Peabody officials find themselves behind the eight-ball in their efforts to regulate marijuana use in the city. But they can take comfort in having a lot of company when it comes to grappling with how to convert the marijuana legalization referendum approved by the voters on Nov. 8 into practices and procedures.
Legalization advocates crafted their ballot question to ensure they have the upper hand when it comes to eventually bringing legal marijuana to Massachusetts cities and towns. Language in the referendum allows the number of pot shops in a community to equal 20 percent of the number of local liquor licenses.
Peabody wants to add 20 new liquor licenses to the 81 now in use. If the Legislature approves the additional licenses, the city will have capacity under the referendum language for up to 20 retail marijuana shops.
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The prospect of pot stores dotting the city — and surrounding cities — has already spurred a call for a Peabody ballot initiative to limit the number of local shops. The referendum language allows marijuana stores to open in less than two years, so it’s difficult to say how successful an initiative will be in limiting pot sales in Peabody and any other community.
That timeline raises significant questions for local officials. Where in Peabody should marijuana stores be allowed to open? Should they be allowed to open near playgrounds and schools? Should they be allowed to open near liquor stores?
Communities, under the referendum language, “may adopt ordinances and by-laws that impose reasonable safeguards on the operation of marijuana establishments.”
Cities and towns can “govern the time, place and manner” of marijuana establishments but they cannot ban them. In other words, marijuana is here to stay in cities and towns with many of the same restrictions imposed on alcoholic beverage sales.
That reality aside, local planners still need to ask how plotting out places for pot shops to locate squares with development plans and even efforts to boost a community’s tax rate. Local tax revenue from marijuana was a selling point for the referendum’s passage. But even as they tally up potential pot dollars, local leaders are also computing the potential expense associated with including legalized marijuana as a contributor to local economies.
Peabody is not alone in its journey into the only partially-charted world of legalized marijuana. It could be a bumpy ride.