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Mass. town proposes temporary ban on recreational pot dispensaries

ASHLAND, Mass. — Voters in Massachusetts have approved the legalization of marijuana for recreational use, but one local town is saying not so fast to dispensaries.

At an upcoming town meeting, Ashland residents will consider a “temporary moratorium on marijuana establishments.”

“Were going to have a public hearing on it on the Nov. 21,” Town Manager Michael Herbert said.

Herbert told FOX25 the goal of the moratorium is to give the town time to study and plan for the inevitable.

“You can't just ban it but it does give you the ability to regulate it to the extent of the community,” he said.

The proposed moratorium requires two thirds of the town meeting vote.

“I completely agree with that because I raise my kids here, I want to raise my grandchild here and if town wants do that, it's perfectly fine,” Matilda Medina said.

Similar bylaws were enacted in dozens of Massachusetts towns when medical marijuana was approved in 2012.

Jim Borghesani, Communications Director for the group that pushed for the approval or recreational marijuana questioned the legality of the moratorium.

“We would like to see town leaders take a measures approach to this and not give in to the hysteria and alarmism that we saw in the campaign,” he said.

Ashland voters did approve recreational marijuana in last week's election by about 350 votes.

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