Norwood Voters Could be Asked to Ban Local Marijuana Sales

NORWOOD, MA — Residents could soon be heading to the polls to vote on a recreational marijuana sale ban in Norwood.

At a recent Board of Health meeting, Health Department Director Sigalle Reiss told the board that communities can vote to not allow the sale of the drug, but the recently passed Question 4 “doesn’t really jive with Massachusetts laws,” noting that by-laws in Massachusetts are passed at town meeting, not at the polls.

“The big confusion now is the Board of Selectmen have come out and said they would like to put it to the voters to ban pot shops in Norwood but it’s a confusion on how we get to that point. I think everyone wants to get to that point...but it’s more about how that process is going to happen,” Reiss said.

As is stands, commercial marijuana shops will not be able to open until July 1, 2018 at the earliest. A person can still have up to six individual plants at home and up to 12 total plants for a household.

Despite the distaste towards recreational marijuana, a medical dispensary is set to open in town. The operator, Middlesex Integrative Medicine, has told the town they have no desire to expand beyond medical sales. If voters choose to ban recreational marijuana sales, medical marijuana can still be sold.

If a ballot question is to appear on April’s town election ballot, a petition will have to be submitted to the Town Clerk by mid-February.

In November, Norwood voters came out against Question 4, with 7,409 residents voting yes and 8,336 voting no.

Image Credit: John Phelan/Wikimedia Commons