Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
New Bedford - City councilors gave formal support Thursday night for a medical marijuana dispensary in the city, boosting Beacon Compassion Center in its state approval process and taking another step toward a facility on Mount Pleasant Street in the North End.
"This is medicine, and we have people in this city who are sick," Ward 4 Councilor Dana Rebeiro said. "We have bars all over this city, and that is understandably poison - and we walk by them every day and don't think twice."
The state Department of Public Health (DPH) requires a letter of support, or non-opposition, from either a municipality's chief executive or top legislative board. The council's letter of support is intended to meet that criteria for Beacon, which already has provisional licenses from the state for a potential dispensary in Framingham, and a cultivation facility in Northboro.
The nonprofit organization is proposing a New Bedford dispensary at 914 Mt. Pleasant St., near the intersection of King's Highway and Route 140.
Mayor Jon Mitchell has long opposed dispensaries in the city and said the DPH requirements, which could circumvent his approval, create "a legal question that hasn't been tested." Mitchell reiterated Thursday that he "will oppose any effort to put a dispensary in a residential neighborhood," including the Mt. Pleasant Street location.
"I question the wisdom of pushing a project like this when we're staring at a severe and pervasive addiction problem in the city," Mitchell said. "The last thing we should be doing is facilitating the easy dispensing of more drugs."
Beacon CEO Catherine Cametti said she intends to submit the council's letter of support to DPH, along with lease information for the North End site and other information, to begin the state's vetting process and work toward a provisional license for a dispensary here.
"We're hoping that within 30 to 45 days, we'll know," she said.
Council voted 10-0 to send the letter of support, with Ward 5 Councilor Kerry Winterson absent. Ward 6 Councilor Joe Lopes proposed a related motion, directing city staff to create zoning parameters for a dispensary in New Bedford, but that motion failed, 4-6.
Councilor-at-large Ian Abreu said city zoning regulations could be "red tape that will delay the project," while state regulations already exist.
Voting against city dispensary regulations were Abreu, Rebeiro, Ward 3 Councilor Henry Bousquet, Councilor-at-large Brian K. Gomes, Ward 2 Councilor Steve Martins and Ward 1 Councilor Jim Oliveira.
Before Thursday night's meeting, city resident Janice J. Peters joined a small rally on the City Hall steps in support of a local dispensary. The 57-year-old Peters, a mother of three, said she's a former School Department bus driver who severely injured both her knees in 2006, when she fell on ice while taking student track athletes to Boston. She said she's allergic to numerous kinds of prescription pain medication and is "still in pain every day."
Marijuana, she said, "helps calm me enough so I can rest - and that's about it." Peters said she's in the process of becoming a registered patient with the state, and faces a simple reality when the drug isn't available.
"I just suffer," she said.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: New Bedford City Council Backs Medical Marijuana Dispensary Bid - Mayor Does Not
Author: Mike Lawrence
Contact: 508-979-4440
Photo Credit: David McNew
Website: SouthCoast Today
"This is medicine, and we have people in this city who are sick," Ward 4 Councilor Dana Rebeiro said. "We have bars all over this city, and that is understandably poison - and we walk by them every day and don't think twice."
The state Department of Public Health (DPH) requires a letter of support, or non-opposition, from either a municipality's chief executive or top legislative board. The council's letter of support is intended to meet that criteria for Beacon, which already has provisional licenses from the state for a potential dispensary in Framingham, and a cultivation facility in Northboro.
The nonprofit organization is proposing a New Bedford dispensary at 914 Mt. Pleasant St., near the intersection of King's Highway and Route 140.
Mayor Jon Mitchell has long opposed dispensaries in the city and said the DPH requirements, which could circumvent his approval, create "a legal question that hasn't been tested." Mitchell reiterated Thursday that he "will oppose any effort to put a dispensary in a residential neighborhood," including the Mt. Pleasant Street location.
"I question the wisdom of pushing a project like this when we're staring at a severe and pervasive addiction problem in the city," Mitchell said. "The last thing we should be doing is facilitating the easy dispensing of more drugs."
Beacon CEO Catherine Cametti said she intends to submit the council's letter of support to DPH, along with lease information for the North End site and other information, to begin the state's vetting process and work toward a provisional license for a dispensary here.
"We're hoping that within 30 to 45 days, we'll know," she said.
Council voted 10-0 to send the letter of support, with Ward 5 Councilor Kerry Winterson absent. Ward 6 Councilor Joe Lopes proposed a related motion, directing city staff to create zoning parameters for a dispensary in New Bedford, but that motion failed, 4-6.
Councilor-at-large Ian Abreu said city zoning regulations could be "red tape that will delay the project," while state regulations already exist.
Voting against city dispensary regulations were Abreu, Rebeiro, Ward 3 Councilor Henry Bousquet, Councilor-at-large Brian K. Gomes, Ward 2 Councilor Steve Martins and Ward 1 Councilor Jim Oliveira.
Before Thursday night's meeting, city resident Janice J. Peters joined a small rally on the City Hall steps in support of a local dispensary. The 57-year-old Peters, a mother of three, said she's a former School Department bus driver who severely injured both her knees in 2006, when she fell on ice while taking student track athletes to Boston. She said she's allergic to numerous kinds of prescription pain medication and is "still in pain every day."
Marijuana, she said, "helps calm me enough so I can rest - and that's about it." Peters said she's in the process of becoming a registered patient with the state, and faces a simple reality when the drug isn't available.
"I just suffer," she said.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: New Bedford City Council Backs Medical Marijuana Dispensary Bid - Mayor Does Not
Author: Mike Lawrence
Contact: 508-979-4440
Photo Credit: David McNew
Website: SouthCoast Today
