Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Haverhill - On the issue of legalizing marijuana, the people of Massachusetts have spoken.
Now comes the challenge for local officials - regulating a new industry and dealing with a new law which takes effect Dec. 15, even though pot shops will not be allowed to open until 2018.
Just as it did last year with medical marijuana dispensaries in Haverhill, city councilors will begin discussing Tuesday night whether they have the power to set up zoning laws to limit where pot shops can open.
While not for or against legalized marijuana, Councilor Colin LePage has requested a discussion about how the city will handle legal weed. He said there is a provision in the language of ballot Question 4 which allows communities to impose reasonable restrictions on recreational marijuana - namely the time, place and manner of operating marijuana businesses and a limit on the number of those businesses in a community.
LePage said he also wonders if some of the regulations the city put in place when the state began granting licenses for medical marijuana dispensaries would affect recreational pot.
"We set up an overlay district for where medical dispensaries could be. Do we need more?" he said.
Current city ordinances ban smoking, vaporizing, ingesting or otherwise consuming marijuana, medical marijuana or THC on any public way, park, playground or recreation area; in schools or on school grounds; and limits medical marijuana dispensaries from operating within 500 feet of a school, childcare facility, library, playground, park, youth center, public swimming pool, arcade or facility "in which minors commonly congregate."
The council's experience with medical marijuana is a complex one.
In 2015, a Cape Cod-based dispensary, Healthy Pharms, wanted to move to the city, but was the subject of a state investigation into whether it misrepresented Haverhill's support as the company sought a license from the state Department of Health.
While the state concluded the company had done no wrong, the incident left a bad taste in the mouth of councilors, and Healthy Pharms ended up cutting ties with Haverhill and pursuing another location in nearby Georgetown.
Even though the new law allows people 21 and older to use marijuana, Councilor Joseph Bevilacqua said he wants to make sure the city implements enough safeguards to prevent children from being exposed to marijuana.
"I want to try to restrict the temptation," Bevilacqua said. "I want to see what we can do and how far we can go as a city, but I want to at least adopt a minimum standard."
When asked whether he voted for or against Question 4, Bevilacqua cited the region's struggles with heroin, fentanyl, and opioid addiction as his rationale for opposing the ballot question.
"With all that's going on with this opioid crisis which is gripping the state and the nation and killing our kids, I think it's the wrong time to legalize another substance," he said.
Despite his opposition, Bevilacqua has resigned himself to legal marijuana's impending arrival in Massachusetts, and believes the city cannot play a waiting game.
"It's going to be a while before the stores are here, but they're coming and we need to be prepared," he said.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Legal Marijuana Hot Topic For Haverhill
Author: Peter Francis
Contact: 978-946-2000
Photo Credit: Justin Sullivan
Website: Eagle-Tribune
Now comes the challenge for local officials - regulating a new industry and dealing with a new law which takes effect Dec. 15, even though pot shops will not be allowed to open until 2018.
Just as it did last year with medical marijuana dispensaries in Haverhill, city councilors will begin discussing Tuesday night whether they have the power to set up zoning laws to limit where pot shops can open.
While not for or against legalized marijuana, Councilor Colin LePage has requested a discussion about how the city will handle legal weed. He said there is a provision in the language of ballot Question 4 which allows communities to impose reasonable restrictions on recreational marijuana - namely the time, place and manner of operating marijuana businesses and a limit on the number of those businesses in a community.
LePage said he also wonders if some of the regulations the city put in place when the state began granting licenses for medical marijuana dispensaries would affect recreational pot.
"We set up an overlay district for where medical dispensaries could be. Do we need more?" he said.
Current city ordinances ban smoking, vaporizing, ingesting or otherwise consuming marijuana, medical marijuana or THC on any public way, park, playground or recreation area; in schools or on school grounds; and limits medical marijuana dispensaries from operating within 500 feet of a school, childcare facility, library, playground, park, youth center, public swimming pool, arcade or facility "in which minors commonly congregate."
The council's experience with medical marijuana is a complex one.
In 2015, a Cape Cod-based dispensary, Healthy Pharms, wanted to move to the city, but was the subject of a state investigation into whether it misrepresented Haverhill's support as the company sought a license from the state Department of Health.
While the state concluded the company had done no wrong, the incident left a bad taste in the mouth of councilors, and Healthy Pharms ended up cutting ties with Haverhill and pursuing another location in nearby Georgetown.
Even though the new law allows people 21 and older to use marijuana, Councilor Joseph Bevilacqua said he wants to make sure the city implements enough safeguards to prevent children from being exposed to marijuana.
"I want to try to restrict the temptation," Bevilacqua said. "I want to see what we can do and how far we can go as a city, but I want to at least adopt a minimum standard."
When asked whether he voted for or against Question 4, Bevilacqua cited the region's struggles with heroin, fentanyl, and opioid addiction as his rationale for opposing the ballot question.
"With all that's going on with this opioid crisis which is gripping the state and the nation and killing our kids, I think it's the wrong time to legalize another substance," he said.
Despite his opposition, Bevilacqua has resigned himself to legal marijuana's impending arrival in Massachusetts, and believes the city cannot play a waiting game.
"It's going to be a while before the stores are here, but they're coming and we need to be prepared," he said.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Legal Marijuana Hot Topic For Haverhill
Author: Peter Francis
Contact: 978-946-2000
Photo Credit: Justin Sullivan
Website: Eagle-Tribune
