Bob Kasarda
NEW BUFFALO TOWNSHIP — It was not yet noon Tuesday and Shane Martin was already facing a line of customers at the URB Cannabis Dispensary located just over the Indiana state line in marijuana-friendly Michigan.
“We feel it’s a blessing to be here,” he said.
When URB opened its doors in January, it became the first marijuana dispensary to take advantage of a change of heart among government officials in New Buffalo Township, who went from initially prohibiting dispensaries to welcoming them in hopes of exhaling life back into blighted areas, according to Township Supervisor Michelle Heit.
Some of the marijuana was found in a bag from the King of Budz cannabis store located just over the state line in New Buffalo, Michigan, police said.
“We weren’t sure what that would look like,” she said of the township’s initial hesitation to allow marijuana dispensaries when the drug was legalized in the state in 2018.
Following a year of researching, planning and offering multiple opportunities for public input, the township reversed itself on the issue in 2023 and cleared the way for dispensaries to open up shop in three areas