Pubdate: Sun, 24 Apr 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: Jean Lang

NORWOOD POLICE CHIEF WANTS NO MONEY FROM POT

Norwood Police Chief William G. Brooks III says he thinks welcoming a 
medical marijuana dispensary to his town is a mistake, and if 
Norwood's selectmen choose to do it, he does not want any revenue 
from the operation to go to his department.

"If the town does sign a host agreement and receive revenue from the 
marijuana industry, I respectfully request that the Norwood Police 
Department not receive a share. I could not in good conscience accept 
it," Brooks wrote to the Board of Selectmen recently.

He reiterated his concerns to the selectmen at their meeting Tuesday 
night, before they voted to support one of two proposals from 
companies seeking to open medical marijuana dispensaries in Norwood. 
A third firm had previously received a letter of support from the 
town and may still locate there.

Brooks, who is also president of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police 
Association, said he wanted to express his views after hearing about 
the latest proposals. He said he agreed with the town's move to set 
up zoning regulations for such dispensaries, but urged the board to 
reject the applications. He said he believes there is more fraudulent 
than "legitimate" use of medical marijuana cards.

"Officers are already encountering people with cards who clearly have 
nothing wrong with them," he said.

Brooks said he feared there will be higher rates of drug use by 
adolescents and more crime related to the dispensaries, including 
resale of marijuana and robberies. Also, he said he is concerned that 
if voters were "to commercialize marijuana in November," a dispensary 
might eventually be turned into a retail drug operation.

"I don't want to see ads enticing drug users to come to Norwood for 
their dope," Brooks said.

Selectman William Plasko said in an interview Wednesday he and other 
selectmen respect the chief, but weighed other factors as well when 
they voted 4-1 to support a proposal by Middlesex Integrative 
Medicine Inc. to open a dispensary that could bring in revenues of up 
to $300,000 a year for the town. The proposal still needs local 
zoning and state permits.

The selectmen voted 4-1 not to support a pitch by The Green Harbor 
Dispensary. The two proposals laid out in some detail what share of 
money would be given to the town, depending on how much marijuana was 
dispensed. Some terms involved an amount per pound, another specified 
a percentage of the gross income.

Plasko said he voted to support both proposals, but said he thought 
other selectmen felt that having two companies already vying for a 
place in Norwood was enough and preferred Middlesex's plan over Green 
Harbor's. Selectwoman Helen Abdallah Donohue voted against both proposals.

Plasko said the town had issued a letter of non-opposition to ARL 
Healthcare Inc., which is working to find a location for a dispensary 
and to receive final approval from the state. So far, six medical 
marijuana dispensaries have opened in Massachusetts.

Any opening of a dispensary in Norwood is likely still two years 
away, said Plasko, who added that state regulations may be loosening 
and that the town may have more control if it negotiates a host 
agreement sooner rather than later.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom