Excellent presentations at last night’s meeting of the Board of Selectmen by our school superintendent, Bob Maguire, our police chief, Bob Meaney, and resident Carol Read, who coordinates Needham’s substance abuse program. They laid out with facts and data the clear case of the dangers from the medical marijuana ballot initiative and for the town to take action against the medical marijuana ballot initiative. The facts and data are
- Marijuana use has been proven to be bad for the brains of young people, as it can significantly decrease their IQ, while increasing their likelihood for substance abuse and mental health issues, and
Medical marijuana usa (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
- In states where medical marijuana is adopted, use rates by youth increases.
After the convincing presentations, I made a motion to have the Town of Medfield take an official position, based on the facts and data presented, in favor of the safety of our youth, to oppose the medical marijuana ballot initiative.
Motion = The Town of Medfield opposes passage of the initiative ballot question #3 authorizing medical marijuana, because medical marijuana would be too dangerous to Medfield’s young people.
There were only two selectmen present, as Mark was away. My colleague, Ann Thompson, refused to second my motion, thereby vetoing it, stating that she had not made up her mind.
I feel badly that a selectman dismissed our town’s two department heads, where they were so clearly
- concerned, educated, and passionate about the issue,
- had taken their time to share their expertise with the Board of Selectmen, and
- made such a clear recommendation in favor of what the town should do.
I think that as selectman we should by default first look to support the people who run the town, especially when they display such a clear picture, with such obvious concern and passion.
For more see the Patch article.
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