By Alice Waugh
Is Lincoln going to pot? Not just yet, though residents will have chance to talk about it at the State of the Town meeting on November 14.
The Board of Selectmen decided to open up the topic of cultivating or selling medicinal marijuana in Lincoln after being approached by Dr. Stephanie Lipton of New England Wellspring, a firm that has been talking to several other towns in addition to Lincoln about possible dispensary sites. Before the state Department of Public Health (DPH) will consider issuing a license to dispense or grow marijuana, the applicant must first have in hand a letter of support (or at least non-opposition) from the town government.
No specific sites in Lincoln have been discussed. “The town has not been engaged in any formal negotiations with New England Wellspring, but we have had a number of informal, exploratory conversations,” said Selectman Noah Eckhouse.
“Our board thought long and hard about what we would do if formally approached by an applicant for such a letter. Should it really just be our decision? We concluded that we’d much prefer to have some broader guidance from the town on this issue,” he said.
The issues of siting, hours and security would certainly arise, as would the possibility of the town negotiating its own fiscal arrangement with an operator. “The conversation at State of the Town is intended to inform the selectmen and other land use boards about Lincoln’s view on these topics, so that we can act with the best interests and assessment of the town,” Eckhouse said.
In July, Acton selectmen voted unanimously to approve a letter of non-opposition for a potential cultivating and distribution facility for New England Wellspring, while Needham voted in September to deny a similar request.
Also last month, Weston authorized a letter of non-opposition for the company to open a medical marijuana dispensary in office space at 104 Boston Post Rd. near the intersection with I-95. New England Wellspring told the Weston officials that if everything is approved by the state, the Weston site would sell marijuana grown in Acton and the Weston site would have 24/7 security and be used primarily for distribution via home delivery, accepting a handful of walk-in patients each day by appointment only.
The Weston approval included the caveat that the site may not be used for distribution of recreational marijuana in the event that becomes legal in Massachusetts. This could be an issue if organizers collect enough signatures to put the question on the statewide ballot in 2016.
Lipton is also co-owner of A House Call Vets, a veterinary practice that offers in-home care. She told the Lincoln Squirrel in an email that she had no comment “until we are further along in the application process pending DPH consideration.”
The state’s first medical marijuana dispensary opened in Salem in June. The DPH has also issued retail permits for sites in Brockton and Northhampton.
I hope this is done very carefully. When marijuana use first became popular among teens and relatively young adults in the 1960s and 1970s, many tragedies occurred and some went on to more dangerous addicting drugs. In my immediate neighborhood, three young people’s deaths were associated with its use. Another wound up institutionalized. Friends and families were devastated. I am not enthused.