Gold Hill, Ore.– There was an open house with a strong message Wednesday at Breeze Botanicals, the first medical marijuana dispensary in Gold Hill.
“This recall effort is exhausting. Wasting taxpayer resources all because I was able to get a business license,” said owner, Brie Malarkey.
The dispensary stirred up enough opposition to spark a recall election of the four Gold Hill City Councilors who voted in favor of allowing it to open.
Wednesday Malarkey opened her doors to allow the public to see what goes on hereand to show them it’s not worth a recall.
“We’re the only business in Gold Hill that has customers paying a tax for public safety.”
Doug Reischman is one of the councilors up for recall. And one of more than a dozen to tour the facility.
“I think the people in the community will see what’s going on here. I don’t know whether they like it or whether they don’t like it but I can understand the simple fact that it’s helping the city out,” said Reischman.
He said the dispensary is a good thing for Gold Hill since it opened in june it’s raised $4,300 dollars for public safety.
“The 5% tax is awesome because it goes towards the town we live in. We want to be safe in,” said Doug Adelman, a Gold Hill resident.
No one who toured the dispensary said they’re opposed.
But the woman who spear-headed the recall told NBC 5 news in the past, ‘A dispensary is concerning for families and could bring down the quality of life in Gold Hill,’.
No answer when we reached out Wednesday.
Malarkey said she just hopes people now have a better idea that this is just a business. One can do more good than harm.
“There’s no statistics that support the medical marijuana patients are bad or that they are criminals. There’s been no statistics here in Gold Hill for the last two months that we’ve been open that we’ve increased crime.”
The tax money from the dispensary will go into a fund. The city manager said they need $75,000 to $120,000 for a full time public safety officer.
The recall is set for August 25th. All four councilors will fight for their seats.
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