I hope Peabody puts together some regulations. I would hate to see Route 1 lined with marijuana stores.

Only if it's California Gold

It's a prescription only dispensary. Why not? I see the biggest problem being break-ins, it's the dispensary's responsibility to provide security. I'd rather have a dispensary than another liquor store, with teens hanging out waiting for someone to buy them booze. Don't need a prescription to drink and drive.

Are you kidding me!! Just picture this, cell phone in one ear, starbucks in the cup holder, make up mirror for that touch up at the red light and under the influence of bud, i am not taking bud light!! I guess our insurance rates and people hit at cross walks just went up!! NO WAY!! This country is going to POT as it is!!

Sounds like a great idea. Plenty of benefits for all cities.

A store providing a mild, plant-based treatment for very sick people, who already have to take too many harsh pharmaceutical drugs....sounds like just what the doctor ordered. I am in total support of this.

I also support this, if for no other reason than it would reduce the need of many who suffer from awful medical conditions to have to resort to heavy duty narcotics or go to the black market to get any relief. As for location - clearly there are places in town where it would be inappropriate, but I can think of several where it would not be. Ask any teenager where they could get it right now, and I'll bet 90% could tell you. If you have a loved one suffering from Parkinson's, Cancer, MS, Peripheral Neuropathy, etc, this is a no brainer.

In support of the law and frankly wouldn't bother me one bit if it was here but I'd rather see it in Lynn. Right next to the district court house! HA!!

I hope a giant pot superstore goes up right next to the Ehrlich gallery. Patch can go there to take pictures as Lori cuts the ribbon and welcomes this new business to Marblehead. (One can only hope.)

Now this is where the rubber will meet the road. All the Marblehead Liberals who voted for this will now do everything they can to keep the stores out of their quaint Marblehead town.

Typical liberal mentality, good idea, just don't put it near me.

Will it accept EBT cards

I would remind people, especially those in public positions, that 2/3 of the electorate - the biggest majority of any election this year, voted in favor of this. Last time I looked, those people work for us. The electorate has made it clear what it wants, so stop with the propaganda and make it happen. You are not the morality police, and you have no right to impose your personal beliefs. You don't have to like it, but you have to do it.

Why not? Its no diff. Than a liqour store... oh wait, it is... pot doesn't kill people! From someone who has a problem that is eased by this plant, Thanks to the mass. People that helpd make this happen! To those who oppose, its here, get informed & get over it!

I would support this because seriously and honestly, how annoying are street pot dealers in the neighborhood? This is legitimate and regulated and I see nothing wrong with it.

Please, let's have one in North Andover. We don't need another liquor store but more businesses means more taxes. Better fund schools than criminals.

It's by prescription for sick people. Don't have a problem with it. It's better for them to have clean, safe drugs sold legally than have to buy who knows what off the streets illegally. They have enough to worry about already. I wouldn't mind it at all, especially if it were on Route 1 or someplace.

Will we have Purple Haze All Around?

Finally regulation on something that doesnt make people crazy, hit telephone poles downtown, and get violent. Just the opposite is upon us now, lets see how society reacts to it. Will Crime go down? drunken driving go down? violent crimes go down? or up? who knows... we'll see

Can we get lil Wayne to cut the ribbon?

There are already several dozen "dispensary's" in town. I see no added problem with having a legal one that generates taxable income and doesn't support the murderous drug cartels.

Y'all are really naive.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0617-pot-retail-20120617,0,5303857,full.story

Marijuana legalization votes this week in Colorado and Washington state don't just set up an epic state-federal showdown on drug law for residents.

Both measures make marijuana possession in small amounts OK for all adults over 21 — not just state residents but visitors, too.

Opens the door for something more to tax, creation of small businesses and tourism.

Coming soon......Amsterdam like coffee/marijuana cafes?

why not the drug stores they sell a host of other essential products

Looks like I am still going to have to drive to Lynn or Peabody for a bag if they don't allow dispensaries in my own town. Therefore, nothing changes except now I will be taxed on it and no longer have to hang out at some weirdos apt for an hour and make small talk and play nofriendo, I mean nintendo.

Although I voted against this, it's already moot because possession of it, is illegal under Federal law.

Not only am I for this but I hope the next step is to legalize it completely with a smoking age just like booze. The people who are going to use pot are already using it. They are just risking jail time and supporting an illegal drug trade to do so. Not to mention clogging up the jails and wasting law enforcement time and money. Legalize it, tax the snot out of it.

And for those of you who don't want this in your town, make no mistake, the drug dealers are already there, you just don't see them.

Id like one in Salem. As a disabled pefson. Marihuana beats all these other harsh drugs.

I thought we already had dispenseries for legal drugs. Called a DRUG STORE. Why does pot get a special place?

It's incredibly refreshing to watch actual democracy reawakening in America. The politicians have proved completely useless on BOTH sides of the fence. The citizens must shoulder the majority of the blame though, for too long we sat around and waited for the government to fix everything and run everything. We had forgotten the principals this country was founded on, freedom, limited government, and the pursuit of happiness. I'm proud to sayth people are finally taking charge again, if our elected officials refuse go adequately represent the citizens, then the citizens will represent ourselves. Power to the people, this is a great day to be an American.

@rick "few would suggest that everyone in the industry is making huge profits; many dispensaries do struggle to stay afloat. Nor do the court cases capture the relief truly ill patients ascribe to high quality marijuana they might have difficulty getting if these shops did not exist" did you miss that part? Yes like everything in life, some people are going to abuse this, not everyone is going to be honest. But there are honest, legitimate dispensaries too. Not everyone involved in the distribution of medical marijuana is a criminal. Noone here is naive, we just realize that it is time to change the way we handle marijuana. Too many wasted tax dollars fighting this so called "war on drugs", too many people in prison over a little pot. Why aren't you complainig about the pharmacuetical companies distributing all these opiate based pain killers? Are you aware that the most abused drugs today are prescription pain meds like perkocet & oxycontin?

Y'all are naive.... assumption made without evidence.

What about putting medical Marijuana vending machines in the lobbies of hospitals or medical offices? Since it will be available by prescription only, a patient could get his/her prescription by inserting or scanning the piece of paper that their Dr. gave them into the vending machine.

While the state may make an unconstitutional move to lessen what is on the Federal side of the law, the fact remains that marijuana is a controlled substance under Federal law and is illegal for any use except production of Marinol.

Until the Federal laws are as permissive as what the state law is supposed to be re-written to be, Peabody should ensure that no such clinics operate within city boundaries.

I will NOT support any politician or political party who would be stupid enough to have slept through 7th Grade Civics and not know that you cannot make state laws that are in conflict with Federal.

So no, not in Peabody!

This would b difficult to accommodate all patients. These dispensaries provide a vast variety of marijuana based products including many edibles & concentrated extracts. Depending on a patients condition, they may not be able to smoke it or they may need it in a concentrated, high dose to provide enough relief for more severe conditions. These are not just over-the-counter pot shops or amsterdam like cafes, they provide many different services for all types of patients. They also provide a clean, safe, natural product( typically no chemical fertilizers, clean water) which is all but impossible to find on the street. Not everyone is in it to help the patient, there are bad people as with everything in life, but the people who pioneered this did so with the intentions of really helping the patient. They do so not only with medicine, but with knowledge, & constant research as it is an ever-growing, ever-changing field. Haha great idea though, I certainly would have no problem with a marijuana vending machine!!

That is, or course, your right, but first, take a Constitutional Law course. What the voters have directed is not unconstitutional. Second, take a 7th grade History course to go along with your 7th grade Civics course. There you'll learn what a rousing success Prohibition was.

Good thing I have no interest in living in peabody.

Sorry, I meant to say " after only thirteen years "

This doesn't bother me at all. I have an extreme form of anxiety and depressive disorder, now that pot is legal (and the only medication that has ever helped me) I'd love to go down the block and buy legal. Instead of have to go buy from some sketchy drug dealer.
Let's get real too, some use pot recreationally, also not a big deal. The majority who smoke aren't stoned all the time, just like those that drink alcohol aren't alll alcoholics.

I support dispensaries 100%. I'm a supporter through and through. I would absolutely love to have marijuana dispensaries in our town. Just because a dispensary may open up in town does not mean we will have more people driving around under the influence of marijuana. If people are going to smoke weed they will find it one way or the other. Dispensaries don't necessarily mean everyone is going to be smoking weed and driving, running people over and causing accidents. Get real. This is medicinal marijuana for people who need it with a valid prescription, not a damn free for all. We are just now finally getting on the right page about marijuana and its about time. I say bring on the dispensaries! I'd be so proud to have one (or more!) In my town!!

I think this article says it pretty well. Federal vs. states. I bet on the states.

"Whether the federal government allows that to happen is "a billion dollar question," Kamin said.
"Every store that sells marijuana here is violating federal law," he said. "The federal government could come in and seize assets. They could charge people criminally. They could send people to jail for scores of years. They have chosen, so far, not to do that."
With almost half the states now legalizing marijuana to some degree, the federal government will have to make a decision, he said.
"It simply can't go on the way it is," Kamin said. "It can't be a big industry and a Federal crime at the same time."

http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/07/politics/marijuana-legalization/index.html

Maybe they ought to open up a dispensary down town. We all know there are enough empty store fronts to support one. Make it part of the mayor's plan to 'revitalize' the down town area. People won't even have to drive to get their poison. They will have all new sidewalks and crosswalks to walk to it. Strip clubs on Route One and marijuana dispensaries down town. What more could you ask for? We can all sit around and just watch our sinking property values plummet further...

Kathleen, that's ridiculous, another uninformed comment. I bet these places would bring your town more money than its ever seen

Keep in mind this is stil new to our country, well figure out how to regulate through time. Fact is, this crop is more profitable thrn

Keep in mind this is stil new to our country, well figure out how to regulate through time. Fact is, this crop is more profitable then any other plant on this earth, a completley natural, medicine that can be grown in huge amounts yearly. This has huge advantages in a time that we really need it, we, as a country, need to figure out how to use that.

Not to mention the advantages of hemp

Thisis the mentality folks. Spend, spend, waste, waste, and do nothing about it. And when the chickens come home to roost financially, lets solve the issue by creating more social problems and tax those problems.

Encourage those with gambling addictions to more easily destroy their families, because we need the tax revenue.

Encourage people with drug problems to consume more drugs, because we need the revenue.

It is an awful path we are on, and the evidence proves that it doesn't work. California is a fiscal mess, marijuana hasn't save them...and they will soon be coming to the rest of us with cap in hand to bail them out. NJ was not saved by Atlantic City, it was becoming a fiscal mess until Christie arrived, it was not gambling revenue that did pulled them out

But I am wasting my breath, there is no way to convince people of this mindset. An for those desperate to consume pot legally, the drug addiction has a stronger pull then logic, ask anyone with a family member who has a drug problem. They can't be reasoned out of it.

Ask anyone who lives with someone that has a serious condition & uses this for help, it has nothing to do with addiction, we all work, contribute to society, provide for our families, most of us live pretty well despite our so called "addiction." Get ovet it, its not crack! Hell, its not even alchohol

It is about addiction, the law was voted in by potheads, and we all know it. It is incrementalism designed to get us to legalization. You said so yourself. You may have mentioned sick people throughout your posts, but you also mentioned taxing it...how safe it is for driving,etc. If I am not correct, then you are saying that you want to heavliy tax sick people? Who do you think you are kidding?

Like I said, put legalization on the ballot, and then when it passes, promote it through federal legislation to make it legal. These sham ballot initiaitves are ridiculous. The vast majority of voters like you, vote it for it because you want to smoke it legally. Again, who do you think you are fooling?

The medicinal use argument is meant to pull at the heart strings of decent people, when the real design of the ballot intiative is to give people who smoke pot, easier access to it, and to skirt federal law. Not a damn thing to do with sick people...not a damn thing.

Good point ron. I don't need this guy telling me about something I live every day, he doesn't seem to have a clue about the reality of this issue. Get your head outta the 50s, pot is not the demon gov. Made it out to be in the old days. Props for being so passionate about your side though, lenny, but I am a decent person, & a pothead too!

I don't care if you smoke pot. I don't care. Just don't be mendacious about your goals. Don't say pot isn't addictive, because you know it is. Don't say you support the bill be you are simply concerned about sick people, because that is not your primary reason. You supported it because you want to make access to marijuana easier for those who smoke it recreationally. Again, put legalization on the ballot, let it win, tax the real pot heads, not the sick, and then figure out a way to have the Fed's leave the state alone. But stop the nonesense about "medicinal marijuana"...that is not the reason why this ballot initiave won.

Buddy legalizing medical marijuana DOES NOT make it easier to access pot, trust me, these days its like buyin bubblegum, with or without medical dispensaries

You are kidding, right? Leagalizing medical marijuana would not make it easier to access pot? One script from your doctor describing back pain or anxiety, and you can traipse down to the dispensary in broad daylight, purchase it from a nice looking clerk wearing a lab coat, and not from dealer in the back of a van under the cover of night.
I know you are laughing, that people don't meet in vans to purchase pot, but I am using hyperbole to make it clear that purchasing a product legally is far easier than illegally.

Lenny have you ever felt the effects of chemo?

Yes I have Bridget, why do you ask? And how does your question relate to what I have said? I am not against people having marijuana who are sick. I am against fraudulent ballot initiatives that are designed to get to a result that is other than what they are porportedly supposed to be getting to. Passage of the bill is for the purpose of making it easier for people to obtain marijuana legally and skirt federal laws prohibiting its sale and use.

To all parents of Peabody, it is a proven fact 76% of all High School students have either smoked pot or have had tried and continue to drink alcohol. Ask your high school student to be honest with you and I am sure they will confirm this %. So people don't be naieve smoking and drinking is all around us. This bill is for sick individuals to ge a prescription.

Well said

Pretty nasty Bridgit, saying I am against this because I have "absolutely no compassion for the ill". You should learn some manners & then take a course in reading comprehension, because as I have written, my objection has been the ballot question was being used as a way to allow recreational users to obtain pot hassle free & to skirt laws prohibiting its use.

The Mass Medical Society is against this legislation because they're against promoting the use of marijuana, & they know what this ballot question is really about, and its not about sick people. If it was, then why did the Mass Medical Society oppose it?
As far as doctors writing bad scripts, have you ever taken a day off and seen all the people on the golf courses who are out on permanent "disability", almost all of whom are state workers? Have you never heard about people who fake a fall in a supermarket, or have their cars tapped by another vehicle, or strain themselves lifting a box in work then go to a lawyer who sends them to a doctor who puts them in a neck brace? Have you been that sheltered that you never heard of such things happening? Well let me tell you, Massachusetts is reknown for producing such fraud. Do you recall the fireman out on injury, competing in a weightlifting competition? You don't think that he needed a doctor to say he was injured?

Yet you find it hard to believe that a doctor can't be found to say a pothead suffers from anxiety or back pain. GIVE ME A BREAK.

Yes bridget we are all faking our illness so we can get our pot taxed, ridiculous

No, people will be faking illness to get pot easily and legally. Just like others fake illnesses to go on permanent disability. All pot heads in this state voted for this law and not because they were worried about sick people. How many potheads do you think voted against it?

Will it relieve hemorrhoid pain?

Yes actually it does doc, haha. Cancer, hiv, crones disease, how do u fake these lenny? Because potheads voted for this it should not have passed? I know, were all stupid & lazy

Your responses are becoming less and less coherent Mr Wert as the day wears on ( I won't hazard to speculate). You don't need to fake a major illness, a sore back or anxiety will be enough, and I'm sure you can pull it off.

Hey Lenny my mother has multiple sclerosis and I think after raising two kids by herself she deserves to smoke a joint every now and then to dull the pain of an incurable progressive disease. Also as i have smoked many times i can honestly say that going to a doctor to fake a disease is way to much of a hassle when you can just call up a friend and have a fat bag delivered to your house. Would you really go to all that effort just to skirt the chance of a 100 dollar ticket? DOn't be stupid.

Oh because I'm stoned right? Good one, almost as good as the comment about your deadhead friends (by the way that was acid they were doing at those shows, the pot was probably to keep from freaking out). It was probably the pot that made them lazy & stupid though. So what your saying is now that this bill passed, everyone is going to run to the dr faking an illness & our drs are now idiots so they are going to just prescribe pot for everything, sounds logical. Well lenny, its been fun but I've grown tired of your ignorance. I need to get some sleep as I get up at 530 to run my 3 kids to school followed by one of several 12hr work days, but how will I manage that, I mean I'm just a lazy pothead! Goodnight buddy

Right, how hard is it to get a bag of pot these days? You'd have more trouble gettin into an r rated movie! My heart goes out to your mom gumshoe, & your right, she can smoke all the pot she wants! Hopefully this bill will give her better & safer access to her medicine.

Either that or your truly ignorant. Should we take a poll?

Yes good idea. Your type thinks that facts are determined by majority opinion. If we voted on the theory of relativety, I suspect you folks would vote against it.

Wrong Bridget, it is based on amount and whether you are involved in distribution. My friend's teenage son was pulled over in NH in a car full of friends 3 years ago. They were arrested and convicted. He was 17 and it should have been a sealed record, but it still turns up everytime he applies for a job. To this day, some 6 years later, he remains unemployed. But go ahead, break the law...it is your choice, and good luck to you. And yes, you are a nasty person. I don't need to reveal my full name when I am engaging in a civil dispute. But I do applaud your for being so willing to display your nastiness and lack of logic publicly.

This is sad. After 10 surgeries in 10 years with degenerated disc's that blow out if I turn the wrong way , I am always in pain, even with my pain meds because I tense up so much due to the pain. I heard that pot relaxes you and is very good for pain? What is sad, is that I am so allergic to just the smell of pot! I just walk by someone who exhales near me My eyes water , I suddenly feel high as a kite, then I run to the nearest bathroom tossing my cookies. Maybe someday they can make a synthetic pot pill? I use to drink to help pain but that was to much of a risk to human life if I got in my car to drive home, so i quit drinking years ago. Plus , alcohol and med's don't mix. Over the years you hear more deaths due to drunks on the road and alcohol poison. Its rare to hear the same thing happening with pot use. I believe that pot is a peaceful natural drug that really should be an American tradition because if you think the Natives and the Pilgrims suddenly put down their weapon to chow down just to be neighborly? I think they were "smoking pot" in that peace pipe and got the munchies and were so relaxed and laughing so hard, they were not even thinking of killing each other at that point! I believe its safer than booze 100% for the people that can smoke it.

And Bridget, are you a historian? You have no idea what you are talking about and you are once again, making up facts. Washington, Jefferson, Madison were NOT potheads, period. Find a credible historian to argue otherwise. Bloggers for High Times or Rolling Stone don't count.

I have a friend who is a drug dealer and one day back when the first decriminalized pot he told me "I don't want weed to be legal, because then I won't make any money." You obviously have no experience with drugs or how people get hooked on harder stuff than marijuana. Your argument is invalid. And over 60 percent of the people know it.

Nice come back Lenny how I am a bigot? Who am I stereotyping huh? Rich Yuppies? Corrupt Police? Ya I have been to jail and i wasn't for nothing, it was for standing up for my constitutional rights. Something people of "your type" are scared to do. If I want to smoke pot I am going to no matter what the laws are. You can't stop all of us. Change is coming and there's nothing you can do about it.

I had no idea who you were bigoted against, but when someone accuses someone they don't know to be a bigot, with no frame of reference through words or deeds, then it is an indication they themselves are bigots. It is called projectionism. And your last comment proves it. You are a bigot. I wish you luck straightening your life out.

Your just flipping the insult around, that method holds no water. My life is striaght I went right from jail to college where I am majoring in engineering and getting all As and Bs. My life is straight it is your argument that is not.

Good for you, I am glad you are doing well. Try to get away from the weed and alchohol and you'll manage straight "A"'s. Good luck, we need more engineers.

I have to go to class now bye.

Ok Gumshoe. It won't be so bad, 4 more days this week and then you have the Thanksgiving break next week to look forward to.

Wow does anyone actually agree with this guy? Noone seems to be supporting his side. & carolyn, god bless you for what you go through, I hope you find some relief.

Just because the majority wants something to be true, doesn't mean that it is. Truth exists regardless of whether the populace finds it pleasant or not. Truth can be undemocratic. Truth is independent from human determination, even if a lot of people agree on something.

Jason, read a book.

But this was about a vote & that is about majority. You are not god & you don't get to decide what's true, yours is just an opinion. & your opinion has littered this page for two days, not leaving room for intelligent discussion on this issue. Why don't you find something to do with yourself so the rest of us can talk civily? But of course you wont because your just one of those people who has to shove your beliefs down everyone elses throats. Are you a preacher?

Jason, talk about projectionism. It is you who has been "littering the page for two days". You are on an incoherent rage. Talking civily does not mean everyone has to agree. I have insulted you, but only after you started with the insults, and not just with me. You need a mirror pal.....and I think you need to lie down.

It's a product of a plant, for goodness sakes! There are plenty of people already taking it recreationally, why fool ourselves? They already have it available in pill form sold by pharmaceutical companies, so I guess it is okay as long as big companies are the ones making a profit on it?

The above arguments can be applied to both marijuana and heroine. Anyone for making heroine legal and setting up shops to buy it?

I prefer extremely potent narcotics but medical marijuana is good for the comedown

I live in MA and wouldn't mind having one in my town. I've seen them in California and I think they look kind of swanky. We have to many empty strip malls. I would prefer a dispensary over another liquor store, or bar room any day. Or another "masseuse message parlor" for that matter. Less crime associated with medical marijuana and they wouldn't be open until 2:00AM like clubs and bar rooms. I don't see the problem. I think it may also decrease the amount of kids selling pot on the side for extra cash and going to jail. Legal regulated dispensaries should be safer for those who do smoke. At least they can be sure that the drug is not tainted with pcp, lsd or whatever because it's regulated. I say let them open. So long as my town gets the jobs and the extra tax revenue that it brings in. Tax and regulate them.