SAUGUS — The Board of Selectmen discussed bringing recreational marijuana facilities to the town during a board meeting on Feb. 10.
In 2018, Town Meeting members unanimously approved an article that prohibited the operation of any retail-marijuana establishments. This prohibition did not apply to the sale, distribution, or cultivation of marijuana for medical purposes.
That Town Meeting action came two years after a majority of voters across Massachusetts backed the legalization of recreational marijuana. In Saugus, that ballot question to legalize recreational marijuana failed by a count of 7,852 residents opposed and 6,710 voters for the idea in 2016.
“The ship has sailed,” Selectman Jeff Cicolini said when the topic was brought up at the recent meeting.
Cicolini added that the town is missing out on tax dollars by not having recreational dispensaries in Saugus. The next step for the board would be voting on a resolution at the next Town Meeting, which would change course from the 2018 Town Meeting article and allow for retail recreational-marijuana establishments in Saugus.
“I’m 100 percent in favor of it because No. 1, we need the additional revenue,” Board of Selectmen Chair Anthony Cogliano stated. “There’s quite a bit of money generated from those facilities and they are all around us. I’ve been to quite a few of them just to see how they are run. The one in Melrose — it’s incredible. There are no cracks in that system at all.”
A city or town may impose a tax of up to 3 percent on marijuana sales. The state also imposes a 6.25-percent sales tax on all sales of recreational cannabis and cannabis-infused products. Additional revenue realized through a local tax on recreational marijuana could take away some of the town’s financial stress.
Fortune Magazine reported that halfway through the current fiscal year, in December 2021, Massachusetts reported collecting $74.2 million in marijuana-excise taxes.
Cogliano mentioned that there is an appetite in town for recreational dispensaries.
“I think the misconceptions of when (recreational dispensaries) first came out was that there were going to be druggies hanging out there, but if you see the people that go into these shops, they are business people and senior citizens,” he said.
Cicolini also mentioned that the town would need to look into loosening the current zoning restrictions that only permit medical-marijuana facilities in a small corner of town near the Osprey Road area.
Cogliano noted the increased popularity of marijuana delivery services as a reason to allow establishments in Saugus. For instance, a Saugus resident could order products from a nearby dispensary and the town would lose out on revenue due to not having a dispensary of its own.
