Boston City Council Accused Of Violating State Laws

In any city or town council situation, the local government is required to give the public notice of any initiatives that are going to be voted on, so that they have a chance to attend and voice their concerns in the form of a public hearing. Well, the city of Boston is being accused of breaking such laws. The city of Boston has laws on the books that prevent their council from being able to vote on anything unless the public is given two days notice. However, the city council recently put a measure on the meeting agenda and voted that day.

The city is being accused by an organization that is fighting for marijuana advocacy. A lot of medical marijuana groups have sprang up recently, due to the fact that so many jurisdictions are passing laws to legalize marijuana, either for recreational use or medical use. The city of Boston will soon have a measure on its ballot which will vote for medical marijuana. This measure is set to go to vote during the November elections. The most recent meeting note for which the city of Boston is being accused of breaking state openness laws also revolves around medical marijuana.

This most recent measure was a buffer law. A buffer law means that medical marijuana dispensaries would not be able to exist within about a half a mile of each other. This way, people will not have to worry about their neighborhoods being overrun by medical marijuana dispensaries. The medical marijuana advocacy group followed its complaint recently, accusing the city Council of not being open. The city Council also had the chance to respond to the complaint in the press, saying that it all boiled down to a simple mistake.

They said that the mistake was due to a typo on the city Council meeting posting. They also claimed that the online version of that had the proper agenda without the typo. We will have to see how this measure plays out, as openness in government is something that is serious business and must be upheld. This will also play a huge role in how the growth of medical marijuana will play out throughout the city of Boston. This is an issue which could shape the landscape of that struggle throughout the city as well, so it will be worth paying attention to.