Braintree Mayor Wants A Year's Ban On Marijuana Production Facilities

Ron Strider

Well-Known Member
Mayor Joseph Sullivan favors a ban on retail establishments for recreational marijuana but wants the town to wait a year before deciding on production facilities.

Sullivan had submitted a proposal to the town council last month which would ban retail sales and production of recreational marijuana, saying that he wanted to start a community discussion on the topic.

The mayor submitted the revised proposal to the town council Monday and discussed it at a meeting of the council's ordinance and rules committee that night.

"I think it's a consensus," Sullivan said of the proposal in an interview after the meeting. "We're putting up a stop sign on every level."

The proposed moratorium on recreational marijuana production facilities would last until Dec. 31, 2018.

"The moratorium would provide time for the town to consider the legal, planning, financial and public safety issues that are raised by such establishments (as well as to consider any financial benefits that may be presented by allowing some types of non-retail establishments) and to adopt any necessary regulations," Sullivan wrote in a memo to the town council.

The moratorium will also allow the town to take action after the state's Cannabis Control Commission issues statewide regulations, which are due by March 15.

The ban on retail shops and the moratorium on production facilities are contained in both general and zoning by-laws. A zoning by-law requires a two-thirds vote by the town council for approval.

The planning board is expected to consider the zoning measure at its meeting next month.

No proponents of recreational marijuana spoke at the committee meeting, although several people from the medical marijuana industry did. The measures would not apply to medical marijuana.

Opponents of recreational marijuana included the town's board of health and two parents who lost children to overdoses.

District 6 Town Councilor Dan Clifford, who chairs the ordinance and rules committee, said he is planning one more hearing on the issue before making a recommendation to the council.

"I know people are very passionate about this," Clifford said. "I hope our next meeting brings out more expertise on the issue."

Clifford hopes for a council vote at its Dec. 19 meeting.

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Full Article: Braintree mayor wants a year's ban on marijuana production facilities - News - The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA - Quincy, MA
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