Many area communities are mobilizing in response to the state’s new medical marijuana law — proposing bans on distribution centers, prohibitions against home-growing, stiffer fines for using pot in public, or moratoriums.
But it remains unclear whether attempts to restrict a measure approved by voters statewide will pass legal muster.
Among the towns pondering some kind of response to the new state law are Acton, Dover, Framingham, Needham, Wayland, Wellesley, and Westborough.
“Even though it was passed overwhelmingly by the voters, I frankly don’t think much attention was paid to it in terms of what would happen next,” said Patricia Cantor, a lawyer with Kopelman & Paige, a firm representing scores of cities and towns.
Because marijuana is illegal at the federal level, she added, it can’t really be compared to other measures to restrict, say, adult video stores, so this is new terrain for local lawyers.
Although the law went into effect Jan. 1, it is largely on hold while the state Department of Public Health devises regulations for implementation. The state agency has until May 1 to come up with those rules, but many cities and towns aren’t waiting.
– Read the entire article at The Boston Globe.
