Should New Bedford Grow Commercial Weed?

The Mitchell Administration says it could support the for profit farming of commercial marijuana in New Bedford but not the retail sale of the drug because no neighborhood would benefit from having a pot store.

There is a City Council proposal to court  a medical marijuana grow facility that has expressed an interest in opening a distribution dispensary on Acushnet Avenue. But voters are likely this Fall to approve the legalization of the recreational use of weed making medicinal marijuana obsolete as anyone looking to buy the stuff would do so from a retail establishment rather than a special dispensary.  The "big pot" money people know this and are pushing to get licensed in Massachusetts as quickly as they can so they will have a foothold when recreational pot becomes legal.

At some point someone will have to decide how government approved dope will be sold in Massachusetts and where.  It's not clear yet whether communities would be able to opt out and refuse to allow retail pot stores to open but Mayor Jon Mitchell says he is opposed to such stores.  The Mayor does however favor a commercial weed grow facility as long as it's tucked away somewhere in an industrial area like the Business Park. It's okay to grow the stuff here as long as it generates tax revenue for the city to buy school books and supplies but not okay to sell it.  Seems a wee bit hypocritical, no?

I favor neither the growing or selling of marijuana in New Bedford.  Somehow preaching about the health effects of tobacco or  the dangers of opiates loses it's impact if we are growing and or selling weed to pay for new stuff.  New Bedford should say "no" to farming and selling  drugs in order to stimulate it's economy and it's citizens.