Sisters city council eyes marijuana business rules

Sisters city councilors agreed Wednesday night that time, place and manner regulations should be established for marijuana businesses.

A majority of the councilors also want the people to decide if marijuana businesses should be allowed in the city, which means a measure could appear on the November ballot.

Regardless of whether the sale of marijuana is approved by voters or not, council members want to have regulations in place for future council members.

Councilor Andrea Blum said Sisters needs to find out what’s going on in other cities and provide education resources online for those who want to learn more before any vote.

“Through our public hearings, we have been able to tell that there are a lot of concerns, but there are a lot of people that are excited about the prospects here as well,” Blum said. “After talking to a lot of residents that really weren’t sure which way they wanted to go, what I found is they just needed more information to really be sure about what was right, and we plan on doing that. We want to get out more information.”

Sisters’ resident Erin Herburger has lived in the city for 30 years. She said she supports marijuana sales and the establishment of businesses in town. She believes people need to better understand what marijuana really is.

“People that want to smoke a joint instead of have a beer, I think that’s our personal freedoms and liberties to do so,” Herburger said. “It’s a plant, it’s not a chemical concoction, it’s not anything that needs to be feared and demonized the way it is. I think with proper education the impact it has on our children will be beneficial. They’ll learn about it, they will know it’s not for them to use, they’ll know the dangers, and things like that.”

The city made it clear voting is limited to those within the Sisters city limits.