‘We need to be cautious': RS City Council shares opinions on marijuana laws

The article also stated that passing this resolution could pave the way for the issue to be heard at the Wyoming Association of Municipalities (WAM) conference next year, potentially putting the issue on the table for the Wyoming Legislature 2025 General Session.

Even though the city of Rock Springs is the only municipality or town in the state that does not belong to WAM, the council still had the discussion during Tuesday’s meeting in order for the legislators to be aware of how they feel about it as a city.

Councilman Tim Robinson asked Rock Springs Chief of Police Bill Erspamer for his thoughts on the decriminalization of marijuana.

Erspamer said that it’s natural for law enforcement to be hesitant to discuss the decriminalization or legalization of marijuana.

“I don’t know even where this conversation is headed,” said Erspamer. “I don’t know if we’re talking medical use of marijuana or if we’re just completely decriminalizing.”

He added, “I think for me to take a hard stance that I’m against it would be the wrong approach. I talked to the Wyoming Chiefs and Sheriff’s Association about their stance on this and what they recommended; essentially law enforcement wants to take an educational stance. We can provide educational resources for you guys so that you can make informed decisions.

“For me, as law enforcement, to say ‘I’m hard against it’ would probably be the wrong approach. It’s an expected response.”

Erspamer said that he would provide information for the council for them to draw their own conclusions, including a powerpoint presentation.

Mayor Max Mickelson expressed interest in receiving information regarding the organic effects of THC, saying that frequently, people who have an underlying genetic predisposition will be THC users and eventually, develop schizophrenia or clinical depression and suicidal ideation.

“We’re already heavily underserved as a community for mental health, and so I’d be curious to see what the numbers are and how many have experienced that,” said Mickelson.

Robinson noted that the council needs to focus on the difference between legalization of marijuana and decriminalization of marijuana.

“One of the aspects to look at with decriminalization is it’s basically taking potential felony charges out of the equation or multiple jail time or fines,” Robinson pointed out. “It seems like it’s a legalization because there are no more penalties for that. I think the mental health aspect of it is (absolutely) imperative.”

He mentioned that he had a discussion with Erspamer about some of the issues with the high level of THC, which he sees as an issue.

“We’ve got businesses in our community that are essentially selling marijuana over the counter, and it can be accessed by anybody legally because it’s called hemp,” he said. “The percentage is a low enough level that they can say it’s low level, but there’s really not much testing done to see whether it really is a high concentrate or low concentrate, but it’s essentially being sold.”

Robinson hinted that he is in favor of decriminalizing marijuana since a misdemeanor charge is on a person’s “record forever,” which also “limits possible job prospects later on down the road.”

He pointed out that individuals with felony marijuana arrests could lose their voting rights, hunting rights and other rights.

Robinson asked Erspamer how many applicants for the police department have smoked marijuana.

“Let’s hypothetically say that a prospective officer comes and says, ‘Hey, I want to work for the Rock Springs PD. But you know what, when I was in college, I smoked a bowl or two.’”

“We do see that a lot,” Erspamer revealed, saying that an applicant must not have used marijuana for three years. “We are seeing a lot of applicants from Colorado who have used marijuana much more frequently.”

Robinson asked Erspamer if smoking marijuana automatically disqualifies a person to be a police officer just for that reason.

Erspamer expressed that he is in favor of “some time frame,” but knows not everyone agrees whether that time frame is acceptable.

Councilman Tom Allen asked what quantities of marijuana someone should legally have. Robinson said that in other states, there’s probably a line, but “it may not be as black and white as a lot of people think.”

Councilwoman Jeannie Demas, a cancer survivor, mentioned that she is in favor of medical marijuana.

“I think it would help people with cancer,” said Demas.

Since 2006, Mickelson has owned and operated Able Hands, a local service for individuals with traumatic brain injuries and developmental disabilities. He explained that those who have seizure disorders “benefit greatly” from medicinal marijuana use and that it has helped individuals who are “disinterested in food.”

“You have to go through a very difficult process to get synthetic medical marijuana,” he explained. “It is a great hardship because these folks also have very limited incomes and Medicare will not cover it. Once they get Medicare, they lose access to that medication and then they end up having friends run them to Colorado to bring gummies back here so that they don’t die.”

Councilman Randy Hanson suggested that if the council proceeds with the discussion of marijuana, they “should proceed with caution.”

“There are so many questions, so many doors, so many different perceptions as to what we’re looking at or what we’re going to try to go with, whether we support or not support it; I feel we need to be cautious as we proceed with this discussion,” said Hanson.

No one from the public made a comment on the issue during Tuesday’s meeting.

Robinson mentioned that he had seen a preview story of Tuesday’s meeting on Facebook and wasn’t sure how many people were planning to attend.

“It’s funny that we had more people here for chickens than we have for a discussion like this,” he said, noting that if more people are aware that the conversation is taking place, more will attend and share their opinions.

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