Danbury Mayor Joe Cavo on Talk of a Drive-Thru Marijuana Dispensary
According to the News Times, the Bethel based medicinal marijuana dispensary company D & B Wellness has plans to expand into Danbury, CT.
Now that the company is discussing their expansion into a Danbury location that used to be a bank, the question keeps coming up, will there be a drive-thru?
Danbury Mayor Joe Cavo joined the Ethan and Lou Show on I-95 Thursday (5/6/21) morning and we asked him about the idea. It's important to note that we jumped around and also had talks about recreational marijuana in the Hat City. We didn't do that because we are confused, we did it because we are grown-ups and we all know it's an eventuality. We started by asking Cavo what he thought of the drive-thru, he replied:
"So, I don't really know what the difference is if you are walking into a dispensary or if you are driving up to a dispensary. Same thing like, going to get a burger, you either walk in the store or you drive up and get it. I don't know that I can really weigh in on that, you know one way or the other. You know on first blush, I don't really see if it's a big issue but I'm sure the planning commission will take that information and make a decision, that body makes those decisions and so, you know we'll just have to wait and see what they decide."
Since we have learned the Mayor is a "wait and see" kind of guy, I stopped right there and said as much. With everyone's eyes on the State of New York now that recreational marijuana is legal, I was curious what the Mayor would do if he was in the same situation.
If CT legalizes and adopts a model similar to NY, cities and municipalities would have the choice to "opt-in" or "opt-out" on allowing recreational marijuana sales in their jurisdiction. We asked the Mayor if recreational were legal and he was posed with the "opt-in" "opt-out" question, which way he would go? He responded:
"Right, I haven't made a full decision until I see all the results of it. I know that you know, throughout the country there is, there have been, some pros and cons about recreational marijuana, and you know there's so much you can read and learn about what's been happening in different states that have it. And, so I just want to, you know be able to continue to investigate. You know, it seems sort of like a 50/50 deal from what I see with most states. You know, some parts of the state are very happy about having it. Other parts, you know are not exactly that happy about having it. So, my jury is still out but I'm keeping an open mind to anything."
The old bank location is a three story building on Mill Plain Road in Danbury. If D & B Wellness were to use the drive-thru for their product, they'd have to get the city on board because Danbury has a restriction on drive-thru operations for dispensaries.
You might say I'm getting ahead of myself by asking these questions, putting the cart before the horse. If you are, you didn't pay any attention to how fast concept became reality in New York.
It makes sense for our leaders to use this time to weigh these decisions too, they are going to have to make them eventually. Do you think D & B Wellness has a plan for when recreational marijuana is legalized in CT? They most certainly will be ready to make money and there will be a line of companies right behind them.
Check out the complete interview here: