Freetown Selectmen Delay Public’s Vote on Marijuana Sales

In April, Freetown residents were supposed to vote whether to allow or ban recreational marijuana sales. The issue, however, wasn’t on those ballots. The Board of Selectmen says that a meeting with the Building Committee needs to take place first.

After that meeting, a special town meeting vote can occur, South Coast Today reports. Rhode Island’s moratorium on recreational marijuana sales expires soon, and applications for dispensaries can start being submitted on April 1. Now, if that special vote in Freetown doesn’t happen before then, anything decided at an October 23 town meeting will be nullified. There will be “absence of regulation”.

Selectman Robert P. Jose said, “It would behoove us to have the town meeting first and then the election.”

The town clerk indicated that a 35-day public notice must be given when a vote is scheduled. The Special Town Meeting has to be approved by year’s end so that a vote can take place in February or March. Right now, everything recreational marijuana related in Freetown appears to be in limbo.