IN 2017, Massachusetts lawmakers revised the cannabis legalization ballot measure approved by voters the year before. They made improvements, such as expanding the Cannabis Control Commission from three members to five, and increasing the local tax option from 2 percent to 3 percent. They also made mistakes, including mandating host community agreements between municipalities and […]
Jim Borghesani
Posted inOpinion
Pot shop restriction a nonstarter
ON TUESDAY, the Boston City Council will hold a hearing on a proposal by District 1 Councilor Lydia Edwards to prohibit cannabis facilities from operating within a half-mile of addiction treatment centers. Edwards introduced the measure after a cannabis company, OmniCann, announced its intent to open a retail shop on Porter Street in East Boston, […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Memories of Jack O’Brien
Reading the Boston Globe’s recent stories about patronage hires, shoddy financial oversight and various other nefarious doings at the Massachusetts probation department elicited memories of a meeting I had in 1998 with John (Jack) O’Brien, the now suspended but then brand-new probation commissioner. I was external affairs director at the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office […]