Tourists come from far and wide to see the 15-foot Superman standing with hands on hips in the center of Metropolis, Illinois. The 6,000 person-town got its name about a century before the Man of Steel was conceived, but still, the city holds a Superman Festival every year to capitalize on its namesake.
Now, a new attraction has cropped up in the Ohio River city after Illinois legalized medical and recreational cannabis in 2020. People from around the region regularly line up outside Metropolis’ one dispensary, but out-of-staters still risk criminal penalties if they use or possess the drug back home, whether they bought it legally, or not.
Kentucky is bordered by five states that have legalized marijuana in some form. But, it remains illegal in all forms in the Commonwealth. Illinois, on the other hand, has completely legalized marijuana, as has Virginia. Ohio and West Virginia have both legalized its medical use.
Many western Kentuckians make the short trip over a narrow blue steel bridge that connects the Bluegrass to Illinois to sample the product.
Lori Nichols owns Riverview Mansion, a bed and breakfast nestled in a 140-year-old house in Metropolis, where guests are welcome to treat the place like their own. She sees a lot of license plates from bordering states around town but especially at the dispensary. Nichols said having the dispensary in town has created some interesting requests for weddings as well. She says one group asked if they could be “420” friendly.
“It wasn’t like, ‘let’s have a party and get higher than a kite,’ It was, ‘this is our recreation.’ They didn’t drink, they had sweet tea and marijuana,” she said.
Back in Kentucky, marijuana is entirely illegal, even if someone is just driving through the state. Possession of the drug is a class B misdemeanor and carries a maximum of 45 days in jail. Trafficking is also a misdemeanor if it’s under eight ounces, but if it’s over that, it’s a felony.
Local law enforcement agencies recognize that popular attitudes over marijuana have changed in recent years, but still arrest people who use or possess the drug on the wrong side of the river, even if it was purchased legally.
Marshall County, Kentucky’s sheriff department regularly publishes arrests on their Facebook page. In a post from Dec. 28, 2021, the agency publicized an arrest that netted “several bags of marijuana having a total weight of approx. 13 grams, as well as, other items of paraphernalia and items which came from a marijuana dispensary in Metropolis, IL.”
In a post from Jan. 10 this year, the department admits there are “mixed emotions when it comes to marijuana for its use” but cautions citizens that the drug “is still illegal in the Commonwealth of Kentucky making it a crime to possess it here.”
Dave Bundrick, a lawyer with Edwards and Kautz in Paducah and former public defender says the dispensary is an easy 15-minute drive away. Kentuckians making that trip can still be pulled over for imbibing, but Bundrick said possession of marijuana has effectively been decriminalized, with most people being let off with a fine or a warning.
“You really don’t see people going to jail for possession of pot too much,” he said.
“But yeah, there’s plenty of people serving time right now over trafficking and plenty of people with pending…
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