Board of Health Chair, Louis Fazen, III, has filed papers for the 2 year Board of Selectmen seat. That makes him the 3rd potential candidate for the spot.
Fazen’s candidacy for the BOS isn’t the only way he’s making news.
The Metrowest Daily News covered this Monday’s Board of Health meeting with an agenda that included medical marijuana and tobacco regulations.
The board addressed the warrant article for a Medical Marijuana zoning bylaw. After a public hearing on February 24th, the Planning Board unanimously approved its compromise proposal.
The BOH support was split. They voted 2-1 in favor.
MWDN reports:
Vice Chairwoman Nancy Sacco voted against the proposal, saying she believes it is too restrictive. She said she believes the zone should be expanded to include other places in town, including the industrial area near Northboro Road.
The board also discussed possible legal implications on the town’s fine for publicly smoking marijuana. (The town imposes a $300 fine on top of the state’s $100 fine.)
They weren’t looking to change the penalty, but believed that the legal language may need updating based on new medical regulations. They planned to have town counsel review the bylaw.
In discussing tobacco regulations, board members decided not to raise the sales age to 21.
They may reconsider if all surrounding towns worked together. So far, the only other neighboring towns with the raised age regulation are Hopkinton and Ashland.
The board is considering banning the sales of e-cigarettes to minors. They hope to review and possibly approve new regulations next month.
To read the full MWDN story, click here.
As for Fazen’s bid for a BOS seat, here is an updated list of who has pulled/filed papers for the race:
3 year term (2 seats)
- Daniel L. Kolenda (candidate for re-election)
- Paul M. Cimino
- Lisa M. Cappello
- Alfred C. Hamilton*
2 year term (1 seat)
- Bonnie Phaneuf
- Joseph C. Hubley*
- Louis Fazen, III
As of yesterday, Hamilton and Hubley had yet to file their papers. They have until March 24th. (Anyone else interested in joining the race needs to pull papers by the 21st.)
Re the medical marijuana zoning issue, I was surprised to learn that in Denver in 2013, there were 150 burglaries of marijuana dispensaries. The attached cnn story discusses this and other topic related to medical marijuana dispensaries: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2014/03/12/n-legal-marijuana-business-profits-cash-security.cnnmoney/index.html?iid=V_Taboola
Jim,
I found the Colorado story most noteworthy because the burglaries in question were generally targeted at the large sums of cash on the premises, and not the marijuana itself. In Massachusetts the comprehensive medical marijuana regulations issued by DPH very thoroughly cover the security and accounting of the marijuana in a Registered Marijuana Dispensary (RMD), but the regulations say nothing specific about handling/securing cash. [I’m not, by the way, suggesting that the regulations SHOULD cover cash security — one would think that a registered business that deals in large sums of cash would know how to protect itself without need of the DPH to tell it how.] In any case, the final DPH regulations can be found here — for security provisions see specifically 725.110: http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/docs/dph/regs/105cmr725.pdf
Apropos of all of this, the draft Medical Marijuana zoning bylaw coming before Town Meeting next month addresses the issues raised by Town Meeting in October, including the visibility and ease of access to RMDs by local law enforcement. The draft warrant article is available on the town website here:
http://www.southboroughtown.com/Planning/Planning/April2014/DRAFT%20Medical%20Marijuana%20Article%20TM%202014%20032014.pdf
PMC