I do believe that it was the right thing to do in making marijuana legal in Rhode Island for recreational use as it needed to be taken out of the hands of drug dealers and state controls needed to be put in place. Now comes the tricky part, where do you put marijauna stores?
In Westerly there is a push to put them in high profile places like Main Street, Granite Street, Franklin Street, shopping malls, etc. I will not vote for this. Even though I believe that marijuana should have been legalized, I don’t want the stores in high profile places as I don’t want Westerly’s children to see drug use as normal. We as a community should not do anything that would lead our children to believe that drug use is a normal part of life as in too many cases the results are catastrophic.
What I will support is putting marijuana stores in industrial zones. This will allow people who want to buy marijuana locally to be able to do so, but it will keep it out of the eyes of children. This solution is very popular in many communities and I believe this is the best solution to the issue in Westerly as it provides the right balance between access and community safety and standards.
Philip Overton
Westerly
The writer is the vice president of the Westerly Town Council.