Voters in Redmond will have their say Nov. 5 on whether to allow marijuana dispensaries and psilocybin treatment centers in city limits.

It will be the first time Redmond voters have had their say on whether marijuana should be sold in the city, nearly a decade after it was legalized in Oregon.

After the statewide measure passed in 2014, the Redmond City Council voted to ban dispensaries. That ban has remained in place ever since. In July, a new City Council decided the public should have their say on the matter, referring it and a companion question to the November ballot.

The first question, Measure 9-177, simply asks voters if the city should keep or remove its ban on dispensaries. The second, Measure 9-178, asks: If voters support lifting the ban, should the city institute a 3% local tax on cannabis sales.

The city of Bend makes about $1 million per year by taxing its marijuana dispensaries, according to Redmond finance officer Jason Neff. Neff estimated that Redmond would make about $100,000 per year from a local tax on dispensaries if voters allow them to operate.

If voters lift the ban, Mayor Ed Fitch said he would favor approving only a few of them in the city. He, and mayoral opponent Cat Zwicker, said it was important the city get rules and regulations in place because of an increasing likelihood that the federal government reclassifies marijuana.

“From my perspective, I think it’s a good idea to have it here, but only if it’s in a very restricted fashion,” said Fitch. “Maybe like our liquor stores, maybe one on the south side, maybe one on the east side. I’d not be in favor of any more than that.”

Psilocybin centers

In 2020, Oregon voters approved allowing hallucinogenic mushrooms in a clinical setting to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and other ailments. While the state was still setting up the rules for psilocybin treatment centers, Redmond in 2022 instituted a two-year ban on them in city limits.

That ban is set to expire Dec. 31. Voters will decide with Measure-179 if the ban remains in place or is lifted. As with marijuana dispensaries, if voters allow treatment centers to operate, the council will work to institute time, place and manner restrictions on where the centers could operate.

A “yes” vote on the measure keeps the moratorium. A “no” vote removes it.