The Waban Area Council will hear from the developers of a proposed Recreational Marijuana Dispensary at 1158 Beacon St. and take questions on Thursday April 11, 7:30 p.m. at the Waban Library.
Proposed Beacon Street marijuana retailer to meet with Waban Area Council
by Village 14 | Apr 9, 2019 | Newton | 10 comments
Dumb question time: Doesn’t Newton Four Corners fall under Newton Highlands? When the debate over this location started way back when, I thought Four Corners was part of Newton Centre, and was corrected.
Does anyone know the company that will be present? Are the developers planning to have meetings with multiple village councils?
Yes, the developers meet with various village councils. In fact, I believe they may have already met with the Newton Highlands Area Council. Area Council meetings are open to the public (not just to residents of their catchment areas), so you are welcome to attend this meeting and other WAC meetings, even if you lived in Chestnut Hill! The Waban Area Council catchment area goes a bit east of the Zervis School, so it is reasonable for the Council to ask questions about the potential impact that this dispensary could have on their neighborhood and to provide a forum for neighbors to find out what is being proposed.
(Disclaimer: I have been a member of the Waban Area Council since before its formal inception.)
By the way, I think 2 of the 4 Corners are in Newton Highlands…the other 2 (east of Walnut) might be in Newton Centre…but who’s counting!
Thank you Sallee. I’m going to try to attend.
People who are concerned about this marijuana shop in Newton, should visit some of the other shops that have opened in the state. Your fears will melt away, even if you don’t purchase any cannabis products.
There will be crowds though, until more shops open. The same thing would happen if there were only one or two liquor stores in Newton. But the behavior of people waiting in long lines has been exemplary in Brookline and other places. I’m confident that will hold true when Newton shops finally open for business.
The shame of it all is that Newton should have been out in front of this curve. But the Mayor and City Council thought they knew better than the voters. They cost the city million$ in lost revenue with their obstructionist behavior. Meanwhile, Brookline, Salem, Northampton, Leicester, Lowell and Upton have all been taking in lots of money from recreational cannabis through Community Host Agreements with shops that are open for business.
@Mike Striar – Do you stand to gain financially by advocating for marijuana? Pl. clarify.
It would be utterly disingenuous of you to advocate so fiercely without disclosing any direct or indirect financial interests.
The attorney for the developer (Union Twist) just contacted me to let me know they are postponing their presentation. So no RMD discussion at WAC tomorrow night.
@Neil P–
I came to the cause of marijuana reform when my wife Laurie was suffering from terminal brain cancer about ten years ago. Like many cancer patients chemotherapy made her intolerably nauseous. She wanted to stop taking chemo. I convinced her to try and mitigate the effects with medical cannabis. The only place I knew to get marijuana was California. So Laurie and I flew to LA and stayed with her parents for her next round of treatment…
The cannabis made treatment tolerable. So much so that we decided to restage our wedding of two decades earlier in her parents backyard. She called the rabbi who had married us originally. We even had our kids fly in at the last minute to be there for the ceremony. It was an absolutely magnificent day…
Laurie finished her round of chemo treatment the next day, and we were packing to fly back to Boston. We talked about what to do the following month when she would need to take her treatment again. There was a little bit of medical cannabis left. About two joints worth. She wrapped it in cellophane and put it in a suitcase with her meds…
We were already belted into our seats on the plane at LAX waiting to fly back to Boston. Our 13 year old daughter was flying with us. Just as the cabin door was about to close two uniformed police officers boarded the plane, walked right up to my wife and tried to arrest her. Her crime? “Possession of marijuana.”
Medical cannabis was legal in California. But because we were not residents, Laurie couldn’t get a medical card, so a friend of ours had gone to the dispensary for her. The police pulled the two of us off the plane along with our daughter after TSA had found the marijuana in with Laurie’s meds. The police were overzealous, but they showed a bit of mercy. I convinced them to arrest me instead of Laurie…
$2500 for attorneys fees. Another couple of grand for new flights. It would have been very easy for me to put the whole damn thing behind me after charges were eventually dropped. But the injustice of it all stuck with me. There were so many suffering patients being denied relief. Untold millions of lives stained by criminal records. The ignorance was intolerable to me. So I started to speak out and contribute to marijuana reform across the country…
I have never invested a dollar in the cannabis industry. I have a brother who is in the business, licensed by the state. I have no involvement with his business. To me, the issue of marijuana reform is 100% about social justice.
@ Mike Striar, you say that our city leaders cost Newton millions in lost revenue?
According to this article in the Boston Globe, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has so far earned less than $6 million in marijuana sales tax: https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/marijuana/2019/03/19/windfall-they-said-why-massachusetts-marijuana-tax-collections-are-disappointing/uX8UHvOvKQSmNZFsnIi93I/story.html
The Globe also reports that consumers are continuing to purchase from black market dealers (https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/marijuana/2019/02/02/illicit-pot-market-remains-stubbornly-robust/Fqq5baxLvgkrTB1ABJRbEL/story.html), or they’re growing it themselves at home (https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/marijuana/2019/04/08/not-your-father-homegrown/twkjPCe3j2okAvCnRiOBNN/story.html).
And why is that?
“The major impediment has been the achingly slow rollout of licensed pot shops, and at the current rate it could take another three years or more before enough stores are open to make an appreciable dent in the black market.”
@Mike Strair – thank you for your response.
I am pro medical and recreational MJ. I was aware of your personal story, and it is indeed quite touching. I would not wish those circumstance on anyone.
My concern around your financial motivation, was based Globe article someone posted couple of weeks ago. I am relieved to hear you confirm that your advocacy for marijuana is not tainted by your or your loved ones undisclosed financial gains.