NEW: Worcester Council Blocks Resolution to Ban Pot Dispensaries

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Wednesday, December 05, 2012

GoLocalWorcester News Team

The Worcester City Council opted not to take up a resolution that would keep medical marijuana centers out of the Commonwealth's second largest city.

City Councilor Konnie Lukes had filed a resolution opposed to the siting of any medical marijuana dispensing entity within the City of Worcester and calling on the City Council to oppose the implementation of any Massachusetts legislation authorizing the dispensation or production of medical marijuana until the matter is resolved by federal legislation.

But the Council voted to file the resolution, rather than consider it for adoption, effectively saving the Council from having to take a stance in opposition the newly-passed ballot measure. Lukes and City Councilor Kate Toomey opposed filing the resolution.

The medical marijuana ballot question passed by a wide margin in Massachusetts as a whole and in Worcester as well.

Lukes and Main South Public Safety Alliance Chair William Breault have both expressed concerns about the conflict between existing federal law, which bans the sale and production of marijuana, with state laws that have legalized the drug's use for medicinal purposes.

The state's Department of Public Health has 120 days from when the medical marijuana law takes effect on January 1 to develop protocols and guidelines governing the production, distribution and licensing of suppliers and patients in Massachusetts.