Residents along Elliot Street are expressing their opposition to a proposed medical marijuana clinic that has applied for a permit to open at the former Green Tea restaurant at the corner of Route 9 and Elliot. The applicant has stated that it hopes to eventually also offer recreational marijuana, something that may be in doubt due to an effort place a ban on recreational marijuana in Newton before voters on the ballot this fall.
The ballot question is part of a very full agenda tonight before the Zoning and Planning Committee (June 24) at 7:00 p.m. first, in the Council Chamber and then in Room 205 to discuss (see the end of the agenda for more details).
And on Tuesday, the Land Use Committee will consider Garden Remedies application to allow recreational marijuana.
It would kill the lovely atmosphere in this treasured shopping plaza. CVS errands and dry cleaning will not be the same with all the junkies lying around in the parking lot.
And imagine how this will ruin the now-leisurely drive along Route 9.
Hey, if they end up offering recreational, the plaza would be a good one-stop shop for me. Weed from the “pot shop” and Devil Dogs from the CVS next door.
“Attorney General Maura Healey is giving cities and towns more power to slow down the recreational marijuana industry, ruling that local officials can unilaterally prohibit cannabis companies for another year without polling residents.” reports the Globe’s Dan Adam. https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/06/24/attorney-general-ruling-could-slow-mass-marijuana-industry/jbrONNL0DfY4Xwvax577tL/story.html
Most curiously, in the past year the liquor store right next door to the proposed Green Tea recreational marijuana shop added a big glass display case full of pipes, bongs, and assorted marijuana accessory items.
I could not make it to the Programs & Services Committee meeting last Wednesday the 20th (out of town on business).
Does anyone here at V14 know whether Councilor Albright’s compromise option has moved forward alongside the proposed outright ban? It seemed like the Councilors commenting here favored moving both options to full City Council… but I haven’t heard a word about it.
First, what bothers me more than these misguided residents objecting to a MEDICAL marijuana dispensary, is the lack of leadership from Newton’s elected “leaders” to defend patient’s health care access. It’s ignorant and deplorable!
Secondly, If you want to know why Massachusetts is struggling to implement the voter’s mandate to legalize marijuana, read the article Amy Sangiolo posted above. Attorney General Maura Healey has used her office to undermine the new law. She’s a disgrace!
Lastly, Dulles asked above about a “compromise” proposal supposedly being offered by Councilor Susan Albright. Having spoken myself this weekend with the people who run a new PAC created to defend the law that legalized cannabis, I am urging pro cannabis supporters to reject any compromise. The law should be fully implemented by City officials exactly as they were instructed to do by the voters. If prohibitionists continue to insist on a revote, they should be forced to fully implement the original law after we kick their asses at the ballot box again.
“objecting to a MEDICAL marijuana dispensary”
Don’t be obtuse or downright disingenuous or misleading… We ALL know this is a stepping stone to getting a leg up on a recreational weed shop, as was already mentioned in the original post above. It’s BS like this that will doom your PAC and the campaign to increase availability of mind altering substances in our city. The silent majority will vote in large numbers and join the sanity of other metro-west towns who have already decided this isn’t in the best interest of their towns.
@Leopold– Where was your “silent majority” when this issue appeared on the ballot in 2016? Mayor Fuller wants a revote? Bring it on!!!
@Dulles – As I understand it ,there will be two contradictory proposals taken up at the next full council meeting in early July. One to put a referendum question on the ballot to ban all recreational marijuana shops in Newton. A second to put a referendum question on the ballot to limit the number of shops from 2 – 4 – rather than the maximum of 8 that are allowed under the current law.
One of the things that has always amazed me in this city of 86,000 people is how a few dozen people showing up at a meeting and making noise can move the needle on just about any issue. The problem of course is that on most issues the elected officials don’t have any direct way of knowing what the citizens want. Their only real information is the emails they receive and the comments made at public hearing. So a concerted effort by a small number of people can often sway the Council.
This issue though is totally different. It’s one of the few issues that the Council will ever deal with where they have incredibly good information about what the voters want. 24,738 Newton voters elected to allow recreational marijuana and 20,473 voted against it. For this issue I am dumbfounded that at every step of the way, the moratorium, the siting questions, and now these proposed bans, the Council is being unduly swayed by the 100-200 people who have been trying to stop recreational marijuana rather than the 24,738 Newton voters who have already clearly expressed their opinion on the matter.
You all do know (from reading my most excellent newsletter or my website) that the Planning Department will be at the Zoning and Planning Committee meeting tonight to discuss potential zoning districts to locate recreational pot shops, right? I’d upload the Planning Department’s memo but can’t seem to download it separately but take a look here: http://www.newtonma.gov/civicax/filebank/documents/90538
and scroll to the back of the agenda to read their proposal.
Thank you @Jerry Reilly!! In principle (and a lot of this for me has been about principle), I’m a little disappointed with a cap written into the proposal. I figured to regulate marijuana like alcohol, we’d compromise not to be a dry town, and let the City Council decide how many licenses to issue rather than hard-code a cap into the proposal.
But on the pragmatic side, any compromise measure would issue no more than 2-4 licenses for years to come, with or without a hard-coded cap. I think we’ll all settle down once people see that recreational cannabis didn’t destroy civilization. Just in case cannabis does destroy civilization as we know it in the interim, well it’s been nice knowing you all.
I hope the Council approves both options to go to ballot.
@Leopold
OMG… “mind-altering substances.”
That sounds like a line out of “Dr. Strangelove,” or from Colonel Flagg in “M.A.S.H.”
It’s no different than alcohol.
Actually it is very different than alcohol which is another mind altering substance but truly not interested in debating that with the OMG I’m so snarky crowd.
Again, not sure why we would want more impaired people driving around our city. I already drive around Newton and several times a week see and/or smell pot smoke coming from cars while sitting at a red light. Lets see, will that increase or decrease with recreational pot shops in town? Let the people vote, and NO, we didn’t already vote to put shops in Newton. We voted to legalize in the state. Not a difficult concept for the non-impaired.
Two competing ballot initiatives that would both reduce the number of stores allowed by State law, would make it nearly impossible for that existing State law to survive intact. That scenario would require voters to vote “no” TWICE, just to keep the law they already voted in favor of. Speaking only for myself, I will not allow Newton voters to be disenfranchised by their elected representatives in that way. If the City Council approves 2 ballot items that both curtail the law already passed by the voters , I will personally challenge that in court.
Too complex an issue to adequatelt debate here. Prohibition doesn’t work. Legal sales cut out black market sales which might be funding real nefarious activities. Anyone who drinks a cold beer they bought at the corner liquor store and opposes the sale of weed from the same block is a hypocrite.
oh give me a break. The shop open on Washington street has had NO IMPACT. I live a 5 min walk away and go through this area frequently getting to Whole Foods. My eye doctor is in the same building and short of a slightly distinctive smell to the place now (which I personally can’t stand) I have not noticed anything different from whatever was in the space before. Parking seems the same, traffic is still the same, I don’t see stoned people wandering around my neighborhood, nor in increase in shady people, nor an increase in kids hanging around the area. I voted for recreational and medical, recreational may be a bit different but again so what. Every business has traffic impacts, every business is going to attract a certain demographic. So what. The MJ boogeyman needs to be put firmly to rest. Folks voted to allow it, I would be a bit more sympathetic if the vote was closer or the anti had won. They did not. Would the anti win at the ballot now? Maybe, if it were an off-year election and the turnout low. I doubt it otherwise. Look, I can’t stand the stuff, the smell makes me want to throw up, the idea of getting stoned or breathing in burning plant matter seems dumb to me but whatever, it is not my choice to make and there are far more dangerous things on the market that are perfectly legal. Let them open the shop already sheesh.
@ Leopold – we didn’t just vote to legalize in the state, we also voted to treat it like alcohol and that implies sales. It’s quite insulting to keep hearing that the people who voted yes did not realize that it would also mean shops. Why legalize it if you cannot conveniently buy it???
@ Dulles – July 9th is when both – the opt-out version and the 2-4 stores – will be discussed by the full council.
@Leopold – The argument could be made that if you don’t want stoned Newtonites driving, don’t make them go to Brookline or Cambridge to buy their weed… They likely will not take the bus.
So that’s your argument? Makes no sense. You’re acknowledging more stoned people are likely to take to the roads and there’s nothing we can do about it so we might as well sell weed in Newton so their commute may be shorter? I think you’re helping to make my point. What about people from outside Newton who will make our city a weed destination? Don’t think they will take the bus either.
Bottom line, it’s very simple, there is a provision in the law that was voted in to legalize recreational weed in Massachusetts that allows local cities and towns to vote on whether to allow sales or not. Let the people vote. Not sure why there is so much concern if everyone is so sure a majority of people in Newton support recreational sales. See you all in November…
Hopefully we can get to November without have opponents being called stupid, dumb, racist… I think the latest trend is to throw in Nazi too.
Those who simply dont believe weed is harmless should not be verbally threatened, harassed or have their home addresses posted all over the internet..
See you in November
@Bugek – I’m not sure what you’re referring to. Have any anti-marijuana folks been “verbally threatened, harassed, or had their home address posted all over the Internet”. or called “racist or Nazi”? If not, why would you throw that out there?
As for being called “stupid or dumb”, yes I’ve heard plenty of people on both sides of this issue imply that about their opponents.
I don’t have any objection to Newton following the opt out process in the law, regardless of where that vote might lead. What I object to are the lies and manipulations that have accompanied this re-vote effort in a bid to circumvent the legitimate opt out process…
The bar to opt out was rightfully set high for municipalities that voted in favor of the 2016 ballot initiative. A citizen petition of more than 6000 verified signatures would have been required to place opt out on the Newton ballot. Instead, three members of the City Council–Schwartz, Kalis and Rice [all cannabis prohibitionists] ignored the law, and manipulated the city’s rules to use an unverified petition of only 60 signatures as a means of getting the Mayor’s re-vote on the ballot…
I think it’s a disgrace that Mayor Fuller lied about her opposition to the voter approved law in order to get elected. As a member of the Board of Aldermen, Fuller had already voted to ban MEDICAL marijuana in Newton. One of her first acts as Mayor was call for a moratorium on adult-use cannabis. Equally disgraceful, the lies told by City Councilors who insisted they needed the moratorium in order to have sufficient time to structure cannabis zoning regulations…
All elected “leaders” need to be called-out when they lie, whether it’s Trump, Fuller, or a bunch of prohibitionist City Councilors with an anti-cannabis agenda.
Ah, for the good old days when the Town of Dover boasted that it was a temperance haven without a single “liquor store”, tavern or restaurant with a liquor license. Of course, they got around the moral implications of all this by freely selling alcohol without prescription in the village center Pharmacy. I can only suppose they assumed that any of the fine citizens of this Republican stronghold who bought alcohol in any form from the pharmacy would be consuming it for medical and health reasons only. Who could doubt there was any other reason.
Jerry,
Several weeks ago, a resident who opposed had their home address posted on v14… it was also left up for several hours after people complained…
The racism card has been played many times nationally against those who wish to keep weed illegal
So yes, as November approaches I expect both sides to get very heated
The incident where someone’s name/address was left up for a while is what happens when you have an all volunteer blog. I know a few hours or even days can feel like an eternity on the internet but it can and does happen.
Mike Striar references this, but I feel like we all need to understand better (at least I do) what happened to allow a 60 signature petition to enable city councilors to put this issue on a city-wide ballot. Last I understood, we required a 6,000 to 8,000 (THAT’S what was being debated) signature petition before city council to have a council vote to put an issue on the ballot. It seems like something banana-republicky happened here…
ANP, in Newton 6000 verified signatures are required to put a question on the ballot. 60 verified signatures can get a petition before a committee. The Programs and Services committee voted for this petition to go before the full city council on July 9.
The city council has the authority to stop these ballot iniatives. They have no responsibility to accept either question. The law actually allows the city council to write their own ordinances or by-laws to put on the ballot. They don’t have to listen to lobbyists representing a small group of residents.
Hopefully most of Newton’s city councilors will see this prohibionist ban as the ridiculous ballot question it is. Prohibition never works. Liquor prohibition created a major crime industry and liquor consumption increased. Marijuana prohibition will encourage increased black market sales and increase crime in Newton.
Of course legalizing adult recreational marijuana included having retail stores set up to sell it. Newton approved the legalization which must lead to its sales.
If card-carrying Opt Out Newton members showed up in committee to oppose the opening of a medical shop, that’s a major reversal from the organization’s claims not to oppose medical.
If OON is so certain the ban petition will get through Council and succeed at the ballot box, then there’s no harm in letting this medical shop open. It doesn’t matter if the applicant expressed interest in recreational, because we’ll have a recreational retail ban.
I do want to add with some distaste that the placard starts with: “Think about our kids…” There are children who have conditions treated or relieved by cannabis. But those are “your kids”, not “our kids”. Message to parents with “your kid” — go buy your medicine someplace else.
@Marti – the action item, then, is that we should be contacting our local city councilors indicating DISapproval of putting any council-derived ballot questions regarding recreational marijuana on the November ballot? (I am just trying to boil down to what I, the average Joe citizen, can do to make my opinion heard at this point.) Thanks!
ANP, contact, call or email, any and all city councilors. Email David Olson at [email protected] to reach the entire city council. Be specific about what you are requesting they do and why.
Call or talk to in person any city councilor you know personally and any other you feel comfortable talking to. Write a snail mail letter too.
Thanks for asking.
One thing that would NOT be effective is a Letter to the Editor of the TAB. They have declined to print my last two pro-cannabis letters. They are happy to give Mayor Fuller a Page 2 column to tout her anti-cannabis agenda. And this week they gave a guest column to an anti MEDICAL cannabis ignoramus. But don’t hold your breath waiting for them to print anything pro cannabis. The TAB is about as fair and balanced as Fox News.
I wonder how many people in Newton, and in particular the Upper Falls, voted to legalize weed. What did they think was going to happen? Where did they think the pot shops were going to go? The median strip on Rt. 128?
@John – the answer is 24,767 people in Newton voted for legalization. I’ve seen no evidence that it’s those people who are trying to thwart the siting of shops. It is some of the 20,743 Newton people who voted against it and are not happy that they were on the losing side of that vote.
I’m appalled that by all indications the City Council appears to be willing to enable a small group on the losing side of that vote to avoid doing the hard work of gathering the signatures,and demonstrating wide public support to put another referendum question on the ballot. By all means, opponents have every right to collect the signatures and put that question on the ballot if they so choose.
For the City Council to short circuit that process and overturn the clearly expressed wish of a clear majority of Newton voters would be a total forfeiture of political leadership. When a public vote has already been taken, allowing a small and vocal minority on the losing side to undo that vote without doing the hard work is political cowardice. Part of the job of being an elected official is to come to grips with the fact that on any issue, many of your constituents will not be happy with the outcome.
@Jerry: “Part of the job of being an elected official is to come to grips with the fact that on any issue, many of your constituents will not be happy with the outcome.”
I’m beginning to rethink democracy! It’s really hard to gather a following unless you are a member of a pack of some sort, with an organization or following to count in and on, with a funding source that has no strings and a platform of great popularity that offers everything to everyone!
I want to be Queen! But no crown please, because heavy hangs the head that wears one! It has to be easier than this form of governance, at least for me as the Queen! 🙂
I’m thinking that, if a vote is a part of an allowable legal process, even though it may be a costly pain in the a$$, bring it on. If the hordes stay home from the polls and let their opponents vote in something they don’t want, they must bear the responsibility for having done so. Vigilance. Vigilance. Vigilance. (And organization, energy and money). If it’s legal, they are savvy!
@Sallee Lipshutz – My objection is not that the opponents tried this maneuver – good for them. My objection is that the City Council so far appears to be seriously considering it rather than saying “nice try guys”, now go collect the signatures to put it on the ballot if you think you can pull that off.
But…if the process for putting this on the ballot is so sloppily related to small pushes on the Councilors, then another small group of equal weight should be pushing back to keep it off. Yin and Yang, Push-Me-Pull-You. I would fault the process here. However, 8,000 signatures is a bit draconian. It takes a lot of money and too much time to get those!
@Sallee Lipshutz – However, 8,000 signatures is a bit draconian. It takes a lot of money and too much time to get those! It definitely should be difficult to put a referendum question on the ballot, particularly one in conflict with the nearly 25,000 Newton voters that cast a ballot in favor of this only a few months ago.
Also keep in mind that the folks who put November’s question on the ballot had to collect 65,000 signatures state wide.
I think the City Councilors came to the realization that most signature gathering petition initiatives take several years and/or a lot of money to gather thousands of signatures. There simply isn’t enough time to wait and see if that will happen in this instance, if they want to let voters consider a ban or limit the number of stores before stores start opening in a few months. So, they are assessing whether or not it is advisable to place an Opt Out or limited number of stores question on the ballot on their own volition since it is an option that is granted to every town in Question 4 and the subsequent law for local control. We will see what the decide on that.
@Jerry Reilly, for clarification, the history of Q.4 as I understand it:
The petition needed 64,750 signatures. The MJ folks collected 70,739 certified signatures. The state legislature then refused to pick it up, so the MJ folks needed another 10,792 signatures to bypass — they collected more than 25,000 additional signatures to force the ballot question with >95k signatures total.
Opt Out petition launched with 60 signatures. However, I’ve heard a claim that OON continues to collect signatures and now 1,500 or so. If true, that’s very good for the movement.
The initiative to “regulate marijuana like alcohol” passed in November, 2016… nearly twenty months ago. The petitioners had plenty of time to raise signatures for an opt out proposal. Whether they could have raised enough signatures to get it on the ballot is questionable, since all they’ve been able to raise thus far is 60 signatures. This same story is playing out all over Massachusetts, where small vocal groups of people are acting in concert with prohibitionist politicians to impede implementation of the law. It’s a shame this is happening in Newton.