A cannabis company with a dispensary in Springfield has submitted a proposal to amend city code to allow cannabis dispensaries to operate drive-thrus until 1:30 a.m. The amended code would align cannabis laws with those regulating alcohol sales, the company said.

Proposal Details

The proposal had its first public hearing at the Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday, June 11. The commission voted to recommend approval of the text amendment to city code to Springfield City Council with a vote of 5-2, with commissioners Eric Pauly and Dan Scott voting against.

The application to amend Springfield city code was submitted by the operator of Terrabis Dispensary, V3 MO Vending 5 LLC. Currently, Springfield law dictates that drive-thrus are only operable during normal dispensary business hours, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Nick Liaromatis, co-founder and chief legal officer of Terrabis, submitted the application for the text amendment. Terrabis operates one Springfield dispensary, located at 850 E. Kearney St. The company owns a total of nine dispensaries in Missouri and Illinois.

Commissioner Concerns

Some commissioners spoke out against the proposed amendment. Commissioner Scott said he had a hard time equating liquor sales and marijuana sales, and he did not believe there was a reason the two types of businesses should have the same hours of operations. Commissioner Pauly said he voted against recommending approval because, in part, he felt this introduced an unfair competitive advantage to the dispensaries with existing drive-thru infrastructure.

Original reporting: Springfield Daily Citizen — read the source article.