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Cumberland is poised to become the latest Rhode Island community to oppose the siting of a medical marijuana compassion center within its borders.
Though no application for a Cumberland-based facility is before the state Department of Health, the Town Council is slated to adopt a resolution formally opposing the location of a medical marijuana compassion center anywhere in town tonight. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 45 Broad St.
The brief resolution says that a primary reason the council would reject any such proposal is because the town “is not conveniently located for patients from throughout Rhode Island.”
“Several parties have expressed a desire to locate a medical marijuana compassion center in the state of Rhode Island,” the resolution states. “One of the criteria to be considered in the granting of a compassion center certificate is the convenience to patients from throughout Rhode Island to the location of the compassion center. The Town of Cumberland is not conveniently located for patients from throughout Rhode Island.
“Another one of the criteria to be considered in the granting of a compassion center certificate is the wishes of the city or town where the dispensary would be located,” the resolution continues.
“The Town Council of the Town of Cumberland hereby formally expresses its opposition to the location of a medical marijuana compassion center in the Town of Cumberland.”
If the council votes to adopt the resolution, Cumberland would be the third community of late to publicly oppose medical marijuana dispensaries. In recent weeks, the Woonsocket City Council and the Coventry Town Council have both passed similar resolutions.
Unlike Woonsocket and Coventry, where medical marijuana clinics have already been proposed, Cumberland's resolution is a purely preemptive effort to dissuade potential marijuana purveyors from eyeballing the town, officials say.
Mayor Daniel McKee said the resolution was introduced by Councilman Craig Dwyer in response to concerns expressed to him by constituents. McKee said he supports the resolution as a way to make sure medical marijuana “is not an issue before it becomes an issue.”
He said the town does not want to be in the same position it found itself in a few years ago, when officials learned that the state had licensed a methadone clinic that was looking at a site in town. Now the town wants to go on record that it is against a medical marijuana clinic before such a proposal ever gets that far.
“It's not something that would be embraced, I'm sure,” McKee said.
In Woonsocket, at any rate, the council's resolution has done little to encourage the applicants from looking elsewhere to set up shop. On the contrary, Jerome Smith, a former lawmaker and retired chief clerk of the District Court, and longtime Woonsocket educator Dennis Gentili, say they intend to redouble their efforts to set the record straight on their proposal — and forge on.
They told The Call Tuesday they intend to distribute copies of their application to every member of the City Council and Mayor Leo T. Fontaine. They said they hope the document will clear up misinformation about the proposal and give councilors a factual basis for future discussions. Gentili and Smith say they will attend the next meeting of the City Council to answer questions..
“Every other city and town council is acting exactly the same way,” says Smith. “It's a NIMBY thing — not in my backyard. It was to be expected. We knew this was going to be no walk in the park, but we still believe there's a number of silent people on the issue who can truly be helped by medical marijuana.”
The proposed Rhode Island Medical Marijuana Dispensary would be located in Park Square, with a separate grow house for cultivating plants in a former social club off Diamond Hill Road.
Woonsocket Mayor Fontaine fired off a letter to DOH recently criticizing the agency for saying resolutions like those passed in Coventry and Woonsocket will have no bearing on DOH's licensing decisions. The Coventry and Woonsocket applications are among 15 pending before DOH, which expects to decide by early September on whether to issue as many as three.
Fontaine said the 2009 enabling legislation authorizing medical marijuana distribution centers calls for public input on the proposals and requires DOH to consider the opinions of host communities.
But Annemarie Beardsworth, spokeswoman for DOH, said the agency did open a period of public comment on the proposals. That period ended with a hearing held at the health department's headquarters in June, after the locations for all the proposed facilities were a matter of public record, she said.
It's too late for resolutions like those adopted by officials in Woonsocket and Coventry to have any bearing on DOH's licensing decisions, according to Beardsworth.
The only limitations spelled out in state law on medical marijuana distribution centers is that they must be at least 500 feet away from any schoolhouse and they must comply with all local zoning laws. Beardsworth said applicants must also obtain written affirmation from host communities that their proposals are in compliance with the local zoning laws.
What would happen if a community refused to provide such documentation even if the applicant could make a reasonable argument that a proposal was in harmony with local zoning? Beardsworth said she wasn't sure how such disputes would play out because the medical marijuana law is so new.
“We're in uncharted territory here,” she said.
But Beardsworth said DOH does not intend to get involved in refereeing such disputes. “That's something for the applicants and the communities to resolve,” she said. “DOH is not going to play mediator in any of these disputes.”
The General Assembly legalized medical marijuana in 2006 for patients suffering from AIDS, hepatitis, cancer and other debilitating conditions. Lawmakers modified the law last year to allow DOH to license up to three distribution sites in order to make it easier for qualified patients to get the drug.
Rhode Island is one of 14 states that have already legalized possession of small amounts of marijuana for medical use, but among those far fewer also allow storefront-style medical marijuana sales, including Colorado and California.
In addition to Woonsocket and Coventry, DOH is considering applicants for distribution sites in Pawtucket, Providence, Cranston, Warwick and Portsmouth. So far, however, the only community that appears to have spread out the welcome mat for a distribution center is Johnston — where none has been proposed.
The Johnston Town Council passed on ordinance last week establishing rules for permitting medical marijuana dispensaries, as well as facilities for cultivating marijuana plants. The ordinance allows compassion centers to apply to the Zoning Board of Review for a special-use permit, but prohibits such facilities from operating within 1,000 feet of a residential zoning district or within 1,500 feet
from a school, ball field, church or hospital.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Woonsocket Call - Home
Author: JOSEPH FITZGERALD and RUSS OLIVO
Copyright: 2010 Woonsocket
Contact: Woonsocket Call - Home
Website:Woonsocket Call - Town balks at medical marijuana
Though no application for a Cumberland-based facility is before the state Department of Health, the Town Council is slated to adopt a resolution formally opposing the location of a medical marijuana compassion center anywhere in town tonight. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 45 Broad St.
The brief resolution says that a primary reason the council would reject any such proposal is because the town “is not conveniently located for patients from throughout Rhode Island.”
“Several parties have expressed a desire to locate a medical marijuana compassion center in the state of Rhode Island,” the resolution states. “One of the criteria to be considered in the granting of a compassion center certificate is the convenience to patients from throughout Rhode Island to the location of the compassion center. The Town of Cumberland is not conveniently located for patients from throughout Rhode Island.
“Another one of the criteria to be considered in the granting of a compassion center certificate is the wishes of the city or town where the dispensary would be located,” the resolution continues.
“The Town Council of the Town of Cumberland hereby formally expresses its opposition to the location of a medical marijuana compassion center in the Town of Cumberland.”
If the council votes to adopt the resolution, Cumberland would be the third community of late to publicly oppose medical marijuana dispensaries. In recent weeks, the Woonsocket City Council and the Coventry Town Council have both passed similar resolutions.
Unlike Woonsocket and Coventry, where medical marijuana clinics have already been proposed, Cumberland's resolution is a purely preemptive effort to dissuade potential marijuana purveyors from eyeballing the town, officials say.
Mayor Daniel McKee said the resolution was introduced by Councilman Craig Dwyer in response to concerns expressed to him by constituents. McKee said he supports the resolution as a way to make sure medical marijuana “is not an issue before it becomes an issue.”
He said the town does not want to be in the same position it found itself in a few years ago, when officials learned that the state had licensed a methadone clinic that was looking at a site in town. Now the town wants to go on record that it is against a medical marijuana clinic before such a proposal ever gets that far.
“It's not something that would be embraced, I'm sure,” McKee said.
In Woonsocket, at any rate, the council's resolution has done little to encourage the applicants from looking elsewhere to set up shop. On the contrary, Jerome Smith, a former lawmaker and retired chief clerk of the District Court, and longtime Woonsocket educator Dennis Gentili, say they intend to redouble their efforts to set the record straight on their proposal — and forge on.
They told The Call Tuesday they intend to distribute copies of their application to every member of the City Council and Mayor Leo T. Fontaine. They said they hope the document will clear up misinformation about the proposal and give councilors a factual basis for future discussions. Gentili and Smith say they will attend the next meeting of the City Council to answer questions..
“Every other city and town council is acting exactly the same way,” says Smith. “It's a NIMBY thing — not in my backyard. It was to be expected. We knew this was going to be no walk in the park, but we still believe there's a number of silent people on the issue who can truly be helped by medical marijuana.”
The proposed Rhode Island Medical Marijuana Dispensary would be located in Park Square, with a separate grow house for cultivating plants in a former social club off Diamond Hill Road.
Woonsocket Mayor Fontaine fired off a letter to DOH recently criticizing the agency for saying resolutions like those passed in Coventry and Woonsocket will have no bearing on DOH's licensing decisions. The Coventry and Woonsocket applications are among 15 pending before DOH, which expects to decide by early September on whether to issue as many as three.
Fontaine said the 2009 enabling legislation authorizing medical marijuana distribution centers calls for public input on the proposals and requires DOH to consider the opinions of host communities.
But Annemarie Beardsworth, spokeswoman for DOH, said the agency did open a period of public comment on the proposals. That period ended with a hearing held at the health department's headquarters in June, after the locations for all the proposed facilities were a matter of public record, she said.
It's too late for resolutions like those adopted by officials in Woonsocket and Coventry to have any bearing on DOH's licensing decisions, according to Beardsworth.
The only limitations spelled out in state law on medical marijuana distribution centers is that they must be at least 500 feet away from any schoolhouse and they must comply with all local zoning laws. Beardsworth said applicants must also obtain written affirmation from host communities that their proposals are in compliance with the local zoning laws.
What would happen if a community refused to provide such documentation even if the applicant could make a reasonable argument that a proposal was in harmony with local zoning? Beardsworth said she wasn't sure how such disputes would play out because the medical marijuana law is so new.
“We're in uncharted territory here,” she said.
But Beardsworth said DOH does not intend to get involved in refereeing such disputes. “That's something for the applicants and the communities to resolve,” she said. “DOH is not going to play mediator in any of these disputes.”
The General Assembly legalized medical marijuana in 2006 for patients suffering from AIDS, hepatitis, cancer and other debilitating conditions. Lawmakers modified the law last year to allow DOH to license up to three distribution sites in order to make it easier for qualified patients to get the drug.
Rhode Island is one of 14 states that have already legalized possession of small amounts of marijuana for medical use, but among those far fewer also allow storefront-style medical marijuana sales, including Colorado and California.
In addition to Woonsocket and Coventry, DOH is considering applicants for distribution sites in Pawtucket, Providence, Cranston, Warwick and Portsmouth. So far, however, the only community that appears to have spread out the welcome mat for a distribution center is Johnston — where none has been proposed.
The Johnston Town Council passed on ordinance last week establishing rules for permitting medical marijuana dispensaries, as well as facilities for cultivating marijuana plants. The ordinance allows compassion centers to apply to the Zoning Board of Review for a special-use permit, but prohibits such facilities from operating within 1,000 feet of a residential zoning district or within 1,500 feet
from a school, ball field, church or hospital.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Woonsocket Call - Home
Author: JOSEPH FITZGERALD and RUSS OLIVO
Copyright: 2010 Woonsocket
Contact: Woonsocket Call - Home
Website:Woonsocket Call - Town balks at medical marijuana
