Letter: Warren police chief has concerns over regulated marijuana growing

Posted 8/17/17

The following letter was written by Warren Police Chief Peter Achilli and sent to the Warren Planning Board on May 22, 2017, and was included in a packet submitted to Warren Town Council members …

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Letter: Warren police chief has concerns over regulated marijuana growing

Posted

The following letter was written by Warren Police Chief Peter Achilli and sent to the Warren Planning Board on May 22, 2017, and was included in a packet submitted to Warren Town Council members prior to their August meeting:


Having read the attached memorandum submitted by Town Planner Michaud as well as the letter submitted by Patrick Rimoshytus, filed on April 25th, 2017, based on the fact both personal medical marijuana and cooperative cultivation is taking place already, it could only benefit public safety in that we would at least know the locations and in theory, it takes the marijuana out of the hands of illegal drug organizations and brings it under a tightly regulated state-licensed system.
That said, there have been documented incidents where these regulated grow centers have been the subject of home invasions, armed robberies with shots fired, incidents with juveniles and young adults, and closure and arrests of operators for violation of both state and federal laws, including seizure of illegal firearms. The overall concept of a cultivation center could become the focus of illegal activity.
Other public entities have documented violence related to operation of marijuana grows. As indicated in the County of Tuolumne, CA Ordinance Code, Marijuana cultivation attracts crime and associated violence and results in loitering, increased traffic, noise, and a loss of trade for other business located nearby. For example marijuana grows have proliferated in the County of Tuolumne, California, resulting in numerous complaints by the public to the Sheriff and members of the Board of Supervisors of prevalent malodorous conditions and safety concerns.
In addition, many marijuana cultivations being designed to assist authorized medical mairjuana users fail to consider the fact that many cultivations have simple served as avenues for the exportation and distribution of marijuana for illegal use. Furthermore, marijuana cultivations have been shown to involve avoidance of environmental laws and regulations and resulted in the pollution of waters.
Having discussed the pending issue with a ranking member of the Rhode Island State Police, who has extensive knowledge of medical marijuana cultivation and laws, he confirmed that their agency does not have records of personal medical marijuana cultivation. He also stated the residential cooperative cultivation is much more difficult to track the actual number of patients they are actually growing for and stated it was imperative that if approved, all electrical, ventilation systems and fire suppression must be inspected to ensure the safety of the residence and for the expected odor that comes with the number of ounces, plants and seeds listed in the proposed ordinance #3. Furthermore, it was recommended that the most controlled and regulated grow would be a cultivation license that is fully tracked by the state.
In summary, while there are benefits to the creation of zoning ordinances that regulated and allow for marijuana cultivation and associated uses, the additional pubic safety concerns listed outweigh those benefits and we would be against personal medical cultivation and residential cooperative cultivation.

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