EASTHAMPTON — Sharply divided attitudes toward marijuana business growth were on display Tuesday night, with school officials advising strong limits “for the children,” and cannabis advocates warning of the dangers of prohibition-like local laws.
After three hours of debate and discussion, the Planning Board and City Council’s Ordinance Subcommittee decided to continue their joint public hearing until Monday at 6 p.m.
While the issues have been on the table since August, rhetoric has ramped up in recent weeks as officials strive to enact a local ordinance before the state’s Cannabis Control Commission issues its first marijuana business licenses.
Unresolved issues include the size of any school buffer zone; a potential cap on the number of retail marijuana licenses, whether businesses should be phased in over time, and whether “social consumption” in yoga studios and cafes should be allowed.
City Councilor Owen Zaret read a prepared statement that railed against fear-based legislation.
“We do ourselves and the community a disservice when we legislate based on self perception, bias, discrimination, and stigma,” said Zaret. “We need to focus more on education and prevention, and less on sanctimony.”
Zaret decried “vague derogatory references to the clients who will support legal business” and “fantastical stories of children being lured into cannabis retail spaces by bloodshot eyed bogeymen.”
Zaret said data from states with legal marijuana did not show an increase in youth access, that he could find no data on the effectiveness of buffer zones, and that there is no good evidence for banning edibles. At the same time, he called for robust youth prevention programs and responsible parenting.
Robert Hill, head of the Williston Northampton School, said Zaret had deployed logical fallacies. “I don’t see smoke, so therefore there there is no fire,” said Hill of arguments premised upon a lack of evidence. Hill said he was speaking for the children in his advocacy for strict regulations.
Three other Williston officials spoke — chief financial officer Chuck McCullough, psychological counseling director Duncan Laird, and Dr. Kyle Pruitt, a physician and consulting adolescent and child psychiatrist for the 1,000-student private boarding and day school.
Pruitt described teens under his care who had developed marijuana-induced psychosis or become “depressed and anxious” and dropped out of school. He also said that a recent survey of Hampshire County youth showed a growth in the popularity of marijuana.
City Councilor Salem Derby challenged Pruitt’s assertion that marijuana use is rising significantly among Hampshire County teens, citing statistics from the same data set. Derby also said studies show that teens with cannabis-induced mental illness were already predisposed to such conditions.
Planning Board member Christopher Cockshaw eventually asked that the discussion be focused on the matter at hand. “This is for adults,” he said. “Why are we talking about kids? So if it’s the buffer, let’s talk about the buffer. Stick with talking about the regulations.”
The Williston group, as well as representatives from the public schools, advocated for a 500-foot buffer zone around any school, a four-license-per-year limit, no on-site consumption, and a cap on the total number of marijuana businesses allowed in the city.
School Committee member Marin Goldstein read an open letter from the School Committee stating that teen marijuana use decreases IQ, motivation, and memory. The letter advised taking a slow approach to introducing such businesses.
School Committee chair Cynthia Kwiecinski said every parent and youth expert she had talked to wants a 500-foot buffer. The Planning Board had recommended a 200-foot buffer, and Ordinance had recommended 350 feet.
Cockshaw asked what difference another 150 feet would make. He said a 500-foot buffer would be fine for rural or suburban towns, but not necessarily right for a small, dense center with downtown elementary schools.
“You’re taking out all the prime downtown real estate,” said Planning Board member James Zarvis.
Discussion ensued about how buffer zones would limit retail cannabis shops on Union, Cottage, or Main Street. All agreed on the need for accurate, finely-grained maps showing exactly which properties would be included in various buffer schemes. Assistant Planner Jamie Webb said she would work on that mapping project.
Local resident Karima Rizk, who wants to open a cannabis cafe in the Keystone Mill, spoke in favor of responsible regulations to allow such entities. Many renters may not smoke in their apartments; parents may not want to keep cannabis in the home, and tourists to the city don’t want to buy at a dispensary and smoke in their car or on the bike path, she said.
She said that as a homeowner and mother, she also cares about “the children.”
City Councilor James “J.P.” Kweicinski expressed concerns about on-site consumption, and said it would be hard to prevent marijuana restaurants from letting people take infused meals home in take-out containers.
Derby said the Cannabis Control Commission is the place to go for overarching regulations about such matters.
He also said the word “marijuana” is rooted in racism, and that city ordinances would refer instead to “cannabis.”
Derby said that a century ago, “cannabis” was an accepted ingredient in medicine, while the word “marijuana” was a pejorative used by prohibitionists to warn of dangers from Mexican immigrants.
Disagreement also arose over whether, according to the state’s 2017 marijuana law, on-site consumption could be allowed by a vote of the City Council or whether a ballot petition would be needed. Hope was expressed that the Cannabis Control Commission will clarify that matter in their March 15 regulations.
Easthampton Healthy Youth Coalition representative Steve Linsky, a lawyer, asked what would happen if the state commission failed to clarify the local licensing process. The meeting was adjourned at 9 p.m.
Updated versions of the Planning Board and Ordinance Committee marijuana zoning proposals can be found on the city’s website.
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