Robert Celt
New Member
Doctors call it an important drug, lawmakers see it raising tax revenue and voters are likely to make it legal.
It is all coming together for pot in the coming year. Doctors call it an important drug, lawmakers see it raising tax revenue and voters are likely to make it legal.
Marijuana growers are also promising a few hundred well-paid jobs locally if they get their way. There are currently four separate proposals to build grow houses in the area.
Fall River and Freetown have both put out the welcome mat to companies that want to build and operate facilities to grow pharmaceutical-grade marijuana.
Westport is considering two proposals in town.
"The whole state is on a learning curve right now," said Sen. Michael Rodrigues, D-Westport. "Right now, we are trying to look at the whole industry and try to learn from our peers in Colorado and other states."
Medical marijuana is legal in Massachusetts. In November, voters will decide if the state will follow the lead of Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington state to make recreational marijuana legal.
Currently in Massachusetts, possession of small amounts of marijuana is a civil violation that results in a $39 fine.
"I hear from people all the time that we should legalize marijuana and tax it," Rodriguez said. "Realistically, when you do that, you help the black market thrive.
"We'll be going to Colorado to see what we can learn from their experience."
Rodrigues is part of a state delegation that will spend four days in Denver in January, learning about the problems that have cropped up since marijuana became legal in that state.
There are plenty just from the business side.
Marijuana is taxed and sold through licensed dispensaries. But because marijuana is still illegal at the federal level, banks won't deal with those dispensaries and credit card companies won't accept their business.
The result: Credit unions are being formed in Colorado that are outside the Federal Reserve system to serve marijuana businesses. Dispensaries are also vulnerable to robbery because of the piles of cash they have on hand.
Medical marijuana is another story. It is legal, its proceeds can be banked and its benefits are becoming more obvious by the day.
Cannatech of Attleboro wants to build a 50,000-square-foot cultivation facility in the Southcoast Life Science and Technology Park that will allow it to grow and process medical marijuana in a controlled environment, producing baked goods, lotions, lozenges, oils and other products containing cannabis.
AmeriCann proposed a similar facility on Campanelli Drive off Route 24 in Freetown.
Xiphias Wellness Inc. and Hope Heal Health have both approached the Board of Selectmen in Westport, requesting a letter of non-opposition to facilities in that town. Those requests have been tabled.
There is still statewide opposition even to medical marijuana, said Will Flanagan, the former Fall River mayor who is the lawyer for Hope Heal Health.
"But we are also seeing the patient population continuing to grow," he said. "Right now, there are 35,000 card-carrying medical marijuana patients in Massachusetts. I think that will grow to 50,000 in 2016.
"You will see more competition and you will see more creativity with the products offered."
Marijuana was used medically in the United States until the 1930s, when it was outlawed. Some doctors are going back to the substance as medicine, especially as it becomes clear that the use of opioids for pain management has been a big factor in the current national epidemic of heroin addiction.
Medical research has been underway for almost a generation in Israel, France, England and several other countries to determine the reach of marijuana as medicine.
Cannabis sativa, the strain normally grown for pot, can be used to treat depression and anxiety. Indica is used for pain relief, generally applied as a lotion or an oil. Ruderalis has been shown to reduce seizures and act as an anti-inflammatory.
Dr. Henry Crowley, an anesthesiologist and director of pain therapy at Same Day SurgiCenter, 272 Stanley St., is the president of Cannatech. He has followed cannabis research for years.
"Medical marijuana has been around for hundreds of years," he said. "Everything I've seen indicates it is a good tool to be in our bag of tricks when it is administered to the right patient."
In addition to published research, Crowley said he has also heard from patients over the years, those in treatment for cancer or chronic pain, who have illegally used marijuana and found it brought relief.
"When I look at it as medicinal cannabis, I've seen what it can do for patients," Crowley said. "I can see using it in my practice with the proper patients."
For many patients, cannabis-based medicines will provide greater pain relief than medicines based on opioids, Crowley said. And cannabis is not physically addictive.
"If you look at the problems with have with opiates, it is clear we need to start looking at alternatives."
He envisions a facility in Fall River that will be operated with the same strict controls as a lab run by Pfizer or Bristol Myers Squibb: A sterile, highly controlled environment suitable for scientific research.
"My vision would be to establish a facility that would also do research and develop genetic alterations we could use in medicine," he said.
In Israel, cannabis-based medicine have helped thousands of patients, Crowley said.
"I don't know if it is right to hold that back from people," he added.
That is just one of the arguments that will be made this year in what promises to be a long debate about marijuana in Massachusetts, Rodrigues predicted.
"Marijuana will definitely be a big topic of discussion this year," Rodrigues said. "We have a lot to learn."
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Massachusetts: Marijuana Use Will Be A Burning Issue In 2016
Author: Kevin P. O'Connor
Photo Credit: Brennan Linsley
Website: The Herald News
It is all coming together for pot in the coming year. Doctors call it an important drug, lawmakers see it raising tax revenue and voters are likely to make it legal.
Marijuana growers are also promising a few hundred well-paid jobs locally if they get their way. There are currently four separate proposals to build grow houses in the area.
Fall River and Freetown have both put out the welcome mat to companies that want to build and operate facilities to grow pharmaceutical-grade marijuana.
Westport is considering two proposals in town.
"The whole state is on a learning curve right now," said Sen. Michael Rodrigues, D-Westport. "Right now, we are trying to look at the whole industry and try to learn from our peers in Colorado and other states."
Medical marijuana is legal in Massachusetts. In November, voters will decide if the state will follow the lead of Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington state to make recreational marijuana legal.
Currently in Massachusetts, possession of small amounts of marijuana is a civil violation that results in a $39 fine.
"I hear from people all the time that we should legalize marijuana and tax it," Rodriguez said. "Realistically, when you do that, you help the black market thrive.
"We'll be going to Colorado to see what we can learn from their experience."
Rodrigues is part of a state delegation that will spend four days in Denver in January, learning about the problems that have cropped up since marijuana became legal in that state.
There are plenty just from the business side.
Marijuana is taxed and sold through licensed dispensaries. But because marijuana is still illegal at the federal level, banks won't deal with those dispensaries and credit card companies won't accept their business.
The result: Credit unions are being formed in Colorado that are outside the Federal Reserve system to serve marijuana businesses. Dispensaries are also vulnerable to robbery because of the piles of cash they have on hand.
Medical marijuana is another story. It is legal, its proceeds can be banked and its benefits are becoming more obvious by the day.
Cannatech of Attleboro wants to build a 50,000-square-foot cultivation facility in the Southcoast Life Science and Technology Park that will allow it to grow and process medical marijuana in a controlled environment, producing baked goods, lotions, lozenges, oils and other products containing cannabis.
AmeriCann proposed a similar facility on Campanelli Drive off Route 24 in Freetown.
Xiphias Wellness Inc. and Hope Heal Health have both approached the Board of Selectmen in Westport, requesting a letter of non-opposition to facilities in that town. Those requests have been tabled.
There is still statewide opposition even to medical marijuana, said Will Flanagan, the former Fall River mayor who is the lawyer for Hope Heal Health.
"But we are also seeing the patient population continuing to grow," he said. "Right now, there are 35,000 card-carrying medical marijuana patients in Massachusetts. I think that will grow to 50,000 in 2016.
"You will see more competition and you will see more creativity with the products offered."
Marijuana was used medically in the United States until the 1930s, when it was outlawed. Some doctors are going back to the substance as medicine, especially as it becomes clear that the use of opioids for pain management has been a big factor in the current national epidemic of heroin addiction.
Medical research has been underway for almost a generation in Israel, France, England and several other countries to determine the reach of marijuana as medicine.
Cannabis sativa, the strain normally grown for pot, can be used to treat depression and anxiety. Indica is used for pain relief, generally applied as a lotion or an oil. Ruderalis has been shown to reduce seizures and act as an anti-inflammatory.
Dr. Henry Crowley, an anesthesiologist and director of pain therapy at Same Day SurgiCenter, 272 Stanley St., is the president of Cannatech. He has followed cannabis research for years.
"Medical marijuana has been around for hundreds of years," he said. "Everything I've seen indicates it is a good tool to be in our bag of tricks when it is administered to the right patient."
In addition to published research, Crowley said he has also heard from patients over the years, those in treatment for cancer or chronic pain, who have illegally used marijuana and found it brought relief.
"When I look at it as medicinal cannabis, I've seen what it can do for patients," Crowley said. "I can see using it in my practice with the proper patients."
For many patients, cannabis-based medicines will provide greater pain relief than medicines based on opioids, Crowley said. And cannabis is not physically addictive.
"If you look at the problems with have with opiates, it is clear we need to start looking at alternatives."
He envisions a facility in Fall River that will be operated with the same strict controls as a lab run by Pfizer or Bristol Myers Squibb: A sterile, highly controlled environment suitable for scientific research.
"My vision would be to establish a facility that would also do research and develop genetic alterations we could use in medicine," he said.
In Israel, cannabis-based medicine have helped thousands of patients, Crowley said.
"I don't know if it is right to hold that back from people," he added.
That is just one of the arguments that will be made this year in what promises to be a long debate about marijuana in Massachusetts, Rodrigues predicted.
"Marijuana will definitely be a big topic of discussion this year," Rodrigues said. "We have a lot to learn."
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Massachusetts: Marijuana Use Will Be A Burning Issue In 2016
Author: Kevin P. O'Connor
Photo Credit: Brennan Linsley
Website: The Herald News
