a communication from Councillor Kelley, transmitting memorandum regarding "Cannabis Use Equity"

CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL Craig A. Kelley City Councillor CITY HALL, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02139 [phone removed] FAX: [phone removed] TTY/TDD: [phone removed] EMAIL: ckelley@cambridgema.gov To: Donna Lopez, City Clerk From: Craig A. Kelley, City Councillor Date: June 21, 2018 Subject: Memorandum Submission Please place the attached memorandum, “Cannabis Use Equity”, on the City Council agenda as “Communications and reports from Other City Officials” for the June 25, 2018 meeting. Thank you.

CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL Craig A. Kelley City Councillor CITY HALL, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02139 [phone removed] FAX: [phone removed] TTY/TDD: [phone removed] EMAIL: ckelley@cambridgema.gov MEMORANDUM To: Cambridge City Council From: Craig A. Kelley, City Councillor Date: June 25, 2018 Subject: Cannabis Use Equity Dear Colleagues: As our summer schedule slows down, I wanted to let you know of my efforts to address equity issues revolving around cannabis use in Cambridge. Recreational public consumption, while legal, is generally prohibited in Cambridge and throughout the state. This means that public parks, sidewalks, streets and DCR property are not places where people can consume marijuana even though, for the most part, they are available for smoking tobacco and/or using waterpipes or vaping with tobacco products. While smoked (combustible) marijuana consumption such as ‘blunts’ and marijuana cigarettes tends to generate the most concern, the prohibition on public cannabis use includes ingestion of any kind, including vaping, “juuling,” edibles and so forth, uses that have little, if any, noticeable odor or secondhand effects. Because recreational marijuana consumption is legal as an action, people who control their own property, such as homeowners, have broader ability to legally consume marijuana than those residents who do not own their own property. Renters and even homeowners who share property with other owners, such as in a condominium association, may find themselves with no allowable place to ingest recreational marijuana and a host of regulations impact the ability of restaurants or bars to allow marijuana use. Medical marijuana use is a somewhat different issue with greater access for consumption and it is virtually impossible to enforce any regulatory limitations around edible ingestion, balms or oils, whether recreational or medicinal.

2 The result of this limited access to places to legally ingest marijuana is that lower-income and racial and ethnic minority residents of Cambridge who consume marijuana are disproportionately affected and when consuming marijuana products have virtually no alternative other than to do so in illegal places. The fallback location for marijuana consumption is often our local parks or on the public way outside of residences and, especially with combustible marijuana, this activity can cause friction with other park users and neighbors. Not surprisingly, then, the Cambridge Police Department has found itself in the unenviable role of enforcing anti-smoking laws against residents who are smoking marijuana in our parks or outside their homes. This uneven access to legal use of marijuana is inherently unfair and I plan to explore the Cannabis Control Commission’s thoughts on allowing consumption of non-combustible marijuana products in public places. Based on their feedback, I plan to explore options to allow some legal use in public areas in Cambridge and I will let you know what I learn. If you have any questions about this issue or my efforts, please do not hesitate to reach out. Sincerely, Craig