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Weed Wars come to WSANA

by Michele D.  Maniscalco
Wednesday Mar 26, 2014

Management of proposed dispensary meets wary residents

A concerned and skeptical audience of about 25 South Enders greeted representatives of the non-profit corporation Green Heart Holistic Health and Pharmaceuticals at the Worcester Square Area Neighborhood Association's (WSANA) March 25 meeting to discuss the provisionally licensed medical marijuana dispensary that Green Heart hopes to open at 70 Southampton Street. The Green Heart team was composed of Executive Director Andrew DiAngelo; Matthew Allen of the Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance, a group that supports medical marijuana; and public relations representative Scott Hawkins. DeAngelo's remarks were earnest and at times emotional, beginning with an apology for taking so long to meet with the group. He said, "I know I am not going to get your support or your provisional support tonight," and promised to return for further discussion. Several residents stated their support for medical marijuana use, but opposed the placement of the dispensary in a particularly vulnerable area of the South End, which already is home to the Woods-Mullin shelter, which admits active substance users; three methadone clinics; and a hospital pharmacy where a number of patients sell prescription drugs nearby. Green Heart received initial approval from the state Department of Public Health to operate the dispensary at the former Skipton Pet Center site, but final licensure will come only after additional inspections and verifications to take place this spring and summer. One condition for opening is state verification that the dispensary complies with all municipal requirements, according to the Mass. DPH web site. If Green Heart receives final approval to open, DeAngelo expects to serve "between zero and 100 patients per day" in the first year.

DeAngelo put a personal spin on his pitch, recounting that his activism for medical marijuana grew out of his own treatment for glaucoma with medical marijuana. DeAngelo became choked up as he said, "If it weren't for medical marijuana, I probably would be blind." With his brother Stephen, DeAngelo lobbied for a ballot question to legalize medical marijuana in Washington, DC that was approved by voters there in 1998, and opened Harborside Health Center, a medical marijuana dispensary in Oakland, California in 2006. He and his colleagues passed out a picture of the proposed renovation of the building and an information sheet with profiles of potential patients, specifics on medical marijuana regulations in Massachusetts, and observations regarding public safety around facilities in California and Colorado, where marijuana dispensaries are already operating. A WSANA member distributed print-outs of a February, 2014 Boston Herald article asserting that DeAngelo's brother and business partner, Steve DeAngelo, had been listed as president and board member of Green Heart in corporate documents filed days before the November 2013 deadline for dispensary-license applications, but replaced as president on the application by Andrew DeAngelo and re-designated as a "strategic advisor" before the application was submitted. According to the Herald story, Steve DeAngelo pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 50 pounds of marijuana in Maryland in 2001. DeAngelo and his team responded to safety concerns by claiming to have "very good relationships with law enforcement" and with plans to have powerful security cameras to be installed inside and outside of the dispensary, as well as a system of escorts to accompany patients to their cars or transit stops after visits. DeAngelo said that one of the features that appealed to them at 70 Southampton was the fenced-in parking lot. Neighbors remained worried about Green Heart's inability to monitor activity beyond their immediate area and that resale of the marijuana might take place around the corner. WSANA members also spoke of that is rampant in the area around the pharmacy and drug-treatment clinics. "The primary means of getting to the methadone clinic is the bus stop near Worcester Square," a neighbor named Stephen observed. "If it's not locked down, it disappears: bicycles, planters, anything. We have lots of crimes of opportunity. You've chosen to locate in the best place to buy Oxycontin by the bag."

WSANA member Glenn Berkowitz studied Green Heart's application for licensure with the DPH and shared it with other WSANA members. Berkowitz also shared two letters from city councilors regarding Green Heart's licensing application, a letter of support from District 5 Councilor Rob Consalvo and a letter of non-opposition from former Council President Stephen Murphy, both written just before the November 20, 2013 application deadline. Berkowitz noted discrepancies on Green Heart's licensing application such as its declaration that 70 Southampton Street is one-half block from a T stop. Hawkins acknowledged that the nearest subway stop, Mass. Ave. station, is much further than that, noting that there is a bus stop across the street from the site. Andrew DeAngelo maintained that the proposed dispensary is more than the required 500 feet from a school, the nearest being Orchard Gardens elementary/middle school, while Mass. Ave. resident Christos Hamawi raised concern for the dispensary's proximity to the New England Center for Arts and Technology, which offers arts programs and career preparation to youth as well as adults. Hamawi also said that he had taken District 3 Councilor Frank Baker up on his offer made at WSANA's February meeting to meet and tour the neighborhood, and that they saw people loitering in the vicinity of 70 Southampton Street, looking as though they "were up to no good."

Peter Sanborn, a thirty-plus year resident of the WSANA area and a member of the South End Landmark District Commission, attended the Boston City Council's March 4 hearing on medical marijuana dispensaries, reporting that not one state official attended, to the dismay of city councilors. Sanborn added that some councilors suggested the state restart the licensing process due to false or misleading information in some of the applications submitted. Governor Patrick has since stated his intention not to reopen the process, as the licenses already granted are contingent upon further checks before permission to open is granted. The meeting closed with a vote to oppose the dispensary at 70 Southampton Street "provisionally" and to form a committee to work on the dispensary issue. The vote was nearly unanimous to oppose the dispensary was almost unanimous: All in favor with one abstention.