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An article asking the town to allow a medical marijuana center to open in Wakefield — if the statewide ballot question passes — is slated to appear on the warrant during this November's Town Meeting, according to town counsel.
Carl Swanson, who heads the National Organization for Positive Medicine, gathered the necessary 10 signatures from Wakefield voters for the article to appear on the Town Meeting warrant.
"Under Massachusetts law, any 10 voters can sign a petition to put an article on the next Town Meeting warrant," said Town Counsel Town Mullen. "Mr. Swanson got more than 10 voters to sign it, and the selectmen can't exercise any right to exclude it."
The article question reads: "The Town of Wakefield, MA hereby passes a special bylaw requesting that, in the event of the passage of the statewide medical marijuana initiative, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health issue a registration to the National Organization for Positive Medicine to operate a single not-for-profit medical marijuana compassion center in the Town of Wakefield, MA."
Swanson initially filed a lawsuit to make sure the article question is not buried at the end of the warrant and to seek only a majority vote to pass the article, Mullen said. However, Swanson has since dismissed the lawsuit. As a result, the article would need a two-thirds majority to pass.
If the ballot question passes, Swanson said he plans to attend the November Town Meeting, which would likely take place after the election, to answer any questions about the article. If the statewide ballot question does not pass, the warrant article would be rendered moot.
"I think the town has been fair," Swanson said about his dealings with Wakefield officials. "They are being objective and are doing their job."
When asked about a potential separate bylaw initiative at the November Town Meeting to ban a medical marijuana center in Wakefield, Mullen said the town's Board of Health and the Board of Selectmen are mulling such a possibility as a zoning article. In neighboring Reading, a warrant article at its Fall Town Meeting to ban medical marijuana centers is also being discussed.
Noting Swanson's article would petition the Department of Public Health to open a medical marijuana center, Mullen said there would be a "legal issue of whether the Department of Public Health's definition [of a medical marijuana center] trumps zoning bylaws" if both articles pass.
"In that case, I would have to enforce zoning bylaws and ask the town not to issue a certificate of occupancy in violation of zoning bylaws," Mullen said.
Swanson has a different interpretation of such a scenario.
"If they were to pass both bylaws, my bylaw is more specific and would prevail," Swanson said. "It would prevent anyone else from operating a dispensary, but it would prevail as to a question of me opening a dispensary."
Swanson has also been eyeing Dracut and Lynnfield for medical marijuana centers, but he won't turn his attention to those communities until his efforts Wakefield are settled. He believes it would be a "mistake to overreact" with any bylaws banning medical marijuana centers, whether it's in Wakefield or other communities. He noted the ballot question, if it passes, provides for more regulation than in California, where marijuana for medicinal purposes is legal.
"The intention is to open a discrete, members-only medical marijuana facility," he said. "It's not the same as the California pot shops. It's simply intended for the right to dispense marijuana to people who are allowed to by the state in a community friendly environment."
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: wickedlocal.com
Author: Steven Ryan
Contact: Wicked Local Upton Contact Us
Website: Medical marijuana center to appear on Wakefield Town Meeting warrant - Upton, MA - Wicked Local Upton
Carl Swanson, who heads the National Organization for Positive Medicine, gathered the necessary 10 signatures from Wakefield voters for the article to appear on the Town Meeting warrant.
"Under Massachusetts law, any 10 voters can sign a petition to put an article on the next Town Meeting warrant," said Town Counsel Town Mullen. "Mr. Swanson got more than 10 voters to sign it, and the selectmen can't exercise any right to exclude it."
The article question reads: "The Town of Wakefield, MA hereby passes a special bylaw requesting that, in the event of the passage of the statewide medical marijuana initiative, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health issue a registration to the National Organization for Positive Medicine to operate a single not-for-profit medical marijuana compassion center in the Town of Wakefield, MA."
Swanson initially filed a lawsuit to make sure the article question is not buried at the end of the warrant and to seek only a majority vote to pass the article, Mullen said. However, Swanson has since dismissed the lawsuit. As a result, the article would need a two-thirds majority to pass.
If the ballot question passes, Swanson said he plans to attend the November Town Meeting, which would likely take place after the election, to answer any questions about the article. If the statewide ballot question does not pass, the warrant article would be rendered moot.
"I think the town has been fair," Swanson said about his dealings with Wakefield officials. "They are being objective and are doing their job."
When asked about a potential separate bylaw initiative at the November Town Meeting to ban a medical marijuana center in Wakefield, Mullen said the town's Board of Health and the Board of Selectmen are mulling such a possibility as a zoning article. In neighboring Reading, a warrant article at its Fall Town Meeting to ban medical marijuana centers is also being discussed.
Noting Swanson's article would petition the Department of Public Health to open a medical marijuana center, Mullen said there would be a "legal issue of whether the Department of Public Health's definition [of a medical marijuana center] trumps zoning bylaws" if both articles pass.
"In that case, I would have to enforce zoning bylaws and ask the town not to issue a certificate of occupancy in violation of zoning bylaws," Mullen said.
Swanson has a different interpretation of such a scenario.
"If they were to pass both bylaws, my bylaw is more specific and would prevail," Swanson said. "It would prevent anyone else from operating a dispensary, but it would prevail as to a question of me opening a dispensary."
Swanson has also been eyeing Dracut and Lynnfield for medical marijuana centers, but he won't turn his attention to those communities until his efforts Wakefield are settled. He believes it would be a "mistake to overreact" with any bylaws banning medical marijuana centers, whether it's in Wakefield or other communities. He noted the ballot question, if it passes, provides for more regulation than in California, where marijuana for medicinal purposes is legal.
"The intention is to open a discrete, members-only medical marijuana facility," he said. "It's not the same as the California pot shops. It's simply intended for the right to dispense marijuana to people who are allowed to by the state in a community friendly environment."
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: wickedlocal.com
Author: Steven Ryan
Contact: Wicked Local Upton Contact Us
Website: Medical marijuana center to appear on Wakefield Town Meeting warrant - Upton, MA - Wicked Local Upton
