Joyce Seals remains Saginaw’s most prominent anti-marijuana activist, and she has a plan to help the first 10 dispensaries that have opened their doors, at least in the short term.
At Monday’s City Council meeting, the former mayor suggested a two-part strategy:
- Don’t allow any more pot shops, which Seals said with sarcasm would allow the existing stores to maintain maximum profits without added competition.
- As months pass and a franchise freeze takes effect, educate the public on the merits of a total long-term shutdown, which the remainder of the county’s local units have adopted, except for Buena Vista.
On the current council, 2020 votes in favor of allowing the state option for dispensaries came from Brenda Moore and Annie Boensch prior to them being named mayor and pro-tem, along with Michael Balls, Reggie Williams II and Bill Ostash.
Balls and Williams since have aired second thoughts. Newcomers who were not around for the original decision, and who thus could carry swing votes, are George Copeland, Michael Flores, Monique Lamar Silvia and Priscilla Garcia.
Seals has not retired after her tenure as mayor two decades ago. She’s now a city school board trustee, and she also chairs the Saginaw County Prevention Council, which began as the Family Youth Initiative while Faye Harrison, now retired, was family court judge.
The whole scenario is taking place because statewide voters in 2018 passed a referendum that allows each of more than 500 local units to decide whether to allow sales. More than 100 have opted in, including the larger cities, even conservative Grand Rapids, and some lower-income small towns like Vassar. A 10-percent sales tax surcharge helps the locals collect about $60,000 per year per dispensary.
Opponents have focused on adolescent and teen substance abuse. They say that while cannabis may be regarded in some circles as a more mild drug, this causes some adults to remain unaware of harm to developing bodies and brains.
Sandra Robinson, coalition coordinator, aired concerns that the dispensaries at some point may stack up next door to one another, similar to fast food outlets and drug store chains. This led Balls to express the “hope, not dope” sentiment.
From another outlook, Ostash has said his support for local legalization goes beyond personal freedom of choice, aiming to reduce mass incarceration for nonviolent crimes that is out of proportion for minority groups.
We committed an error in a January report, in which Seals reported 19 pending applications. The actual counts are for two added dispensaries and for one greenhouse. Boensch said this could mean that an initial “influx” of shops may have reached an early peak.
For sake of comparison, state records indicate the city of Saginaw is home to 80 stores that sell beer and booze, and another 52 bars and taverns.
Protests had died out since spring 2023, when the former Hamilton Bakery became the 10th cannabis location in the city.
