CHICOPEE --Medical marijuana dispensaries will be limited to a small section of the city's industrial zone and will not be allowed next door to schools, homes or churches. After months of writing and re-writing the ordinance, the City Council recently passed the final version in a 13-0 vote. "The city will have to have an ordinance in place so we can have control over this," said Councilor James K. Tillotson, who oversaw the effort to create the regulations. [continues 292 words]
HOLYOKE - Police and school officials will eliminate a federal drug education program this year and instead increase the number of resource officers patrolling schools. Officials said they want to make better use of their money during a time when schools and the Police Department are scraping for funds. Two years ago the Police Department funded two school resource officers and two officers who taught Drug Abuse Resistance Education, better known as DARE. School officials additionally spent $200,000 to hire five more officers daily and paid them overtime to patrol the schools. [continues 391 words]
