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The approval of marijuana as a medical treatment has raised some hazy questions which city councilors aim to answer in the coming months.
Councilor Mark Cooper, chairman of the council's public safety committee, made the matter a high priority after voters approved the establishment of medical marijuana treatment centers in November, and his colleagues followed up with a push for city action in December.
Cooper said the new law will be discussed at his next committee meeting on Feb. 12.
Voters approved the establishment of the centers by almost a 2-1 margin in the November election, which prompted councilors to seek regulations in response.
In December, Councilor Jonathan Weydt urged his colleagues to govern the centers with a special permit, while Councilor Jay DiLisio urged that a moratorium be imposed on them until the council can sort through legal questions surrounding the establishment of the centers.
"We'll discuss both options," Cooper said last week, laying out a plan of action. "And we need to consider things outside of those that the Department of Public Health is going to regulate."
Weydt and DiLisio both denied their aim is to derail the voter's will.
But they clearly wanted to light a fire under the process.
"Let's have the conversation and get the ball rolling," DiLisio said.
Questions that need to be answered include whether the city will allow the establishment of a center or centers at all, Cooper said.
And if they are allowed, councilors need to decide in which zoning district they should be put, and at what distance from schools, he said.
Cooper said councilors need to discuss the matter with Police Chief Kyle Heagney and the city's new health agent.
The law, which allows for the establishment of as many as 35 centers this year was approved by 63 percent of voters statewide and by 64 percent of voters in Attleboro.
Under the law, there must be at least one, but no more than five centers in each of the state's 14 counties.
A person seeking the use of medical marijuana must be diagnosed with a debilitating illness such as cancer, glaucoma, hepatitis C, Chrohn's disease, Parkinson's disease, ALS, multiple sclerosis, HIV or full-blown AIDS.
The illness would have to be certified in writing by a doctor for the patient to be eligible for a 60-day supply of the drug.
The state Department of Public Health is in the process of writing rules governing the centers, including one which specifies how much of the drug constitutes a 60-day supply.
The rules must be finished by April.
Owners of treatment centers, would be allowed to grow, process and provide marijuana to patients and their caregivers.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: thesunchronicle.com
Author: George Rhodes
Contact: The Sun Chronicle : Contact Us
Website: Attleboro City Council to tackle pot - The Sun Chronicle : Local News: sun chronicle ma, attleboro sun, sun chronicle local news, the sun chronicle, thesunchronicle
Councilor Mark Cooper, chairman of the council's public safety committee, made the matter a high priority after voters approved the establishment of medical marijuana treatment centers in November, and his colleagues followed up with a push for city action in December.
Cooper said the new law will be discussed at his next committee meeting on Feb. 12.
Voters approved the establishment of the centers by almost a 2-1 margin in the November election, which prompted councilors to seek regulations in response.
In December, Councilor Jonathan Weydt urged his colleagues to govern the centers with a special permit, while Councilor Jay DiLisio urged that a moratorium be imposed on them until the council can sort through legal questions surrounding the establishment of the centers.
"We'll discuss both options," Cooper said last week, laying out a plan of action. "And we need to consider things outside of those that the Department of Public Health is going to regulate."
Weydt and DiLisio both denied their aim is to derail the voter's will.
But they clearly wanted to light a fire under the process.
"Let's have the conversation and get the ball rolling," DiLisio said.
Questions that need to be answered include whether the city will allow the establishment of a center or centers at all, Cooper said.
And if they are allowed, councilors need to decide in which zoning district they should be put, and at what distance from schools, he said.
Cooper said councilors need to discuss the matter with Police Chief Kyle Heagney and the city's new health agent.
The law, which allows for the establishment of as many as 35 centers this year was approved by 63 percent of voters statewide and by 64 percent of voters in Attleboro.
Under the law, there must be at least one, but no more than five centers in each of the state's 14 counties.
A person seeking the use of medical marijuana must be diagnosed with a debilitating illness such as cancer, glaucoma, hepatitis C, Chrohn's disease, Parkinson's disease, ALS, multiple sclerosis, HIV or full-blown AIDS.
The illness would have to be certified in writing by a doctor for the patient to be eligible for a 60-day supply of the drug.
The state Department of Public Health is in the process of writing rules governing the centers, including one which specifies how much of the drug constitutes a 60-day supply.
The rules must be finished by April.
Owners of treatment centers, would be allowed to grow, process and provide marijuana to patients and their caregivers.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: thesunchronicle.com
Author: George Rhodes
Contact: The Sun Chronicle : Contact Us
Website: Attleboro City Council to tackle pot - The Sun Chronicle : Local News: sun chronicle ma, attleboro sun, sun chronicle local news, the sun chronicle, thesunchronicle
