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Regular City Council Meeting <br />Monday, October 24, 2022 <br />Page 10 <br />403 benefit. With CBD, the Federal limit is .3 percent or less so it is highly suggested <br />404 to not restrict that so health professionals can use CBD. <br />405 <br />406 Ms. Carol Moss, Attorney at Hellmuth and Johnson, Edina <br />407 Ms. Moss indicated she represents numerous retailers with businesses in the Can- <br />408 nabis industry. She noted she was at the City Council meeting in August and also <br />409 submitted some correspondence with some concerns she has. She will not go <br />410 through those concerns so much as try to answer the Council’s questions and con- <br />411 cerns already brought up. Regarding the sampling issues, the sampling and coupons <br />412 sometimes seen together in ordinances.The ban against sampling and coupons for <br />413 tobacco was based on a lot of data and studies that showed companies would use <br />414 samples and coupons to specifically target and hook a lower income communities. <br />415 That is where that ban comes from. How it relates to cannabis is a little bit different. <br />416 She strongly encourages not to have a prohibition on coupons because as Carpe <br />417 Diem could easily tell you, people reactdifferently to different types of canna- <br />418 binoids, different methods of consuming cannabinoids, and a lot of times people <br />419 will try a couple of different methods to figure out what works for them. Some <br />420 stores use coupons in order to allow people to try different things to figure out what <br />421 works for them. Also, a lot of these products can go bad and are perishable so cou- <br />422 pons can come in at that point. Regarding the fee, she has experience in dealing <br />423 with Woodbury’s very high fee and it has to corelate with their on-site consumption <br />424 liquor license. Since Woodbury passed their licensing ordinance, only two busi- <br />425 nesses have come forward to get the license and many times that high fee is cited <br />426 as a problem for smaller retail shops. This is limiting the THC licenses tothe larger <br />427 retail stores. Also, fees are not to be seen as income to a city but rather to cover <br />428 costs. She thought if that amount is outlandishly high there is some concern that it <br />429 is challengeablebecause that could preclude people from getting it and be used as <br />430 a defacto ban. She also asked that the City do not reduce the number of licenses. <br />431 <br />432 Mr. Elijah Robuck, 1293 DraperAvenue W <br />433 Mr. Robuck explained regarding licensing fees, he did not know if the City could <br />434 make a special tax for it rather than a high licensing fee. <br />435 <br />436 Mayor Roe closed public comment and thanked everyone for their comments and <br />437 emails. He indicated State Law does not give cities, generally, permission to tax <br />438 items anyway and specifically, the State Law related to these items provide for cit- <br />439 ies to do taxes. <br />440 <br />441 City Attorney Gaughanindicated that was correct. <br />442 <br />443 Mayor Roe thought it would be interesting to look at Woodbury’s ordinance and <br />444 see if they have separate tiers for on-site consumption versus simply a sale transac- <br />445 tion like an off-sale liquor or tobacco sale. He thought it would be interesting to <br />446 understand that better. <br />447 <br /> <br />