Newton VOL 2, NO 4
NEWTON’S VOICE
Feb. 22 - Mar. 7, 2017
Photo | Joshua Resnek Nicole shows her stuff inside the Station Diner behind the bar in the Centre.
Illegals to find sanctuary here Smoking and growing dope along with the very privileged now legal in all of Newton By Alexander Culafi
By Alexander Culafi
The Voice
The Voice
It sure seems like it. Well, maybe. It seems like it’s going to be a ‘Welcoming City’ anyways. On February 8, two subcommittees approved bringing Newton’s Welcoming City Ordinance before the full board later this month. Originally a two-faction debate, with two separate docket items that have two slightly different ideas on how to protect undocumented immigrants in Newton, both sides have signed off on the new ordinance. So people like Mayor Setti Warren, Police Chief David MacDonald, and Council President Scott Lennon are now unified with those like City Counselor Emily Norton, who supported a docket item to use much stronger protective language. What is the Welcoming City Ordinance? Consider it Newton’s go at being a sanctuary-like city, or, as the ordinance itself states, a city that prohibits its agencies and agents, in any capacity, from, among other things, attempting to, “identify,
investigate, arrest, detain, or continue to detain a person solely on the belief that the person is not present legally in the United States or that the person has committed a civil immigration violation or that the person is otherwise deportable.”
You won’t be able to go to a store in Newton and buy marijuana for at least another year, even though we voted its recreational use legal last November. When asking Newton businesses about it, however, there was not much interest.
This far into President Trump’s term, you probably have some idea of what a sanctuary city is. Granted, legally, no one has a 100% idea of what it is because there is no legal definition, but you probably have an idea. Increasingly long story short, it limits cooperation between local officials and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
As you may know, a bill signed by Governor Charlie Baker late last year delayed the opening of marijuana shops from the beginning of 2018 until mid-2018. The governor is “committed to adhering to the will of the voters by implementing the new law as effectively and responsibly as possible,” says his spokeswoman Lizzy Guyton.
That said, it doesn’t seem like Newton is becoming a no-compromise sanctuary city, by my own personal estimation. Below the list of sanctuary city-like prohibitions, there’s a long section, “2-403. Exceptions,” that lists all of the exceptions to these rules. Most significantly, it does show some willingness and wiggle room to cooperate with ICE.
What is legal until that day are three key things if, and only if, you are 21 or older. One, you can legally possess up to one ounce of marijuana outside of your home. Two, you can possess up to ten ounces of pot inside your home. You can cultivate up to 6 marijuana plants if you live alone, or up to 12 per household if another adult lives there. And third, you can give one ounce of marijuana to another adult, but not for money.
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Speaking to that last one, I visited a smoke shop in Brighton near me a few weeks back because it had a sign that said something like, ‘free jay for orders $25 and up.’ The guy working there told me that he was utilizing that very allowance. Since then, the sign has changed slightly, only to refer to it as a “free gift,” failing to outright call it a marijuana joint. I should note that I did not take the shop up on its offer. The list of things you can’t do is much longer. It’s illegal to use in public places, on school grounds, or in any place visible to the outside world basically. It can’t be brought across state lines. And of course, you can’t sell weed without a retail license. A commission, that has not been named yet, will be responsible for issuing retail licenses. That got old Alex curious. Where is Newton at on weed? Is Newton down with the ganja? I called some telephone numbers. Here’s
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