Pubdate: Fri, 14 Jun 2013
Source: Ayer Public Spirit (MA)
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Copyright: 2013 MediaNews Group
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Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5440
Author: Hattie Bernstein

AYER MAY PUT BRAKES ON MEDICAL-MARIJUANA SALES

AYER -- The town could become among the first communities in the 
state to have a medical marijuana dispensary, or conversely, a 
Shirley man who wants to open a business on Central Avenue might have 
to wait a year or more to apply for the zoning permits.

That was the message that could be read between the lines during a 
brief early-morning Board of Selectmen's meeting on Friday.

Just three of the board members and the town administrator showed up 
for the meeting, which followed a Planning Board public hearing 
Thursday night that ran for more than two hours.

At issue during the hearing was whether or not the Planning Board 
would recommend a moratorium on dispensaries. Across Massachusetts, 
towns and cities have been voting for moratoriums, presumably to buy 
time, although they may not ban the businesses, allowed under state law.

In Ayer, voters at the Special Town Meeting on June 24 will make the decision.

The Planning Board will recommend a 90-day stay, while selectmen plan 
to introduce a warrant article authored by the town attorney that 
would enforce a 12-month moratorium.

Selectman convened on Friday to vote on the moratorium. Officials 
said they were pressed to hold the early-morning meeting following 
the Planning Board's vote on Thursday night. Under state law, the 
town must post any warrant articles no later than 14 days before the 
Town Meeting.

Several people were in the audience, including Shirley resident John 
Hillier, who wants to open Compassionate Care, a nonprofit medical 
marijuana dispensary that would be located on Central Avenue.

Hillier's attorney, Chris Lilly, attempted to ask a question about 
the moratorium the board approved. But the board chair dismissed his 
query, saying the meeting was limited to the two items on the agenda.

After the meeting, Lilly said he wanted to ask why the board's 
article differs from the Planning Board's recommendation; the latter 
would require a three-month wait rather than the year established in 
the proposed warrant.

Conley said the board had approved the moratorium article written by 
the town's lawyer, but she stressed that voters would have the chance 
to amend it.

In recent days, communities across Massachusetts have been having 
similar conversations, with Middlesex, Norfolk and Suffolk counties 
appearing to be the most receptive to medical-marijuana dispensaries.

Last November, 63 percent of the state's voters approved a ballot 
question that would allow the legalization of marijuana for medical 
conditions, including cancer. The law allows the state to license up 
to 35 dispensaries to provide medical marijuana to patients certified 
by their doctors and permits up to five dispensaries in a county.

Under the law, communities may delay the application process, but 
they don't have the power to bar registered dispensaries.

"In my opinion, sooner or later, marijuana is going to be legal," 
said Planning Board Chairman Mark Fermanian. "Now we have an 
opportunity for uncontrolled versus legally controlled. But it's 
definitely going to be a tough balancing act."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom