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A potential delay in the state implementing the new medical marijuana dispensaries and cultivation law is on tonight's Westborough selectmen agenda.
The board meets at 6 p.m. at Westborough Town Hall.
Voters approved the new law at the Nov. 6 statewide election. Westborough residents supported the measure, Question 3 on the ballot, 5,367 to 3,347. The law allows the state Department of Public Health to authorize "no more than 35 treatment centers" in 2013, according to the ballot question.
The Massachusetts Municipal Association recently sent a letter to House Speaker Robert DeLeo, Senate President Therese Murray and Gov. Deval Patrick "recommending a delay of implementation of a minimum of six months, up to a year to allow DPH adequate time to address this," Westborough Planning Board Chairman Lester Hensley said this past Thursday night.
The DPH has 120 days, from Jan. 1, to implement regulations, Hensley said. Until those regulations are implemented, "your letter from your doctor is your license to grow and use," he said.
The planning board is reviewing a draft Westborough zoning bylaw developed by Town Planner Jim Robbins at the board's request. The efforts would be in case the state Department of Public Health hasn't implemented regulations before the law takes effect Jan. 1, town officials said.
Robbins' current draft wording would prohibit medical marijuana treatment centers and cultivation, with contingent zoning "in the event that a complete disallowance doesn't withstand the legal challenge," Hensley noted.
The board plans to hold a public hearing on the proposal in early 2013 and then seek town meeting approval in March.
The board will continue discussing the topic this Thursday night.
Hensley suggested considering the issue using the "precautionary principle," which "provides a guideline for making public policy in situations where there's no consensus on the evidence on each side of an issue."
"It's actually a statutory requirement in the European Union for consideration of public health and environment-related public policy making," Hensley said.
"The principle implies that there's a social responsibility to protect the public from exposure to harm when investigation has found a plausible risk. These protections can be relaxed if further findings emerge that provide sound evidence that no harm will result."
Hensley said that "based on the way that the question was worded," he believes "that the will of the people was that marijuana would be an option safely available to profoundly ill people with specifically defined severe conditions and for whom conventional medicine is not effective. "
"But I think it's also reasonable to assume that it's the people's assumption that the general public health and safety would not adversely be affected," he said.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: patch.com
Author: Michael Gelbwasser
Contact: Contact Us - Westborough, MA Patch
Website: Medical Marijuana Law Delay Possible - Westborough, MA Patch
The board meets at 6 p.m. at Westborough Town Hall.
Voters approved the new law at the Nov. 6 statewide election. Westborough residents supported the measure, Question 3 on the ballot, 5,367 to 3,347. The law allows the state Department of Public Health to authorize "no more than 35 treatment centers" in 2013, according to the ballot question.
The Massachusetts Municipal Association recently sent a letter to House Speaker Robert DeLeo, Senate President Therese Murray and Gov. Deval Patrick "recommending a delay of implementation of a minimum of six months, up to a year to allow DPH adequate time to address this," Westborough Planning Board Chairman Lester Hensley said this past Thursday night.
The DPH has 120 days, from Jan. 1, to implement regulations, Hensley said. Until those regulations are implemented, "your letter from your doctor is your license to grow and use," he said.
The planning board is reviewing a draft Westborough zoning bylaw developed by Town Planner Jim Robbins at the board's request. The efforts would be in case the state Department of Public Health hasn't implemented regulations before the law takes effect Jan. 1, town officials said.
Robbins' current draft wording would prohibit medical marijuana treatment centers and cultivation, with contingent zoning "in the event that a complete disallowance doesn't withstand the legal challenge," Hensley noted.
The board plans to hold a public hearing on the proposal in early 2013 and then seek town meeting approval in March.
The board will continue discussing the topic this Thursday night.
Hensley suggested considering the issue using the "precautionary principle," which "provides a guideline for making public policy in situations where there's no consensus on the evidence on each side of an issue."
"It's actually a statutory requirement in the European Union for consideration of public health and environment-related public policy making," Hensley said.
"The principle implies that there's a social responsibility to protect the public from exposure to harm when investigation has found a plausible risk. These protections can be relaxed if further findings emerge that provide sound evidence that no harm will result."
Hensley said that "based on the way that the question was worded," he believes "that the will of the people was that marijuana would be an option safely available to profoundly ill people with specifically defined severe conditions and for whom conventional medicine is not effective. "
"But I think it's also reasonable to assume that it's the people's assumption that the general public health and safety would not adversely be affected," he said.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: patch.com
Author: Michael Gelbwasser
Contact: Contact Us - Westborough, MA Patch
Website: Medical Marijuana Law Delay Possible - Westborough, MA Patch
