Medical Marijuana Moratorium - What Happened and What`s Next

The City Council met last night (12/30/13) to, among other things, give final consideration to a proposed 6 month zoning moratorium on any activity related to the cultivation or dispensing of medical marijuana in Amesbury.  The moratorium failed on a technicality--state zoning law requires that any zoning measure must be heard in a public hearing by the local Planning Board.  The PB had been unable to hear this measure yet.  The meeting was scheduled as a joint meeting with the Planning Board, but the PB failed last night to raise a quorum, so they could not lawfully meet. Without a PB hearing on the measure, the Council could not legally vote on it and today marks the last day of this Council`s session, effectively ending any chance for the moratorium to be voted on.

Nonetheless, the evening was tremendously informative; it was a shame that it was not televised.  Both ATG and Greenheart - the two not-for-profit corporations applying for state licenses to cutlivate MM in Amesbury - were there to make presentations and answer questions.  There were about 40 members of the public there last night, a good crowd for a Council meeting, and 99% of them stuck it out until the meeting ended at 10:30 p.m.  The Council and members of the public asked excellent questions and the providers, to my mind, gave thorough and satisfying answers.  Though the Council could not formally vote on the measure, a public hearing by the Council was nonetheless held and quite a few members of the public stood up to speak on the moratorium.

I would estimate that the distribution of for/against a moratorium was about the same as the percent of Amesbury residents who supported medical marijuana in the first place.  2/3 of the public speakers and a majority of the Councilors were against the moratorium (and thus were for paving the way for these businesses to operate in Amesbury, should they receive state licenses) and 1/3 spoke in favor of the moratorium.  The public comments all around were thoughtful.  If the measure had come to a vote, it would have failed (as a zoning measure, it required a 2/3 vote in favor to pass).  I joined the good number of people who spoke against the moratorium.

What is next?  The MA Dept. of Public Health is scheduled to issue licenses at the end of January, 2014.  If neither ATG nor Greenheart are given licenses, then this question is moot in Amesbury....for now.  If one or both receive a license, then they have 180 days to open shop, start growing, and start dispensing MM products.  Along with several other Councilors, I will be introducing a Medical Marijuana Zoning Overlay District bylaw this coming Friday, the day after we are all sworn in.  This measure will give the community the framework that it has needed to fully review and discuss the relevant issues.  It will allow us to look ahead and tackle what I believe is of most concern to residents of Amesbury, the prospect of having a MM dispensary in Amesbury - but no entity has applied for a license to do dispense in town at this time. Councilor McClure has already re-introduced the 6 month moratorium as a "late file" for our first official Council meeting on 1/2/14, the night we are sworn in.

Cutting Through The Haze

So, in November of 2012, with 62% of the vote, the voters of Massachusetts approved a measure to allow the cultivation, production, prescription and dispensing of products derived from marijuana for narrow medicinal purposes.

The MA Department of Public Health released regulations implementing this measure in May and then began the process of issuing licenses to prospective businesses to operate as 'Registered Marijuana Dispensaries (RMD)'.  DPH has put out clear information; you can find it HERE.

I will be writing more on this but here is some basic information for the residents of Amesbury on this, in hopes of dispelling some of the substantial fog that has been pumped out regarding this in the last month or so.

• Who can use medical marijuana products?  Only trained and certified physicians can prescribe it and only patients with specific 'Debilitating Medical Conditions' can take it. Debilitating Medical Condition means cancer, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis (MS), when such diseases are debilitating, and other debilitating conditions as determined in writing by a qualifying patient’s certifying physician.  

• What 'products' are we talking about, anyway?  We are NOT talking about the kind of products that are smoked.  And we are not talking about the type of marijuana that will get you stoned.  We are talking about what the law calls MIPs (Marijuana-Infused  Products), such as edible products, ointments, aerosols, oils, and tinctures.  This means they are NOT producing weed for joints. Patients will not be benefiting from THC (a psychoactive chemical) so much as from other 'cannabinoid' chemicals found in the marijuana plant.  In fact, the plants that we can expect to be grown by licensed growers will be marijuana strains low in THC and high in these other compounds, to maximize the medicinal benefits.  

• 'Pot Farms'?  Newspapers like headlines that sell papers and get web-site hits and by using terms like ‘Pot Farm’.  You'd get the impression that we are opening hippie communes in Amesbury.  What we are talking about, however, is best seen as a light industrial activity.  This is why the two possible cultivation sites in Amesbury are both located in buildings zoned for industrial/commercial uses.  Much like other light manufacturers, 'Registered Marijuana Dispensaries' will need: space, security, and access commercial/industrial utilities (electricity, water, sewer). 
• Is there a difference between Growers and Dispensaries? Compliance with the MA regulations requires intense control systems and security measures and will be an entirely indoor activity.  One important part of the regulations is that all RMD licensees must have 'vertically integrated' operations.  That is, each RMD will be literally responsible every aspect of production from accounting for every plant seed, through fabrication and transportation of MIPs to the dispensing of products through licensed dispensaries. 

• So, what are we talking about for here in Amesbury?  There are 2 'Registered Marijuana Dispensaries (RMD) applicants who are looking to site their cultivation and fabrication operations in Amesbury.  There are NO RMD license applicants who want to site a dispensary in Amesbury.  This is a key point.  DPH's RMD licensing process is very explicit in terms of the applicants indicating where each part of their operations will be.  As I understand it, an RMD approved to operate a dispensary in, say, Salem MA and cultivate in Amesbury does not have the option of portability with that license.  (Alternative Therapies Group has proposed just that arrangement: grow in Amesbury, dispense in Salem.)  So, no dispensaries for Amesbury anywhere on the horizon.  And approval to grow here does not open that door.  As mentioned already, this commercial activity (cultivating and fabricating MIPs) is really an industrial activity and will need to fit into locations with zoning that already allows for such uses.  This plus the operational needs (utilities, space) limits where these sites can be to existing industrial buildings and industrial parks.  We should review our current zoning for this use in light of this new activity.
• When might this happen? The MA Department of Public Health is in the final phase of vetting and approving non-profit applicants for licensing (only non-profits are eligible to apply).  'Phase II' applications were due November 21, 2013.  This is why the Council was considering a 'letter of support' for one of the applicants in the first place in November.  Now, the applications are in and the whole question of letters of support (or opposition) are moot.  DPH has indicated that RMD awards will be announced by January 31, 2014.
• I still don't like it--what can we do about it?  The short answer is: not much.  As the law of the land, the Commonwealth has made it abundantly clear that approved 'Registered Marijuana Dispensaries (RMD) will be able to operate throughout the Commonwealth (and remember, no RMD licenses have been awarded yet).  The Attorney General has nullified various by-laws and ordinances that were clearly designed to hinder or exclude RMDs from entering their community (whether for cultivation/fabrication or dispensing).  Communities can: a) adapt their existing zoning by-laws to incorporate this new type of activity and add restrictions that don't effectively make it impossible to operate in a community (for example, only allowing an RMD in a location that is a wetlands); and b) institute a time-limited zoning moratorium. But ultimately there is no way to block this legal activity.

So, the train left the station over a year ago on this issue and Amesbury is taking it up now.  On a personal level, from my own experience of working with people living with HIV/AIDS who were already able to take a prescribed cannabinoid in the form of Marinol, I need no convincing regarding the potential medical benefits for folks suffering from a number of conditions.  Looking at all the facts as an incoming Councilor, it is clear that there is not too much for the City of Amesbury to sort out or decide upon, in terms of regulating potential RMD activity.  The DPH regulations are extensive and the law is the law of the land.  That said, any time you have a new industry looking to locate in your community, it is a best practice to review your zoning for any updates that might be called for.  We can do this, moratorium or no.  In fact, a number of Councilors plan on introducing a measure to start that review process at our very first meeting as a Council in January.  And through that, we can begin educating the residents of Amesbury about what this all is and IS NOT all about.