Marijuana dispensaries have seen little police activity, despite concerns from neighbors
Since medical marijuana was legalized in Ohio in 2016, Dayton’s dispensaries have seen little police activity and no violent crime, a Dayton Daily News investigation found.
When the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program began issuing provisional licenses to dispensaries preparing to take root in the Miami Valley, some neighbors of the planned locations began voicing concern over what impact the dispensaries would have on them.
The newspaper requested arrest or incident reports related to the addresses of Dayton’s medical marijuana dispensaries: Pure Ohio Wellness on Needmore Road, Green Releaf on Germantown Street, and Guaranteed Dispensary and Columbia Care on Wayne Avenue.
Dayton Police Department responded to 14 incidents at these locations from 2019 — the year dispensaries started coming to Dayton — to the end of May this year. No reports included acts of violence or burglary.
A report of customer harassment occurred in February this year when a customer ran into an old co-worker, who screamed insults at her while they were both at the Pure Ohio Wellness dispensary.
Only two reports of theft were made by Dayton-area dispensaries in that same timeframe, both involving dispensary employees allegedly stealing medical marijuana products.
One report from last year states that a Pure Ohio Wellness employee stole $300 worth of items from the dispensary, including containers of flower medical marijuana and three containers of edible products.
The employee was captured swiping items at the end of his shift on the dispensary’s security camera footage on April 20, 2022.
The incident report states the worker’s employment was terminated following the reported theft.
The employee returned the bulk of the products that were missing, but seals on the containers were broken and the items couldn’t be sold. A brownie was also never returned to the dispensary, according to the incident report.
Another Pure Ohio Wellness employee in July 2022 allegedly stole a banana-flavored cartridge, valued at $52. This employee was also fired, according to a Dayton police incident report.
Another three incident reports involved vehicle collisions in the parking lots of the facilities, while other reports dealt with calls made about unsheltered people taking up space in vacant buildings near the dispensary properties.
Few calls have come to Dayton police in regard to dispensaries over the past few years, but the police department does encounter people who don’t understand the law about possession of marijuana and the medical marijuana program.
Active patients registered in the state’s medical marijuana program can legally obtain medical marijuana from dispensaries that are also registered with the state. If a patient purchases marijuana from the illicit market, though, that is not covered by the medical marijuana program.
Dayton’s decriminalization of marijuana went into effect in 2019. Dayton police have been advised not to charge minor misdemeanor marijuana and hashish offenses under state code, except if they suspect the possession is related to drug trafficking or could result in “companion charges” for more serious offenses.
If an officer “uses their discretion” and warns a person in lieu of citing them, marijuana is considered contraband and will still be confiscated and destroyed.
