As pot hits Hub, serious laws needed

Boston is on the way to having pot shops up and running but there is little cause to celebrate. The very neighborhood where a recreational pot purveyor is seeking to open up a shop is already a hotbed of drug addiction. The city reached a host community agreement with Ascend Mass LLC, which is seeking to open up shop on Friend Street in the West End. According to the document obtained by the Herald, the city and Ascend Mass LLC entered the agreement Wednesday, fulfilling a necessary step in the process before the business will seek a Zoning Board of Appeals approval and then approval from the state. The idea of a pot shop in the West End seems almost cruel. Multitudes of addicts already congregate in and around North Station on one end and a substance abuse center on Canal Street on the other end. “I hope the taxation’s worth the human toll,” Mayor Martin J. Walsh said when asked about the prospect of new revenue for the city. “It’s the law now. We’re heading towards there. Boston will be opening up its very first marijuana facility probably early next year.” Walsh, who has talked very publicly about his own battle with alcohol addiction, is reluctantly moving forward with the process. “We have a five-step process that we’re working through,” Walsh said. “We haven’t gotten to a ZBA date yet for any of the marijuana facilities. Some are in the beginning stages of filing applications. Some are in the meeting stages, some are in the workingout-a-host-agreement stage, and nothing’s moved forward yet. It’s a complicated process.” Walsh loudly opposed legalization in the past, saying, “Where marijuana is legal, young people are more likely to use it.” He also fears that marijuana use may result in further exploration. “Marijuana, in some cases, is a gateway drug, and that’s a problem I have.” he said. “The (deleterious) effects on the community are going to be far greater than the benefits.” Very soon, pot shops will be open across the state and instead of drug dealers it will be the coffers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and municipalities that get engorged with the profits. The state takes a 17 percent cut from sales with a combined 6.25 percent sales tax and a 10.75 percent excise tax. Buyers also pay a local tax of 3 percent. More than 50 marijuana businesses consisting of recreational, medicinal and growing facilities have sent applications of interest to the city. Only half of those have moved on to the next step, which is to apply for a conditional use permit with the Inspectional Services Department. There have been 11 community meetings for businesses and four more are upcoming. Colorado legalized marijuana in 2014 and a federal study showed a sharp spike in traffic deaths since then. Additionally, marijuana use by young people in the state increased 20 percent since legalization. The people have voted for legalized recreational marijuana. It will undoubtedly improve the lives of some but it may destroy the lives of others. We must demand that those in the marijuana industry are held to the letter of the law. We must take a comprehensive approach to the players in the game and treat marijuana much like we did “big tobacco.” A determination to protect our young people from the scourge of drugs must be a guiding principle.