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Arlington Town Meeting should limit the placement of medical marijuana dispensaries to the town's central business (B5) district and prohibit dispensaries from coming into town for one year, selectmen voted 4-0 at their meeting Monday night.
The vote to support these proposals, which was taken in the absence of Selectman Dan Dunn, echoed the Redevelopment Board's recommendation to approve of two articles coming before Town Meeting this month: Article 7, to rezone the B5 district to allow medical marijuana treatment centers as defined by state law, and Article 8, to place a moratorium on these centers coming into town until the dissolution of the 2014 Town Meeting.
The Redevelopment Board will recommend that Town Meeting take positive action on both articles.
Since Massachusetts voters legalized medical marijuana in November, the Attorney General has struck down Wakefield's and Reading's bans on medical marijuana dispensaries in town, but upheld Burlington's year-long moratorium on the dispensaries, said Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine in a press conference before selectmen's meeting.
Arlington should place its own moratorium to allow time for regulations to come down from the Department of Public Health and to observe the decisions of other communities and the Attorney General's office, Chapdelaine said. The town should also zone for the dispensaries in the central business district, where they will be clearly visible, Chapdelaine said.
Use restrictions on dispensaries would include the following, according to Article 7: No goods or wares may be visible from outside the premises; no activity should be heard, smelled or otherwise detected from outside the premises; and marijuana dispensation may not be accessory to any other use.
Arlington police and youth safety officials have participated in discussion of the warrant articles and Police Chief Fred Ryan is comfortable with allowing medical marijuana dispensaries in town, subject to reasonable regulations, Chapdelaine said.
The Department of Public Health would be the one to license these dispensaries, with Arlington's Board of Health permitted to impose "reasonable health regulations" on their operation, including permitting requirements, according to Town Counsel Juliana Rice.
A dispensary would most likely be subject to inspections and could have its local and state licenses revoked if caught distributing marijuana to someone without a prescribed need, Rice said, as well as possibly facing criminal charges.
The Department of Public Health expects each of Massachusetts' seven counties will be served by one to five dispensaries, or 35 in the whole state, Chapdelaine said. If a dispensary moves into a nearby municipality, there's a good chance no dispensary will move into Arlington, he said.
The Department of Public Health expects to issue draft regulations on the dispensaries March 29, end public comment April 20 and adopt final regulations in May, after which would-be dispensaries may apply for registration.
The DPH may take up to 90 days to consider applications, meaning the first marijuana dispensaries will most likely seek to open this fall, according to Rice.
Town Meeting will vote on the articles at this spring's Town Meeting, scheduled to start April 24.
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: wickedlocal.com
Author: Monica Jimenez
Contact: The Arlington Advocate Contact Us
Website: Arlington boards support regulating medical marijuana - News - - The Arlington Advocate
The vote to support these proposals, which was taken in the absence of Selectman Dan Dunn, echoed the Redevelopment Board's recommendation to approve of two articles coming before Town Meeting this month: Article 7, to rezone the B5 district to allow medical marijuana treatment centers as defined by state law, and Article 8, to place a moratorium on these centers coming into town until the dissolution of the 2014 Town Meeting.
The Redevelopment Board will recommend that Town Meeting take positive action on both articles.
Since Massachusetts voters legalized medical marijuana in November, the Attorney General has struck down Wakefield's and Reading's bans on medical marijuana dispensaries in town, but upheld Burlington's year-long moratorium on the dispensaries, said Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine in a press conference before selectmen's meeting.
Arlington should place its own moratorium to allow time for regulations to come down from the Department of Public Health and to observe the decisions of other communities and the Attorney General's office, Chapdelaine said. The town should also zone for the dispensaries in the central business district, where they will be clearly visible, Chapdelaine said.
Use restrictions on dispensaries would include the following, according to Article 7: No goods or wares may be visible from outside the premises; no activity should be heard, smelled or otherwise detected from outside the premises; and marijuana dispensation may not be accessory to any other use.
Arlington police and youth safety officials have participated in discussion of the warrant articles and Police Chief Fred Ryan is comfortable with allowing medical marijuana dispensaries in town, subject to reasonable regulations, Chapdelaine said.
The Department of Public Health would be the one to license these dispensaries, with Arlington's Board of Health permitted to impose "reasonable health regulations" on their operation, including permitting requirements, according to Town Counsel Juliana Rice.
A dispensary would most likely be subject to inspections and could have its local and state licenses revoked if caught distributing marijuana to someone without a prescribed need, Rice said, as well as possibly facing criminal charges.
The Department of Public Health expects each of Massachusetts' seven counties will be served by one to five dispensaries, or 35 in the whole state, Chapdelaine said. If a dispensary moves into a nearby municipality, there's a good chance no dispensary will move into Arlington, he said.
The Department of Public Health expects to issue draft regulations on the dispensaries March 29, end public comment April 20 and adopt final regulations in May, after which would-be dispensaries may apply for registration.
The DPH may take up to 90 days to consider applications, meaning the first marijuana dispensaries will most likely seek to open this fall, according to Rice.
Town Meeting will vote on the articles at this spring's Town Meeting, scheduled to start April 24.
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: wickedlocal.com
Author: Monica Jimenez
Contact: The Arlington Advocate Contact Us
Website: Arlington boards support regulating medical marijuana - News - - The Arlington Advocate
