Truth Seeker
New Member
A proposal for a medical marijuana center in Wakefield — if the statewide ballot question passes — has been withdrawn after it seemed destined to appear as the subject of potentially two articles on the Town Meeting warrant this November.
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. However, on Wednesday, Sept. 12, he said he changed his mind.
"I mailed a notice of cancellation of my medical marijuana proposal," Swanson said on Sept. 12. "I feel that it's better for me to wait until the law is more clear. Furthermore, I don't want my Wakefield proposal to get confused with the statewide proposal."
When asked if he would try proposing the medical marijuana center for Wakefield again in the future if the ballot question passes, Swanson left the door open, but noted that it would not be a certainty.
"It's possible, in Wakefield or a different community," he said noting the recent coverage of his proposal made him change his mind.
"It's just the way it was getting into the newspaper," he said. "I didn't want to interfere with the people advertising for Question 3...Basically, right now, it may be interfering with the statewide proposal. Let's do the statewide proposal first."
If Swanson continued to pursue the proposal, the town was required to include the warrant article, according to town counsel. The article would have needed a two-thirds majority to pass.
"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."
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 were 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 have petitioned 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 had passed.
Swanson felt his article would win in such a scenario.
"If they were to pass both bylaws, my bylaw is more specific and would prevail," Swanson said before withdrawing his proposal.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: wickedlocal.com
Author: Steven Ryan
Contact: The Reading Advocate Contact Us
Website: NEARBY NEWS: Wakefield medical marijuana center proposal withdrawn - Reading, MA - The Reading Advocate
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. However, on Wednesday, Sept. 12, he said he changed his mind.
"I mailed a notice of cancellation of my medical marijuana proposal," Swanson said on Sept. 12. "I feel that it's better for me to wait until the law is more clear. Furthermore, I don't want my Wakefield proposal to get confused with the statewide proposal."
When asked if he would try proposing the medical marijuana center for Wakefield again in the future if the ballot question passes, Swanson left the door open, but noted that it would not be a certainty.
"It's possible, in Wakefield or a different community," he said noting the recent coverage of his proposal made him change his mind.
"It's just the way it was getting into the newspaper," he said. "I didn't want to interfere with the people advertising for Question 3...Basically, right now, it may be interfering with the statewide proposal. Let's do the statewide proposal first."
If Swanson continued to pursue the proposal, the town was required to include the warrant article, according to town counsel. The article would have needed a two-thirds majority to pass.
"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."
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 were 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 have petitioned 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 had passed.
Swanson felt his article would win in such a scenario.
"If they were to pass both bylaws, my bylaw is more specific and would prevail," Swanson said before withdrawing his proposal.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: wickedlocal.com
Author: Steven Ryan
Contact: The Reading Advocate Contact Us
Website: NEARBY NEWS: Wakefield medical marijuana center proposal withdrawn - Reading, MA - The Reading Advocate
