Members of the Cocke County Legislative Body meeting Tuesday evening approved a contract with the Friends Animal Shelter for the balance of the fiscal year.
There had been ongoing discussion regarding funding for months and recently the county had been paying the shelter month-by-month. The current budget includes $100,000 for the current year.
Negotiations are continuing with the city of Newport and the Friends group regarding the city’s usage of the facility. The city is currently using a downtown location as a shelter.
The body also went on record opposing a bill pending in Nashville to approve medical marijuana.
State Rep. Jeremy Faison (R-Cosby) is sponsoring the legislation to give patients of certain illnesses the option to use marijuana as a treatment. A number of other states have already approved cannabis as a medical treatment.
Commissioner Robert Green argued such legalization would fly in the face of current federal law. He said he isn’t concerned about whether “it helps or not.”
Green went on to say federal law makes no provision for the medical use of marijuana and he pointed out federal law supersedes state law. He said the FDA has determined that marijuana “has a high potential for abuse.”
According to the commissioner, the Federal Drug Administration has been overseeing drug regulation since the beginning of the 20th century.
“In 1970 the FDA released a list of drugs under the Controlled Substances Act. It separates drugs into classifications based on abuse, risk and harm. Marijuana is a Class 1 drug with high risk and no counterbalancing benefit and is banned from medical practice,” Green said.
Green challenged his fellow commissioners saying, “Are we going to stand with the law or are we going to keep silent and sit on the sidelines?”
CLB Chair Clay Blazer in response pointed out the community faces a severe drug crisis, adding “We are facing an opioid epidemic as a result of FDA approved drugs.”
The chair said he does not have a particular position on medical marijuana but “looking at marijuana from a farming standpoint, it’s a natural substance and these opioids are not, yet we are prescribing them in doctor’s offices every day.”
“We’ve got a lot of ‘legal drugs’ that are destroying our communities, in a lot worse ways than marijuana is,” he told the body.
“I’m not sure the federal government always makes the best decisions and I think there are a lot of people who would agree with that.”
Commissioner Shalee Benson called for a delay on a vote until the issue could be better researched, pointing out the resolution was not included on the prepared agenda but was added by a commission vote. Still the body went on record by a vote of 8 to 3 to approve the resolution.
Recently a federal court threw out a lawsuit filed by former Cocke County Fire Chief William Smallwood against the county and Mayor Crystal Ottinger. The court held there is no provision in state law for a local civil service board.
Smallwood was fired by the mayor, who argued she had authority to hire and fire in the department because the fire civil service board is illegal.
The mayor last evening asked the commission to rescind a resolution passed in 2016 establishing the Cocke County Fire Civil Service Board, however, the commission rejected the request.
In other action, the body transferred $55,000 in the jail budget to pay for pending inmate medical costs.
They agreed to fund $4,000 toward Christmas lights to be displayed through downtown Newport.
Members agreed to apply for a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant to be used to put water to rural areas of the community.
Jan Dellinger was appointed to the Cocke County Library Board.
Members also gave Finance Manager Ann Bryant-Hurst a standing ovation in appreciation for her 15 years of service to Cocke County.
She is preparing to leave for a similar position in Hamblen County.
