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That the City Manager is requested to direct the City Solicitor and any other appropriate City departments to report back to the City Council no later than February 26, 2018 with an update on any work that is currently underway regarding regulating adult use marijuana and to suggest next steps to the Council
City of Cambridge
O-2
ORIGINAL ORDER
IN CITY COUNCIL
January 29, 2018
VICE MAYOR DEVEREUX
COUNCILLOR MALLON
COUNCILLOR SIDDIQUI
MAYOR MCGOVERN
WHEREAS:
Massachusetts voters cast ballots to legalize recreational marijuana in November 2016,
with 53.6% voting to legalize adult marijuana use; and
WHEREAS:
Since that time, the state’s Cannabis Control Commission has been working to create a
regulatory framework through which this policy will be implemented in the
Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS:
The state framework lays out a clear process that local governments must follow to
permit, postpone or ban the opening of marijuana establishments; and
WHEREAS:
A municipality can pass an ordinance or bylaw to reasonably regulate "the time, place
and manner" of industry licenses, which may take into consideration zoning, licensing,
signage, community host agreements, and taxation; and
WHEREAS:
It is recommended that such an ordinance or bylaw be in place by June 1, 2018, when
the first licenses may be issued by the Cannabis Control Commission; and
WHEREAS:
A municipality may also pass a temporary moratorium to postpone the issuance of
licenses for adult use to allow for more time to develop an ordinance or bylaw, but any
such moratorium may last no longer than the end of 2018; and
WHEREAS:
It is in the public interest to better understand where we are as a City in terms of
preparing to allow adult recreational marijuana use in Cambridge; now therefore be it
ORDERED:
That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to direct the City Solicitor and any
other appropriate City departments to report back to the City Council with an update
on any work that is currently underway regarding regulating adult use marijuana and to
suggest next steps to the Council.