A marijuana retail establishment is anticipated to be located at 323 Commercial Street, Malden, MA 02148 in accordance with M.G.L. c. 94G and the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission's regulations at 935 CMR 500.000 et seq.

     We are petitioning the Cannabis Licensing and Enforcement Commission of City of Malden to deny the application of the marijuana retail shop to open the marijuana establishment at 323 Commercial Street, Malden.  Otherwise, Malden may become a marijuana retail destination for neighboring towns especially as multiple towns around us have already banned retail marijuana sales.

A few critical things to consider:

1. The proposed marijuana retail shop is located in the center of the residential neighborhoods and daycares/schools, which is prohibited by the regulation 935 CMR 500.110 (3).

2. We are not given any estimation on the expenses and costs in managing and controlling the marijuana establishments and educating the students and children.

3. Substantial research has proved that the non-medical marijuana use has adverse effects on adolescence’s physical wellbeing and has been associated with impaired respiratory function, cardiovascular disease, psychosocial development and mental health (Hall W, 2009; Volkow ND, 2014).

4. Distributing marijuana could cause crime increase and negatively affect public safety.

5. Existence of a marijuana establishment could directly lead to more traffic and traffic
accidents surround the location of the establishment.

6. Existence of a marijuana establishment could result in price drop in real
properties, which makes the local community less attractive to property buyers, renters and investors with a decreased city resident retention rate and more people moving away from Malden.

      Malden is a great city and has improved a lot in the last several years.  However, marijuana retail could undo that progress and our city would become a destination and attraction in a negative way.

We started this petition because...

     A marijuana retail establishment is anticipated to be located at 323 Commercial Street, Malden, MA 02148.  As Malden residents, it would be crushing to us and many families to see their home values decline and neighborhoods negatively impacted by marijuana retail.

References:

Hall W, D. L. (2009). Adverse health effects of non-medical cannabis use. Lancet, 374(9698):1383-91.

Volkow ND, B. R. (2014). Adverse health effects of marijuana use. N Engl J Med, 370(23):2219-27.