Stir over Medical Marijuana dispensary

Yesterday, I informed readers that selectmen will be addressing a potential Medical Marijuana dispensary in Town at their Tuesday meeting.

The news not only stirred up controversy in the comments, it spurned an online petition.

As of this posting, within 4 hours close to 130 supporters had virtually signed a petition to deny the dispensary in Southborough.

The petition claims that town officials can reject allowing a dispensary. It cites a December vote by Hopkinton selectmen that argued there was no benefit to the town.

But petition organizer, Marnie Hoolihan, didn’t just argue about having a dispensary in town. She also pointed to the planned site, 255 Turnpike Road, as unfair to Clifford Road residents:

We actually don’t understand how we are in this situation, particularly given the state of chaos that the Clifford/Deerfoot/Flagg Road are in and how destructive this chaos has been for long time loyal taxpayers and residents. We have endured so much and we have an outstanding issue regarding the development of a very large scale 40B development behind Red Roof that will dramatically impact the volume of children and the safety of our children in this residential area. This application suggests to position a medical marijuana dispensary just outside the 500ft area of Neary Elementary and Trottier Elementary schools. By my calculation, the distance from the back of that property to the walking path to Neary Elementary is ~900ft. This is far too close to the proximity bylaw and poses significant risks to the safety of our children AND our upstanding community. Additionally, school bus stops, including stops on Deerfoot Road and Clifford fall within 500 ft. We do not see the benefit to our town of allowing a medical dispensary in this area when the proximity to our schools is so close.

To read more (or sign the petition), click here.

To read the full document submitted to the BOS by applicant, CommCan, click here.