Town Meeting Votes Temporary Moratorium on Medicinal Marijuana

Town Meeting voted to place a one-year moratorium on medical marijuana facilities in Brookline while the state hashes out their new laws on medicinal marijuana.

Both Selectmen Ken Goldstein and Brookline Advisory Committee Chair Sean Lynn-Jones offered pun-heavy speeches suggesting the need to wait for more detailed guidelines on cultivation, diagnosis, growth, transportation and distribution of medical marijuana. 

It was clear that the Board of Selectmen, the Advisory Committee and the Public Health Department were not against a treatment center once the state laws were decided on.

“The regulation is a work in progress. We need to balance the needs of the industry with the needs of the town while laws are being worked out,” Goldstein said. “This will probably be addressed at Town Meeting. There will be no need to reefer (refer) this to a joint committee.”

“Doobie or not doobie was the question (Massachusetts voters voted on this past November),” Lynn-Jones said. “Seventy percent voted in favor in Brookline. Article 17 offers a clear message. Weed better wait until we can take joint action with the state.”

“The atate regulations came out just 10 days ago,” Public Health Department head Alan Balsam said. “I think there are people here who will benefit from medical marijuana. My concern is that when people grow their own grass, it creates diversion.”

Town Meeting members address the concern about waiting, saying that there is a potential for a missed opportunity. “If we wait, other communities in Norfolk County could cash in on this and we could miss the opportunity to help sick people,” Town Meeting Member Marty Walsh said.

Chairwoman of the Board of Selectmen Betsy Dewitt said that this issue would be addressed again at the Fall Town Meeting.