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Residents raise children, crime as issues for proposed Mattapan marijuana store

The Dorchester Reporter reports on a community meeting on a proposed Blue Hill Avenue pot shop. One opponent said there are "people with battery powered tools that can cut through your roof."

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Battery powered tools to cut through the roof? Seriously? Smh lol

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They have wires ... and batteries!

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A few years ago, there was a guy who kept trying to cut/break his way into establishments along Morton Street (including the check-cashing place across the street from B-3; he spent a couple hours with a chisel and hammer there, until residents who couldn't get to sleep finally called 911). He wasn't very good at it - he kept getting caught - but he kept trying. Until one night he managed to wrest open the door of one particular establishment (I think it was down by the Pit Stop) and a full-size refrigerator fell on him in the process, kind of crushing him and keeping him pinned to the ground until workers showed up after sunrise. He survived, but he seemed to have finally gotten the message - no more break-ins like that.

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Stoned carpenter-kidnappers! They're coming for our children!

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When I first saw this I thought it was paranoid hysteria, but now I see that it was just an informed citizen making a comment about how easy it would be to rob the place. Maybe he was just thinking out loud. Making plans.

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Think about the children is a timeless whataboutism.

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Are these the same people who are telling everyone that legal weed will destroy the livelihoods of people in communities of color, or are they different people?

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The rollout of recreational dispensaries has been so poorly managed that it absolutely blows my mind. I am looking into moving away from Boston right now thanks in large part to this mess. We are not going to have a rec dispensary here until late 2019, at the earliest. I have a med card but would much much much rather live in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco or San Diego right now. See yall down the road in maybe 2028 when a couple dispensaries are actually up and running within the confines of Boston proper.

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Moved here from SF and was born in Oakland.

If you're going to move for pot, don't move to CA. The rec prices are insane, with some places asking for 25/gram. You'll need a card there too, but they're much easier to get than in MA.

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Cuz I got friends out there that say its super cheap now because there's so many shops.

And you don't need a card anymore.. that was only for MMJ

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Sorry, I meant if you want good prices (10/gram) you'll need a card in CA.

And recreational prices were still through the roof in Oakland when I was last home in this past summer unfortunately. Just my personal, anecdotal, experience. Your friends might know better spots than mine.

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If you have your med card, and there are several dispensaries in and around Boston (I've been to 4), why would you move somewhere to pay rec prices? BTW, CA charges excise and sales tax. I think they might even be taxing the tax.

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The Roslindale meeting sounds pretty sane and reasonable compared to this one.

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In one neighborhood, the residents see marijuana as a debilitating thing, while in the other they don't.

As always, the best point of comparison would be liquor stores. If one were proposing to put a beer and wine shop on the block in Roslindale, residents would be scoffing about parking (as they are with the pot shop proposal.) On Blue Hill Ave, the vision of more people drinking on the street or grabbing nips at 9 AM would bring out opposition.

And before some chime in on the value of people thinking this, it's an opinion, and as far as I go it's a theory on an opinion.

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I attended this meeting. It was full of community members voicing their questions and concerns. Unfortunately, the 'power tools' quote seems to be the most popular among the media folks. He also said was he was worried about security because he lives behind the proposed location. He also stated that neighboring businesses were concerned that thieves would break into their less secure stores in order to have access to the pot shop. These concerns probably could have been explained away, but they weren't.

I was frustrated with the way the meeting was conducted. The city employees seemed unprepared to conduct the meeting. There did not seem to be enough time to address the community's concerns. Many folks were unhappy because they received less than 24 hours notice about the meeting.

I am currently against this location but I may change my opinion based on more information. Rep Holmes said there would be additional meetings. I hope they will be better organized.

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actually makes an interesting point, though I'm not sure he intended to: marijuana dispensaries in CO and WA are notorious for being cash-heavy businesses, for the simple reason that banks refuse to do business with them for fear of running afoul of federal law. I've seen stories about owners of Colorado stores in particular having to deal with tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash lying around, because they can't deposit it anywhere without running afoul of either federal marijuana laws or money-laundering laws that scrutinize large deposits. Not sure what the plan is by the prospective Roslindale shop owners, but if I was a crazy guy with power tools, that would indeed be the first place I'd try to miter-saw my way into.

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Mendoza said a “green discount” would be available for those who take bikes or public transit.

This sounds silly.

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Given the many stated concerns about parking, this seems reasonable - honestly, more businesses should do this. At the least, it's no wackier than validated parking setups.

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These places all give discounts for riding your bike and showing your sticker:

http://bb2.bicyclebenefits.org/#/cities/8

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Eeka still exists!

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What's the latest Blimp status?

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And that's the "green discount" for people who arrive via bike or public transit.

I'm assuming the pun was intention, but it still made me chuckle.

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It only applies if you arrive by bike at 4:20.

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They check off pretty much every box you could ask for:
- 100% Minority ownership
- Locals who grew up in the area
- Past experience running large-scale business

...and yet people will complain until they give up and then some marijuana chain will come in and do nothing for the community.

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Back in the day, the Dunkin Dounts in Roslindale Square shared a parking lot with something called Ashmont Discount. It was what the name implies, a place with various bric-a-brac for sale at low prices. Eventually, it went out of business. The first proposal was for Brooks Pharmacy, but that was opposed, notably by a friend of the owner of the only pharmacy in the Square who happened to be mayor of Boston. So that failed. The property owners came up with the idea of a storage facility, which was opposed even more. The owners kept on asking what the residents wanted, but everything they came up with was economically infeasible.

After a few years and a few dead bodies found in the parking lot, they raised the building and put an office supply store in the location, namely the Brighton based national chain Staples. It did well, but then it didn't, so it closed.

This time, the turnaround was swifter. Staples was replaced by Minneapolis based retailer Target. In addition to selling some basic department store items, they also sell some groceries and, this being the important part, a CVS pharmacy. Only 20 years late, but a pharmacy chain is in the Square, but not the little chain, the national behemoth.

Honestly, the big question is if the owners of the proposed shop are willing to spend months or possibly years convincing the community that the store is a good thing.

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That humans are simple idiots at best, and complete pigs at worst.

Seriously, everybody sucks in this scenario except for the people who own the larger corporations. Guess people don't hate business interests after all. President Trump, everyone.

Hell, speaking of Target, you should have seen the absolute fellatio that they got when they opened in BVT a couple of months ago.

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If I hear "but the children" or "because crime" as an argument against pot shops, I am going to scream

If these TWO excuses are your sole reason for denying this, then I guess you also support closing down liquor stores. I see more unsavory people hanging out near liquor stores and Keno places than I do at pot shops (I'm a MMJ card holder).

I'm 43 years old and I know more people who's lives have been destroyed by booze. I know < 3 whose lives have been destroyed buy pot. (and they had other issues too). Its a non issue.

Save the pearl clutching for something that really matters.

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How they would react to another liquor store opening in the area. You might be surprised.

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This isn't "another".

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So I expect the same people to show up airing the same complaints next time one wants to open up also.

While I don't doubt you Waquioit, but honestly.. you know it wont happen. It just wont.

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If the community meeting represented the worst possible complaints against the proposed shop, then it will probably get approved.

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Ban car use in much of the area. People walking, biking = lower crime. People not running red lights and plowing into school kids = safer children.

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