Tuesday, December 11, 2012
The City Council and Planning Board will hold separate hearings in January to review a proposed ban on medical marijuana facilities in Peabody.
Despite the initial desire from Peabody city officials to act quickly on the matter before year end, a joint review of a proposed zoning ban on medical marijuana facilities between the City Council and Planning Board has been canceled and separate hearings will now be held in January. City Clerk Tim Spanos says the Planning Board hearing is scheduled for Jan. 3 and the council hearing is Jan. 10. "At the request of the mayor, the Dec. 27 joint hearing with the Planning Board on the medical marijuana zoning issue has been canceled. The mayor did not want to put councilors and Planning Board members out of their way so close to the holidays," Spanos said via email. The Planning Board will consider the proposed ban from Mayor Ted Bettencourt …
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Bettencourt says new law is too vague. City is among several communities in Massachusetts now seeking bans on medical marijuana dispensaries.
Mayor Ted Bettencourt says he wants to make Peabody off-limits to medical marijuana dispensaries. In an interview with the Salem News, Bettencourt argued that the law passed by voters earlier this month is too vague and said he will ask the City Council Tuesday to ban the operations of medical marijuana treatment shops in the city. That's despite Peabody voters coming out in favor of the ballot question by a significant margin on Election Day -- 14,363 votes to 11,091. The council's Legal Affairs Committee is slated to discuss the issue Tuesday (6:45 p.m.) after Ward 5 City Councilor David Gamache asked his colleagues earlier this month to consider restricting where such facilities could be located in the city, similar to only allowing …
Friday, November 9, 2012
The medical marijuana ballot initiative passed on Tuesday, which means up to 35 medical marijuana dispensaries can open in 2013. Would you be OK with having one in town?
Medical marijuana is coming to Massachusetts. The question is: where? The medical marijana ballot initiative that passed in Tuesdays election with 63 percent voter approval means that up to 35 medical marijuana dispensaries can open up in the state in 2013. The new law goes into effect January 1, but requires rules and regulations be set up by the Department of Public Health. Some towns and cities, such as Quincy, reportedly are already trying to line up regulations that would keep dispensaries out of their municipalities, which have proved troublesome in some of the nine states where medical marijuana dispensaries have been legal. What do you think? Is this a classic case of NIMBY (fine, but Not In My Back Yard)? Or do medical marijuana…
Jennifer Swaver
2:51 pm on Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Give me a break. Isn't this a democracy where people get to vote and have our voices heard? Well guess what? The people spoke loud and clear and voted yes. I have no respect anymore for Mr. Bettencourt who is going against the people. Shame on you. Why stop there? Why don't you do an article on the major abuse of prescription drugs that is so rampant and accessible? Or drunk driving statistics? … more ›