lilly Smith noted earlier in the meeting, however, she had been playing "phone tag" with the school district and hadn't been able to get in touch with them.)

The amendment states that local governments can impose a maximum 1,000-foot buffer between schools, churches and day care centers, but communities can choose to reduce that barrier if they desire.

When addressing previous questions about why the 1,000-foot buffer was included, Sheppard said it was intended for the small towns around the state.

"You've got a small town that may only have a church, a school, a day care, a Casey's General Store," he said. "We wanted to alleviate their concerns that (a dispensary) was going to have too much of a presence in a small town."

He said the 200-foot buffer would make sense for Springfield because it would ensure all patients that needed medical marijuana could access it without having to take public transportation or find a way to get there.

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Ultimately, Hosmer's amendment to impose 1,000-foot buffers failed to meet the five-vote margin.

Hosmer, Richard Ollis, Phyllis Ferguson and Mayor Ken McClure voted in favor of the amendment, while Mike Schilling, Matthew Simpson, Thomas Prater and Andrew Lear voted against it. Councilwoman Jan Fisk was absent.

Dispensaries could be open for 24 hours

The other proposed amendment would allow medical marijuana dispensaries to be open for 24 hours instead of being closed to the public from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

There was little opposition from the public about that proposed change, but when asked about his thoughts, Maj. Greg Higdon of the Springfield Police Department said any business that stays open 24 hours tends to have a "higher probability of being exposed to the criminal element."

Prater, who sponsored the amendment, said failing to restrict hours of operation was an opportunity for the council to get out of the way of private businesses.

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It's also an issue of patient access, he said.

"Do we want to decide on council when someone can go buy a burrito or when someone can buy an extra pair of socks or they can go buy their antibiotic prescription eye drops or their Tylenol with codeine because they have an eye infection?" Prater said. "If the Constitution says this is a permitted use of marijuana, the last thing we want to do is stand in the way of people who need access to this medication."

That amendment passed 7-1. Councilman Hosmer was the only one in opposition.

The council will take a full vote on the proposal at its April 22 meeting after hearing public comment on the amendment to extend hours of operation.