Third dispensary approved on short stretch of Newbury Street over opposition from residents worried the neighborhood is becoming too full of weed

By adamg on Wed, 09/25/2024 - 3:16pm

The Zoning Board of Appeal yesterday unanimously approved a marijuana dispensary at 297 Newbury St. in the Back Bay, granting a variance to let it open just steps from two other existing dispensaries.

The board had rejected the proposed Ember Gardens in 2021, but this time agreed with its attorney, Mike Ross, that the Back Bay is one of the few areas in the city - along with downtown and Harvard Avenue in Allston - that are densely commercial enough to warrant exceeding the city's half mile buffer between cannabis concerns, which officials have largely disregarded in recent years, anyway.

Ross said Ember Gardens made a number of concessions following its 2021 rejection, including eliminating a proposed rear entrance to the store via Commonwealth Avenue, not opening until 11 a.m. and turning itself into a boutique operation that only customers with appointments can enter, with just two cash registers instead of six, and with no sales of individual-use products.

And, he added, while there might be something to be said about clustering pot shops in the upper-letter part of Newbury - the shop is between Gloucester and Hereford - he asked board members to consider the anguished, shocked outcry should somebody try to open a dispensary on higher-priced blocks closer to the Public Garden - it simply could not happen, he said.

Besides, Ross said, the dispensaries will each have their niches, product sets and customer bases, so exactly like "two ice cream places right across the corner from each other, or coffee, a Dunkin' Donuts right next to a Starbucks." He added the Back Bay voted overwhelmingly to legalize adult marijuana use.

Residents - and the owner of one of the two nearby dispensaries, however, argued there's just no place left on Newbury Street for yet another marijuana mart.

One Commonwealth Avenue resident said approving the application would only further turn the Back Bay into "the type of neighborhood we don't need." He added: "We're not downtown, we're not Allston."

Another Commonwealth Avenue resident - a pediatrician and dermatologist married to a veterinarian - said the Back Bay is already too full of pot users: "Our neighborhood is definitely riddled with young people who are cannabis users." And while she said she realizes marijuana is now legal, that's just not right in a neighborhood populated by people who "yearned to be in a residential part of downtown Boston." She added it was too bad her husband could not make the hearing because he would have testified about the dangers from all the THC from all that marijuana poses to neighborhood pets.

A lawyer for residents in one Commonwealth Avenue condo building raised concerns about security, loitering and public marijuana consumption and said the proposal did not warrant a variance from the buffer-zone requirement because there's nothing unusual about the lot it's on or that would prevent a "reasonable use" for it other than a dispensary.

Also opposed: City Councilor Sharon Durkan, who represents the Back Bay and state Rep. Jay Livingstone (8th Suffolk). A Livingstone aide read a letter from him to the board in which he said he stood with residents, said the half-mile buffer zone remains in place and Newbury Street is the place to start enforcing it again, especially on what he called the street's most residential block. And Ember Gardens, he said. "have attempted to skirt the public process and notice requirements as much as possible."

Speaking in support: Kevin Galligan, a member of the select board in Orleans, where Ember Gardens is already operating (it also has a delivery facility in East Boston): He said the company had done everything it had promised to and has been a good neighbor.

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Comments

"Cannabis enthusiasts"

By Friartuck on Wed, 09/25/2024 - 3:19pm.

Sounds much better than cannabis users ...

Sounds even better than

By Joe Biden’s Remaining Braincel... on Wed, 09/25/2024 - 5:01pm.

Sounds even better than potheads

Competitors should never be

By Ben Starr on Wed, 09/25/2024 - 3:52pm.

Competitors should never be allowed to speak out against new operators. You don't get to shut the barn door after you get open.

Restrict the licenses to edibles/tinctures only.

By CopleyScott17 on Wed, 09/25/2024 - 4:39pm.

Let the users have fun without polluting the air.

This part

By Transphobia Watch on Wed, 09/25/2024 - 8:26pm.

A lot of us in public health have been suggesting the legal establishments only be permitted to sell these forms. Cannabis is objectively safer than alcohol, but no one should be putting anything into their lungs other than fresh air or prescribed inhaled medications.

Are people prescribed medical marijuana...

By CopleyScott17 on Thu, 09/26/2024 - 5:17am.

...allowed to smoke indoors where smoking is banned?

No.

By Lee on Thu, 09/26/2024 - 7:32am.

Medical marijuana is not smoked.

Smoking and smoke are killers and never prescribed no matter the material prescribed.

Thank you for the education!

By CopleyScott17 on Thu, 09/26/2024 - 7:59am.

n/t

You sure about that?

By brianjdamico on Thu, 09/26/2024 - 9:45am.

I'm no expert in this area but I'm fairly certain that medical-only dispensaries sell product that is clearly designed to be smoked.

Example I just randomly picked of a medical dispensary (not one that also serves "adult use"): https://affinityne.com/menu-west-springfield/ and they have pre-rolled joints for sale.

What dispensaries sell …

By Lee on Thu, 09/26/2024 - 10:28am.

…. and what doctor’s prescribe are two different things.

My internist friend is very clear what doctor’s can can prescribe. Smoking is not prescribed for any substance.
She has said there may be some doctor’s who know their patients have a psychological addiction to smoking and bend the rules to prescribe loose tobacco for adding to food or tea, to accommodate patients who then use it their own way.
There are always those kinds of shadowy MDs around.

Are people prescribed medical marijuana...

By dwhogan on Thu, 09/26/2024 - 8:10am.

double post - please remove

Are people prescribed medical marijuana...

By dwhogan on Thu, 09/26/2024 - 8:10am.

...using it medically?

If the answer is yes - How do you know, as in, what are they treating with it? Are there treatment plans in place? Is their PCP or psychiatrist involved in how much they're using/how often they're using it/assessing the efficacy of it etc? Is anyone talking about negative impacts on the user's health or any behavior changes that may be occuring?

If the answer is no - Do we think it makes sense to continue to call it 'medical marijuana'?

This may seem like a trivial point I'm trying to make here but I'll suggest this:

If I'm using drugs recreationally, and they cause me to experience side-effects or consequences -

whether personal:
(messing with my sleep, changing my thought patterns, impacting my capacity to deal with stress [all known side effects of cannabis consumption])

or social/community:
(causing neighbors to have to deal with the smell of my smoke, causing changes to driving patterns from possibly impaired motorists [who drive differently when impaired by cannabis vs alcohol], people withdrawing from social relationships, or even cannabis use around young people)

- I'd wager i'm less likely to feel like it is my responsibility to make changes, and more likely to think that it's my right/obligation to continue to use in spite of these consequence.

I think that in general we need to revisit 'medical marijuana'. I've worked in addictions for a long long time, I've dealt with addiction personally, and helped others deal with it in my clinical practice. I am also very aware that there is a very hazy line between addiction, problematic use, compulsive use, misuse, and therapeutic use of any substance, be it amphetamine/MDMA/or cannabis.

In the years to come, I would like to see regulatory updates to our cannabis policy - moving away from the 250$ permission slip for a tax discount on medical marijuana. When someone sees themselves as a 'patient' who is using something as a 'treatment' they tend to view their use in a much different way than when a drug user uses something recreationally. Much easier to justify bad behavior when it's allegedly 'therapeutic'

Just my $.02

Bias

By cybah on Thu, 09/26/2024 - 6:57pm.

This post is extremely biased. You're a bit too close to the problem.

"He added the Back Bay voted

By anon on Wed, 09/25/2024 - 5:04pm.

"He added the Back Bay voted overwhelmingly to legalize adult marijuana use."
But,

Residents - and the owner of one of the two nearby dispensaries, however, argued there's just no place left on Newbury Street for yet another marijuana mart.

"One Commonwealth Avenue resident said approving the application would only further turn the Back Bay into "the type of neighborhood we don't need." He added: "We're not downtown, we're not Allston."

Another Commonwealth Avenue resident - a pediatrician and dermatologist married to a veterinarian - said the Back Bay is already too full of pot users"

In other words, this is the equivalent of the privileged white people in the affluent suburbs with the Black Lives Matter sign on their front lawns until someone decides to put a public housing project in their neighborhood.
So, "we're in favor of legalized cannabis use, just not in our neighborhood."X

No. Sorry.

By Lee on Wed, 09/25/2024 - 9:50pm.

Smokers are not a protected class.

Much as some of them whine that they should be.

They didn't say smokers

By lbb on Thu, 09/26/2024 - 9:54am.

They said "pot users".

Trendy until it affects their neighborhood...

By Cleary Squared on Thu, 09/26/2024 - 10:08am.

Back Bay is very affluent, and the multimillion dollar homes and condos in particular would allegedly be affected by the rise of dispensaries in the area, hence these residents in the Back Bay are speaking out (and pulling out the snobby "we don't want to be Allston" card) because they fear their property values will tank.

The wealthy likes to pretend to be allies to various trendy social issues, and only do so to enhance their social status and wealth in public until said trend begins to affect them. These residents turning up their noses at pot dispensaries should review what happened in Back Bay and the South End in the 70's and 80's before both became highly gentrified (hint: it was not pretty).

You know

By cybah on Wed, 09/25/2024 - 5:58pm.

You know what would help the public consumption? ENFORCEMENT.

The smoke is out of control yet the law is no public consumption and you should get a ticket for that.

Like cars in bus lanes, you start to ticket people and hit the wallet, they will listen.

But like everything these days when it comes to enforcement, the answer is always "tough shit, we're not doing it"

Secondly, really question anyone trying to open a new dispensary these days. We have so many, several have closed due to lack of business, and others are complaining that now the market is saturated.

Won't be surprised if they open and shutter within a year or so.

lmao

By SharpWave on Wed, 09/25/2024 - 6:47pm.

The cops are even less enthusiastic about ticketing potheads than they are about ticketing motorists. Personally I think if you're going to consume in public just hit a fucking vape for fuck's sake, but we all know courtesy is sort of hit or miss with the folks that live here.

Everywhere is becoming too full of weed.

By u-hub-fan on Wed, 09/25/2024 - 6:26pm.

And I say that as an occasional user. But for cryin' out loud...

Is Newbury Street weed

By anon on Wed, 09/25/2024 - 6:28pm.

Is Newbury Street weed measurably ritzier than, say, Comm Ave weed?

Weed Tourism

By SwirlyGrrl on Thu, 09/26/2024 - 6:28pm.

Anything on Newbury is going to be for the tourists. Anything downtown is about the tourists. Most of us casual users have our own haunts for cheaper gummies and oils.

I was in Colorado shortly after they set up dispensaries. I had to try it. Rookie cookie ftw! I was in Seattle after they legalized it and at a conference. There was a nearly 1:1 correspondence between "people starting conversations about whether legalizing is a good or bad idea" at the Gala and people who were holding. When Oregon legalized, I had myself a nice edible before a concert at a venue in Portland where they would dump water over your head and throw you out if you were smoking.

(note to the UHub Fire Warden - I don't smoke anything or vape either. No dickhead comments needed)

Agreed

By Cleary Squared on Fri, 09/27/2024 - 9:32am.

Ever since pot's been legal, the dispensaries have been attuned to serving those who want the high, but don't want to go through shady channels to deal with it. They'd also rather pay the high excise taxes and tightly-controlled pot strength than dialing up their friendly neighborhood dealer, who would have better, stronger product and more variety (and no taxes at all).

I've never had pot, nor have a desire to, but I would be partial to edibles (those rookie cookies must have been really good) and oils versus joints and buds if I did. I would prefer not to have people know I've partaken.

Looking back, I think

By Milwaukee Mike on Wed, 09/25/2024 - 7:25pm.

Looking back, I think legalization of cannabis was a huge mistake. The stink is everywhere in public, particularly notable oozing out of the windows of neighboring cars. Everybody is supposed to be okay with it or you risk being thrown out of the cool kids' progressive club. I'm reminded of my NESCAC alma matter where the same precious little flowers who smoked out half the dorm with weed would showily cough and shut their windows if somebody walked past with a cigarette.

In retrospect, I think it would have been best to decriminalize and leave it at that (see also legalized sports betting). Nobody has their lives ruined, and yet you avoid the plight of Queensway in Toronto where every other storefront is a dispensary. People complain about the ubiquity of banks, drug stores, and Dunkin' locations around here--I'm not sure how a dispensary every five feet would be an improvement.

Add gambling

By Plen-T-Pak on Wed, 09/25/2024 - 8:02pm.

Casinos do nothing to make MA a better state.

Was there not something about

By Milwaukee Mike on Wed, 09/25/2024 - 8:44pm.

Was there not something about how if gambling was legalized, happy hour was supposed to come back? I feel like that got ditched. Massachusetts is weirder about booze than heroin.

I don't think so

By cybah on Thu, 09/26/2024 - 9:17am.

I don't think its a mistake. I LIKE going into a store vs text'ing someone and waiting. Hellva alot better and I am getting better stuff that I know isn't funding underground enterprise.

HOWEVER...

Like you I am absolutely tired of smelling it everywhere... AND I SMOKE MYSELF. People absolutely have no consideration for anyone around them and most don't care. People smoke EVERYWHERE now.. even in the underground T stops.. WHERE THERE IS NO VENTLATION so it fucking reeks for hours after someone smoking.

I voted for stores and legalization, but what I didn't vote for was to fucking smell it everywhere I go. I smoke. I smoke in the privacy of my own home. I don't feel the need to spark a fattie up on the subway or while walking across Boston common. Some of us aren't jackasses and know the stuff stinks to high heaven, and even more so to non-smokers.

The dispensaries don't help. They are suppose to quelle this stuff. But more than once I've overheard customers ask where to smoke downtown after they leave, and the staff gives them (illegal) advice. I've more than once swooped in and said "uh yeah, you can't say that. Its illegal to smoke in public here". I get dirty looks but you know what, tired of fucking smelling it everywhere.

I think removing the legalization isn't the answer. Enforcement is.. but as we've seen everywhere else (bike lanes, traffic, etc), little is done. Enforcement of the public smoking was key to getting the bill passed, and it seems like no one cares anymore about enforcing it. Now we have this. The finger pointing, like all enforcement things, gets pointed at the police for doing nada.

I think there are more pot

By Hgm on Wed, 09/25/2024 - 7:39pm.

I think there are more pot shops in the city than liquor stores at this point.

No, there aren't

By adamg on Wed, 09/25/2024 - 9:07pm.

It just seems that way because they get all the attention.

That actually came up at the hearing, although I didn't get into it in my story.

Under state law, a community should have one dispensary for every five liquor stores.

In Boston, that would mean roughly 50 dispensaries. We're currently at around 32, Ross said. One problem: The half-mile buffer, if actually and consistently enforced, would make it impossible to get to the 20% ratio because there are large sections of the city where you can't put a dispensary (like, say, in the middle of Franklin Park, or on a purely residential street), enough that the city no longer has enough "pottable" land (he did not use that word, I just made it up). He added the Zoning Commission looked at just removing the buffer zone from city zoning, but ditched that idea after some city councilors objected.

It's a stupid "requirement"

By Waquiot on Wed, 09/25/2024 - 10:42pm.

I get the theory of "treat pot like alcohol," but talk to people who live in neighborhoods that have a concentration of liquor stores. It's not a thing people like.

I get that it's legal and by and large have no issues with the stores that have opened in my neighborhood, but if the Square had 3 or 4 shops, nothing good would come from that.

The theory of treat pot like …

By Lee on Thu, 09/26/2024 - 10:37am.

… tobacco makes much more sense than the treat it like booze theory.

Temporary situation

By Tim Mc. on Wed, 09/25/2024 - 8:04pm.

There's probably not enough demand for all of them, and soon one or more will have to close down.

I'm reminded of the Battle of the Three Froyos up here in Somerville, when three frozen yogurt establishments opened in close proximity to each other (not to mention the existing JP Licks ice cream shop!) Within a year or two they were all gone. (JP Licks abides.)

Is it possible to now make smoked cannabis illegal?

By EC on Thu, 09/26/2024 - 2:32am.

What a mistake! I don’t understand why the cannabis law permitted the smoked variety. Does anyone know what it would take to revoke the law as it stands and re-write it, eliminating the use of smoked marijuana cigarettes? I understand that some people like to use cannabis products, and I guess that’s fine, although I have absolutely no interest in it. The smoked variety is just repugnant and pervasive in my neighborhood (South End). It’s EVERYWHERE-including public parks where young children play-and it’s actually nauseating at times.

Vibes

By JPNative617 on Thu, 09/26/2024 - 7:18am.

She was living in a single room with three other individuals!
One of them was male, and the other two...
Well, the other two were females!
God only knows what they were up to in there.
And furthermore, Susan, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to learn that all four of them habitually smoked marijuana cigarettes.
Reefers.

All smoked materials should be illegal…

By Lee on Thu, 09/26/2024 - 7:37am.

… to sell and to use in public areas and on private property open to the public including all housing or any place where children will be exposed to the smoke.

bringing out the libertarian in me

By deselby on Thu, 09/26/2024 - 10:41am.

"Illegal" means the police have to chase tobbacky smokers down and maybe arrest them.

Can you see how the harms caused by police action and legal cases might be worse than smoking on an aggregate basis? Like, the first mother of three shot by police in the course of enforcing the law?