WEST LOOP — Entrepreneurs who want to open medical marijuana dispensaries in the West Loop say crime in the neighborhood would decrease if dispensaries open nearby.
Trucking executive and strip club owner Perry Mandera, who hopes to open a dispensary in a vacant property at 1105 W. Fulton St., and Green Thumb Industries co-founder Ben Kovler, who wants to open one at 955 W. Lake St., met with the Randolph/Fulton Market Association Wednesday at Coyne College.
It was the first time the dispensary groups have met with a neighborhood group to address safety, parking and other concerns associated with the budding businesses.
Responding to questions about crime the dispensaries could bring, Kovler said data from the 23 states that allow medical marijuana shows that crimes decreased in areas near the dispensaries. Kovler plans to call his dispensary The Clinic West Loop.
In Colorado, adults are now allowed to legally buy recreational marijuana. Since the state rules changed at the beginning of the year, violent crime and burglaries in the state's capital city, Denver, are down, Kovler reported.
"When you bring in a secure facility with cameras and make things a very high-end presence in the neighborhood, it elevates the neighborhood," he said. "There is less violent crime around these places than in other places."
Kris Krane, a consultant for Mandera's proposed dispensary, agreed, saying the high security at the facilities and increased activity in corridors is a deterrent to crime. Krane is co-founder of 4Front Advisors, a national firm that helps launch medical marijuana businesses.
Marijuana Mecca?
West Loop business owners and neighbors also had concerns about the increased traffic the dispensaries are predicted to bring.
The Green Thumb Industries team and Mandera’s experts disagreed on how many patients would served at their respective West Loop dispensaries. Kovler estimated 50 to 100 patients would be served daily, while Krane said his dispensary would not expect 30 to 40 customers daily until it was in its third year.
Under state law, medical marijuana license holders would be allowed to buy 2.5 ounces of marijuana every two weeks, Kovler said. Dispensaries plan to price their marijuana below the black market value, which is about $400 per ounce on the street, Kovler and Mandera's consultant Krane agreed.
Bill Schopf, owner of Music Box Films at 173 N. Morgan St., said pricing medical marijuana below the street price sets the neighborhood up for trouble and more congestion. Schopf's business and residence neighbors the Lake Street site.
"If you're pricing below the street price, what's to keep the Morgan Street intersection from becoming sort of the Mecca for everybody who wants to buy marijuana? How do you prevent resale?" he said. "It seems to me, if you're below the street price, that's going to be the magnet."
Mandera, a trucking executive who owns VIP's a Gentlemen's Club on the Near North Side, has solicited 700 signatures of support for the Fulton Street dispensary, which would be named Custom Strains, according to his attorney Shiller.
Shiller said 10 groups have applied with the state to operate dispensaries in the West Township district, and about half of those groups have applied for a city special-use permit. Only two dispensaries in the region will be approved.
The Clinic West Loop's special-use permit is slated for Zoning Board consideration Oct. 17.
The state plans on granting 60 dispensary licenses, 13 of which will be located in Chicago.
Before the end of the year, the state is expected to notify dispensary applicants whose licenses have been approved. More than 200 applications have been filed.
Randolph/Fulton Market Association members plan to discuss the dispensary proposals at a meeting at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Bluedog Design, 403 N. Carpenter St. The meeting will be open to the public, according to Roger Romanelli, executive director.
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