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The City of Dewey adopts language in its municipal code to address complaints of odor coming from medical marijuana establishments.

The Dewey City Council reviewed Oklahoma State Statute and the City of Bartlesville's ordinances regarding similar issues. Mayor Tom Hays addressed the matter, saying the Council came up with two changes to the City of Dewey's ordinance:

1. All medical marijuana businesses shall be equipped with a proper ventilation system that filters out the odor of marijuana so that the odor is not capable of being detected by a person with normal sense of smell at the exterior of the structure or any adjoining business, parcel or tract of real property.
2.  All medical marijuana businesses shall provide a security system for unauthorized entry that includes a professionally monitored 24-hour security surveillance camera system that show the primary and emergency entrances and exits, which support video and audio recording inside and outside the building. This also includes a professionally designed, maintained, and monitored alarm system on all perimeter entry points and perimeter windows. All components should have the ability to remain operational during power outages.

This is an item the Council has been discussing for two months.

City Manager Kevin Trease says the complaints the City has received about the odor coming from medical marijuana establishments is something they could not address until an ordinance was approved. Trease says the City will work alongside medical marijuana businesses to ensure they are getting the proper information they need. He says they are not trying to put these facilities out of business.

An owner of medical marijuana facilities in the Dewey area was present for the meeting to address his concerns about the second portion of the amended ordinance regarding audio recording devices inside his business, stating that he thought the City of Dewey wanted to hear what is going on inside his facility. Mayor Hays, who is a business owner himself, says the City will look into what the intent of that language they adopted means. He says he wouldn't want microphones all over his business either if it means people were going to be listening in on confidential matters.

The amendments were unanimously approved by the Council on Monday night. An emergency clause was unanimously approved as well, which allows the rule changes to take immediate effect.