LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Proposal to restrict cannabis, nicotine shops goes up in smoke
Albuquerque councilors vote against mayor鈥檚 bill to expand buffer zones around cannabis, nicotine retailers
Published
Albuquerque city councilors voted Monday to shoot down a proposal that would have further restricted permits for cannabis dispensaries and smoke shops.
During Monday鈥檚 meeting, Albuquerque Police Department Deputy Chief Luke Languit described 鈥渃lusters鈥� of smoke and cannabis shops as hotbeds for violent crime and illicit drug use within the city. Meanwhile, several dispensary owners said the proposal villainized and blamed a legal drug for crime created by a nationwide opioid epidemic.
鈥淧lease help us as an industry to survive and thrive rather than creating legislation that continues the stigmatization of a plant that is medically useful,鈥� said Erika Hartwick Brown, who owns a cannabis farm and dispensary, during public comment.
The measure failed on a vote of 6-3, with Councilors Dan Champine, Dan Lewis, Tammy Fiebelkorn, Klarissa Pe帽a, Nichole Rogers and Stephanie Telles voting against the bill.
The proposal would have changed the Integrated Development Ordinance, the city鈥檚 master zoning code, by prohibiting new cannabis or nicotine retailers from setting up shop within 990 feet of one another. The current code requires cannabis and smoke shops to be at least 330 feet apart.
Preexisting legally permitted businesses would have been exempt from the distancing rule. Additionally, the bill did not restrict grocery stores or gas stations that sell nicotine alongside other products.
The proposal also created a larger buffer zone around schools and daycares and required all cannabis and smoke shops to close between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.
The bill was requested by Mayor Tim Keller and sponsored by Councilor Ren茅e Grout because of growing concerns about safety around certain dispensaries and smoke shops.
Languit said some people frequent several clusters of nicotine and cannabis shops to buy glassware used to smoke illicit drugs like fentanyl. That population, he said, then attracts drug dealers looking for quick sales. The combination of the two creates frequent incidents of violent crime and pulls police away from other emergencies, Languit said.
But not everyone buys that justification.
Champine, who worked for APD for more than two decades, said law enforcement was the best tool to combat crime and open-air drug use 鈥� not citywide zoning changes.
鈥淚f you know where the crime is, then hit it up,鈥� Champine told Languit. 鈥淐reate a (tactical) plan.鈥�
Other councilors also disagreed, with some repeatedly calling the bill a misguided attempt to address crime.
鈥淚 would like us to keep working on the root causes of the issue and getting those particular business owners held accountable,鈥� Rogers said. 鈥淣ot all cannabis and all nicotine shops, because that is what's really going to help us.鈥�
Meanwhile, Councilor Joaqu铆n Baca, who represents Downtown and Barelas, said the bill was a workaround to regulate an industry that a city council would otherwise have no control over.
鈥淲e're not hitting the root cause oftentimes, just like guns, right?鈥� Baca said. 鈥淚 wish I could get rid of all guns, but I can't. If we could get rid of guns, we'd stop a whole lot of gun violence. Not going to happen. So we have to regulate it other ways.鈥�
The cannabis bill was 鈥渘ot perfect by any means,鈥� Baca said, but it was one tool to address crime. A tool the council ultimately decided it would not leverage.
Gillian Barkhurst is a general assignment reporter for the Journal. She can be reached at gbarkhurst@abqjournal.com.
