“Not in our neighborhood.”

That was the rallying cry of some Buchanan residents during the first of two public forums in the city about proposed legislation that would allow medical marijuana businesses set up shop in town.

“Do we want Buchanan — which to me is like a Norman Rockwell type of town — do we want kids walking down the street toking a joint? I don’t think that’s for our community,” said Eric Hageman. “I mean this is nuts that we’re even bringing it up.”

The crowd cheered and applauded after he spoke vehemently for nearly three minutes about the potential damage these operations would have on the community image of Buchanan.

Hageman and others fear that allowing business that would grow and distribute medical marijuana in the city will lead to recreational use and increased drug crime and criminal elements in the city.

Others, like Buchanan’s Linda Fox, believe that normalizing medical marijuana use will lead to the use of harder drugs.

“Marijuana IS a gateway drug,” she said. “It always has been and it always will be.”

Fox is a therapist who lost a niece and nephew to drug overdoses in 2015.

But there are those in the community who believe the benefits of having a medical marijuana provision center in Buchanan outweigh the cost.

Take Eric Nordyke. Nordyke is a U.S. military veteran who served from 2000 to 2004 — including 467 consecutive days in Iraq between 2003 and 2004. He is suffering from PTSD and a brain injury. He currently drives to Lansing to purchase medical marijuana.

“I’m not going to tell (the forum) where I think it should or shouldn’t be,” he said. “What I’m saying is, for people like me, it could mean the difference in my life or death.”

Nordyke said the community image of Buchanan is also at stake.

“I moved here because the community is like family, and I think of you all as family,” he said. “And I’m just asking that if we could put it somewhere, that would help me very much.”

His comments were also met with applause.

Some folks who live in the neighborhood along Red Bud Trail where the medical marijuana provision center has been proposed are on the fence. Their issue is one of location.

“Whoever wants to have (medical marijuana) that’s fine. I’m not trying to go against anyone if it’s going to help their health,” said Bluff Street resident Jean Burns. “But it should be in a place where it should be a business, and not in a residential area.”

Hayes Taylor, pastor of Mt. Zion Church of God, is also fine with people using marijuana medically, but he does not want to see it along Bluff Street and Red Bud Trail.

“I would say, ‘not in our neighborhood,’” he said. “And I wouldn’t want to put it anyone else’s neighborhood.”

At the conclusion of the forum, Mayor Brenda Hess reminded those in attendance that the city council is making every effort to hear the voices of those in the city to make an informed decision.

“There are no simple solutions to this,” she said. “We really care about this (issue). And we want to make the right decision. We’re a compassionate community that cares for each other. We’re not going to jump into this blindly.”

A second forum to hear the thoughts of Buchanan residents on allowing medical marijuana facilities within city limits will be at 7 p.m. Monday. City council members are hopeful to make a final decision on the issue by the end of the month.