FORT PIERCE — A medical-marijuana dispensary could open here because there is nothing in the development code to stop it, City Manager Nick Mimms said Thursday after a workshop on dispensaries.

State law requires local governments to treat dispensaries as they would pharmacies unless the City Commission votes to ban the facilities, Mimms said.

About 24 people attended the two-hour workshop where a doctor, a dispensary spokeswoman and Deputy Police Chief Frank Amandro discussed the pros and cons of allowing dispensaries in the city.

Port St. Lucie physician Dr. Jessica McCain, who is certified by the state to prescribe marijuana, said the state tightly regulates who can get the medicine and which doctors can prescribe it.

“They (patients and doctors) really have to show they have exhausted all other options for treatment,” McCain said. “This is not something that can be fraudulently prescribed.”

A Tampa-based dispensary, Surterra Wellness, wants to open in the city, its Community Marketing Manager Kim Hawkes told the commission.

However, Hawkes declined to say where.

“We want to be good community neighbors,” Hawkes said.

MORE:Port St. Lucie allowing medical-marijuana dispensaries though other cities, counties aren't

Allowing dispensaries, however, could attract “unsavory” people, similar to those once drawn to pill mills that would prey on patients who use medical marijuana, Amandro said.

“Our chief concern is with the potential for abuse for prescription fraud and doctor shopping as we’ve seen with the pill mills,” he said.

The city also could see more DUI cases if medical marijuana patients chose to drive while the medicine is in their system, Amandro said.

But banning the dispensaries could increase crime as patients turn to illegal means to treat their pain, said resident Jim Culver, whose wife has multiple sclerosis and would qualify to use the medicine under state rules.

“If you ban dispensaries, where do we go next? Black market? That’s where I feel we are being pushed to if people in our situation do not have access to our last resort,” Culver said.

Resident Cathy Harvey has been using medical marijuana for two months to treat pain from fibromyalgia, a chronic pain disorder, and said she has seen an improvement.

“It has literally saved my life. I’m living my life. I’m moving more. I’m going to the beach and doing things that I have not done (in years)," Harvey said.

MORE:Indian River County approves ban on medical marijuana dispensaries

City Commissioner Tom Perona said he heard enough Thursday to vote to allow the dispensaries.

“What got me was seeing that over 70 percent of city voters — not just county voters, but city voters — wanted this and hearing from the residents," Perona said. "Not one person tonight spoke against it.”

Mayor Linda Hudson, the only other city commissioner in attendance, said the workshop educated her about the need for dispensaries.

“I learned a lot tonight and I feel better about allowing the dispensaries. But I haven’t made up my mind yet,” Hudson said.

Commissioners Reggie Sessions and Rufus Alexander, who both want to ban dispensaries from Fort Pierce for fear the facilities would be disproportionately allowed in poor communities, did not attend the workshop. Commissioner Jeremiah Johnson also was absent.

If Fort Pierce bans medical marijuana dispensaries, it would join Indian River County, whose commission banned the facilities earlier this month.

Vero Beach is considering a ban. However, it has grandfathered a Trulieve dispensary approved for Commerce Avenue south of Police Department headquarters.

Port St. Lucie officials said on Wednesday they would allow the dispensaries. Port St. Lucie officials has added medical marijuana dispensaries to its zoning code and will regulate them as pharmacies, one of two options permitted by the state.

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