Pubdate: Thu, 03 Mar 2016
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2016 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340
Website: http://bostonglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: Kay Lazar

BUFFER ZONE FOR MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES BACKED IN BOSTON

Marijuana dispensaries in Boston would have to sit at least 
half-a-mile apart under rules approved Wednesday by the Boston City Council.

The measure is intended to protect neighborhoods from being overrun 
with pot shops, in the event voters approve a likely November ballot 
initiative that would legalize recreational use of marijuana, said 
Councilor-at-large, Michael Flaherty, who sponsored the rule.

"I don't want to have another Combat Zone. I don't want to have a pot 
zone, a marijuana zone," Flaherty said. "I don't think one 
neighborhood should bear the burden of all of that."

Flaherty said he introduced the buffer zone last year, after hearing 
from residents and local business owners who were nervous about the 
prospect of recreational marijuana use. He said he studied the 
experiences of cities and states that enacted buffer zones after 
legalizing recreational marijuana use, and found those governments 
were playing "catch up" because they didn't act in advance.

"It was a mad scramble to protect local businesses," Flaherty said. 
"I don't want to turn any one neighborhood upside down, and on its 
head, in a rush for these recreational marijuana shops."

Flaherty said a buffer zone would translate into better access for 
patients, because it would force dispensaries to spread out across 
the city, rather than clumping together in one neighborhood.

The buffer zone must be signed by Mayor Martin J. Walsh, and be 
approved by the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Zoning 
Commission, before it goes into effect. A Walsh spokeswoman said the 
mayor will study the measure.

Representatives from the state's leading medical marijuana patient 
group and from the trade group representing several medical marijuana 
dispensaries said they were concerned Boston's new rule could hamper 
access for patients and would crimp business for nascent medical 
marijuana dispensaries.

Nichole Snow, executive director of the Massachusetts Patient 
Advocacy Alliance, said strict state rules governing medical 
marijuana have meant just six dispensaries have opened statewide 
since voters approved marijuana for medical use in November 2012.

Snow said patients fear medical marijuana shops could be threatened 
if recreational dispensaries are approved. The recreational 
businesses could face less stringent regulations, allowing them to 
proliferate. And if they quickly snag available spots in Boston, 
medical shops could be crowded out, especially if the buffer zone becomes law.

"I am a patient. I do not want to go to an adult use facility to get 
my medicine," Snow said. She compared the experience to shopping for 
medicine in a liquor store instead of a local pharmacy.

"I want to go to a facility where the service providers are treating 
me with the service I need as a patient with a debilitating 
condition," she said.

Kevin Gilnack, executive director of the Commonwealth Dispensary 
Association, said state rules already require medical marijuana 
dispensaries to find appropriately zoned locations and get a letter 
of approval, or a less enthusiastic statement of "nonopposition" from 
community leaders. That provides a "strong role for the city in 
determining how dispensaries are located," he said.

"We appreciate the city's interest in ensuring that dispensaries are 
available in neighborhoods throughout Boston," Gilnack said in a 
statement. "We hope that the city will strike a balance between 
creating onerous restrictions and protecting the ability for future 
dispensaries to provide patients with the access to cannabis 
medicines that they need."

Councilor Andrea Campbell was one of three councilors who voted 
against the buffer zone.

Without knowing whether voters will approve recreational use this 
fall, and how state rules might be written to regulate that use, 
Campbell said it was premature to pass the new city measure.

"I felt like we were putting the cart before the horse," Campbell 
said. "Patients fought long and hard to have access to [medical 
marijuana]. This raises concerns about us taking actions without 
understanding the details . . . of the rules we are making."

Andrew Ryan of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom