SAUGUS – After a long discussion, the town has agreed to allow recreational marijuana.
Article 36 on the warrant was passed Monday night at the fourth session of the annual Town Meeting at Town Hall. The article was close to being returned to the Board of Selectmen for further consideration by the voters. But after the members refused to send the amendment for reconsideration, it was approved by a majority.
“I pushed hard for marijuana, because there is marijuana still on our borders, and we should benefit from it,” said Selectman Cogliano.
Cogliano said that 3 percent of cannabis gross sales to which the town is entitled, recreational marijuana will bring an additional $1.5 to 2 million in revenue per year to the town, “and that we desperately need,” said Cogliano.
The money will go to the general fund, and it then will be distributed to the areas where it is needed most. At the meeting Cogliano made a video presentation showing Saugus parks, such as Lynnhurst, Stocker, Anna Parker, and others that are in “deplorable condition.” He said the video was just an example of “where the money could go,” while the town does not have “manpower or financial resources to fix the parks.”
“We have a chance to generate money for the town,” said Cogliano.
A report by Attorney Jonathan Capano said that according to the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC), during the week of May 9 through May 15, the recreational Cannabis sales brought in $27.2 million.
This stance was supported by Selectman Jeffrey Cicolini, who said that there were some wealthier communities that benefited from cannabis legalization, and that he believed that the adoption “would help move us forward” and “help make us the best Saugus we can be.”
“People have to accept the fact that marijuana is here,” said Cicolini.
Still, Article 36 caused a lively discussion at the meeting, as some of the members were concerned because the Saugus residents voted against recreational Cannabis in 2016.
10th precinct member Peter Manoogian suggested returning the article to the selectmen “for the purpose of putting it on the ballot,” because the residents “should have an opportunity to vote again.”
“What I am against is going against the wishes of the voters,” said Manoogian. “I see this as an issue of democracy.”
Selectwoman Debra Panetta also said that she wanted to “listen to the will of the people.”
“Back in 2016 the voters of Saugus voted ‘no.’ I think it would have been prudent for the town to put this question on the ballot in the next election,” said Panetta.
In 2016, the ballot question to legalize recreational marijuana failed in Saugus by a count of 7,852 to 6,710. In 2018, Town Meeting members unanimously approved an article that prohibited the operation of the retail-marijuana establishments.
Panetta also said that she would like to see “at the Town Meeting the exact map of where these recreational marijuana facilities can be placed.” For now, it was discussed that the dispensaries will be placed on Route 1, but the exact locations were not mentioned.
According to Cogliano, the CCC allows the use of 20 percent of liquor licenses for the Cannabis dispensaries, and it means that Saugus, which has 12 liquor licenses, is allowed to have two or three Cannabis retail stores.
Other concerns mentioned by the town members were delivered by the educators who requested to increase the minimum distance between public and private schools. Superintendent Erin McMahon said that from her experience as a superintendent of the Denver Public Schools in Colorado, where Cannabis was legalized in 2012, she observed a 5 to 10 percent increase on skipped classes and absenteeism.
For that reason the superintendent asked the meeting to consider increasing the minimum distance between the dispensaries and the schools. The request was granted, and the minimum distance was increased from 500 feet to 1,000 feet.
“This is here, whether we like it or not,” said town member Chris Riley, from the Second Precinct, summing up the discussion. According to him, the question the town faces now is whether “we will take advantage of it.”
Oksana Kotkina can be reached at [email protected].
