It took less than 30 minutes for the few residents at the sparsely attended public hearing held by the Mattapoisett Planning Board on April 2 to let the board know their wishes – ban recreational pot sales in Mattapoisett. The majority in attendance agreed with petitioner George Randall: “Not in Mattapoisett.”
Planning Board Vice Chairman Nathan Ketchell invited Randall, the author of the citizen petition, to speak directly to the assembled before opening the hearing up to public comment.
Randall read an opinion piece published out in Colorado that pointed to the alleged negative impact legalized recreational marijuana sales has had on the community five years after adoption. Reading from the editorial piece, Randall spoke of supposed noxious agricultural fumes, increased motor vehicle accidents, and poor student achievement, holding the editorial as proof that allowing local recreational marijuana sales would harm the community.
Randall told the people, “If we open this door, we won’t be able to close it.” According to Randall, drugs rob young people of their potential to be fully functioning members of the community, and he painted a dire picture of what he imagines the impact of legalized recreational pot sales would look on Mattapoisett’s population.“…This will be devastating to our kids.”
Colby Rottler, Finance Committee and Zoning Board of Appeals member, rose in support of the petition, saying he had studied the issue and was pleased that the Planning Board was taking it on.
“We have a nice town, nice people,” Rottler said. “I don’t think we need this type of business.”
Resident Sandra Dawson agreed, saying, “Think about the young people. I think this is a gateway drug.” She said people didn’t need to buy marijuana in Mattapoisett when they could go to Fairhaven.
There was some confusion among those in attendance who spoke in support of medical marijuana sales, a separate topic for another time and one not being presented by the Planning Board at this meeting or in Randall’s petition. One resident cited her family’s use of medical marijuana over legally prescribed opioids.
Town Administrator Michael Gagne said, “The vote you took in the Fall Town Meeting was for a medical and recreational moratorium. That gives you until December 31, 2018 to address medical sales.” If Town Meeting voters fail to ban or put in place new bylaws by then, he added, sales of both recreational and medical marijuana would be governed by state regulations.
After wrapping up public comments, Ketchell asked the Planning Board members to share their thoughts.
Janice Robbins spoke first, saying, “I don’t like to make decisions based on opinions,” noting that the majority of what Randall had articulated was simply that – opinion, not facts. “We should be making a decision based on fact…. I’m not convinced that we’re proceeding with both points of view.”
Another Planning Board member, Karen Field, said, “I work in health care. Smoking causes lung cancer…. You want to see the reaction to drugs, go to the ER.”
According to Field, people need to be of “strong character” when dealing with pain rather then using drugs as a crutch.
Board member Gail Carlson said she lacked confidence in the state’s vetting and thinks the state’s marijuana regulations are insufficient, saying that the citizens of the community had already spoken.
“People have voted that they don’t want this, so we should honor that,” Carlson said.
Ketchell said the Planning Board had three options: it could recommend Randall’s citizen petition at Town Meeting in May; not recommend the petition; or have no opinion advanced at that time. With Robbins casting a ‘nay’ vote, the motion carried 3-1 to support the petition at Town Meeting.
The Planning Board can now move forward with the issue of medical marijuana sales and distribution in Mattapoisett, a topic they now have some time to review. However, if Randall’s recreational marijuana ban petition fails at Town Meeting, then recreational marijuana sales will have to be revisited.
If a ban is adopted, however, it does not affect Mattapoisett residents’ right to use and consume marijuana, and residents would still be allowed to privately grow their own marijuana in their homes, up to six plants per adult with a maximum of 12.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board is scheduled for April 16 at 7:00 pm in the town hall conference room.
Mattapoisett Planning Board
By Marilou Newell
” smoking causes cancer” yea if you smoke cigarettes you can’t say if you smoke marijuana you’ll get the same type of health problems when it’s been shown multiple times that they share similar properties in the smoke but they don’t cause the same type of health problems the government funded UCLA doctor Donald tashkin to test an prove mariijauna causes cancer an not only did discover the opposite he found it might even provide some protective effect because the thc has anti tumor effects. I’m sick if people talking nonesense about mariijauna when there’s never been a link to lung cancer from marijuana use alone. Do your research!!!!!!!!