One topic has repeatedly been discussed in Redmond’s cafes, breweries and homes since the new council took their seats five months ago: marijuana dispensaries.

On Tuesday, council held its first public discussion on the topic and Redmond turned out. Dozens of people filled the council chamber to listen to experts and give their two cents — whether to uphold the city’s current ban on recreational dispensaries or put rules in place to regulate them.

At the meeting, council was purely focused on listening to both the positives and negatives of allowing dispensaries within city limits and asking questions. No official action was taken.

For the first hour of discussion, council invited several experts including Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz, Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnells, Bend CFO Sharon Wojda and Central Oregon staff from the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission. Deevy Holcomb, the director of Deschutes County Community Justice, which provides support to juveniles and their families, also spoke.

Background and rules

After Oregon legalized recreational marijuana in 2014, Redmond chose to opt out of the statewide dispensary program as the growth, because sale and consumption of cannabis remain federal offenses, according to a city of Redmond staff report.

If council decides to allow dispensaries within city limits, they would need to implement time, place and manner regulations as well as agree on a local taxation rate.

According to the 2021 Oregon Municipal Handbook published by the League of Oregon Cities, statewide regulations prohibit marijuana establishments from being sited within 1,000 feet of a school, with limited exceptions.

According to Oregon Revised Statutes, there is a 17% state sales tax on all recreational marijuana products, which is then spread across participating state and local governments through quarterly payments.

Only cities that permit dispensaries are eligible to receive this money. Eligible cities receive 10% of the total marijuana tax revenue, which is distributed among cities based on their population and the number of licensed dispensaries located in city limits. According to the municipal handbook, this means a city without any dispensaries could still technically receive a share of the population-based revenue, as long as dispensaries are not outright banned.

The state distributes the remaining tax revenue between the common school fund, the state’s mental health alcoholism and drug services account and the state police account.

According to Sharon Wojda, Bend’s chief financial and administrative officer, the city’s voters approved an additional 3% local tax on the sale of marijuana after Bend legalized dispensaries. In the first two years, the local tax brought in an average of approximately $900,000 per year.

In the 2021-2022 fiscal year, that number stood at about $1.5 million.

But at the same time, the state tax revenue Bend received has decreased from just over $400,000 in 2020-2021 to about $184,000 in 2021-2022 due to Measure 110 reducing marijuana revenues returned to municipalities.

Minors and safety

The Redmond School Board has repeatedly spoken at council meetings against marijuana dispensaries, arguing that opening outlets in the city would lead to higher rates of minors consuming cannabis. Using marijuana as a minor is illegal in Oregon, and would remain so if Redmond allowed dispensaries.

According to a letter from the RSD board presented by Michael Summers, board chair, a study by OHSU showed a 245% increase in school-age calls to poison control centers regarding marijuana use in the last 20 years.

“Anecdotal data for Redmond School District indicates that a primary source for obtaining marijuana for school-aged students is from the home and or siblings,” Summers said. “Increased accessibility is creating a pathway for illegal and harmful drug use for our students.”

According to Gunnells, Deschutes County District Attorney, the problems law enforcement from legalized marijuana has mostly been related to driving under the influence and juveniles in possession of marijuana products, particularly dried marijuana, gummies and vape pens with THC.

“That has increased in my perception,” Gunnells said. “It’s also the perception of law enforcement.”

However, Mike Krantz, Bend’s chief of police, said they are currently hovering around the same number of minor in possession citations going back a significant amount of time, despite a large increase in population in Central Oregon.

“We’re not seeing a huge increase or influx of MIPs particularly around any specific substance,” Krantz said.

Gunnells said there’s no evidence dispensaries are selling directly to minors and that there’s too much at risk for their business licenses if they do. Both Krantz and Gunnells believe minors are getting it from friends or family who are 21 years old or older.

“There isn’t a huge impediment to somebody having a 21-year-old friend run over to Bend to pick up marijuana versus if there’s a marijuana dispensary on 5th Street,” Gunnells said.

Krantz agreed.

“There’s no one trend where we could say that’s where it’s coming from,” Krantz said. “It’s not really changed over time.”

According to Deevy Holcomb, director of Deschutes County Community Justice, they have not seen a drastic influx of juvenile referrals for minors in possession of marijuana. Holcomb said the increased social and pop culture approval of marijuana has likely played a more significant role than dispensaries.

Despite permitted dispensaries in Bend, Holcomb said the number and percentage of minor in possession citations given in Bend and Redmond are consistent relative to their respective populations.

“We don’t see a real distinction,” Holcomb said.

In terms of DUIs, Gunnells said the numbers skew heavily toward alcohol. In 2018, there were 981 alcohol-related DUIs and 136 marijuana-related DUIs. In 2022, those numbers stood at 1,017 and 144, respectively.

“The numbers stayed pretty consistent,” Gunnells said. “If you have to weigh the threat, alcohol is the bigger threat on the roads.”

Deschutes County has seen an increase in dual intoxication for DUIs — meaning those under the influence of two or more substances.

According to Krantz, Bend PD responds to roughly the same number of calls for service at the city’s 27 dispensaries as it does for the city’s seven liquor outlets.

Krantz noted that one of the issues they’ve noticed is odor, mostly around growing operations, as the city does not have an odor code restriction requiring carbon filters or any type of filtration system.

“The biggest issue we have currently really is on 4/20 we have a lot of parking around some of the outlets and our officers have to go out and address the parking issues,” Krantz said.