Yet one other former politician is leaping into the pot enterprise, looking for to money in on the profitable trade and persuade public officers to approve his license.
Former Boston City Councilor Josh Zakim, additionally a failed candidate for Secretary of State, is looking for particular approval for a brand new leisure grownup use dispensary on Boylston Street within the Back Bay, the place he as soon as represented constituents.
As a metropolis councilor, Zakim proposed shifting the annual “Hempfest” rally away from Boston Common, citing the detrimental affect of the occasion on the general public park and surrounding neighborhoods.
Zakim didn’t oppose laws to legalize leisure marijuana however stated his transfer to maneuver Hempfest from Boston Common was in regards to the “proper use” of the general public park and security, cleanup, and public disturbances as causes for banning it.
Zakim, when he was on the council, additionally supported “buffer” zones that guarantee pot retailers aren’t too shut to one another or colleges.
Now that he’s within the non-public sector hashish trade, Zakim is arguing that his dispensary enterprise, Copley Connection, received’t have a detrimental affect on the neighborhood.
If permitted, Zakim’s could be the fifth weed dispensary within the prosperous Back Bay neighborhood – too many for some residents and enterprise folks.
A gaggle of residents against Zakim’s proposed dispensary has an internet site referred to as “No More Boylston Pot Shops.”
“We voted for you, Josh. Doesn’t mean we’re going to let you make your retirement money on destroying the neighborhood,” the web site proclaims.
Zakim is looking for a variance from the Boston Zoning Board subsequent month to pierce the half-mile buffer zones round different dispensaries as a result of his proposed weed store is simply too shut to a different one.
But his proposal argues that the busy neighborhood can maintain one other dispensary despite the fact that it’s lower than a half mile from one other one on Boylston Street.
“We believe the high density of retail foot traffic easily supports a second dispensary in Back Bay,” their utility states.
Zakim as soon as had a promising political profession, operating within the Democratic race for Secretary of State towards longtime incumbent Bill Galvin. Despite getting the endorsement from the state celebration, Zakim was trounced within the major.
Zakim’s identify can be well-known in Massachusetts due to the Zakim Bridge which spans into Boston, named after Josh’s father, civil rights chief Lenny Zakim.
Josh Zakim is the third former metropolis councilor to strive his hand within the hashish enterprise.
Former councilor and mayoral candidate Tito Jackson is a companion in a dispensary close to Fanueil Hall and one other former councilor, Michael Ross, is an legal professional representing a number of weed companies.
Former state Treasurer Shannon O’Brien additionally tried her hand within the hashish enterprise earlier than changing into head of the Cannabis Control Commission. Former congressman Bill Delahunt is one other politician who cashed in on hashish legalization.
Zakim additionally runs a public affairs consulting enterprise, Zakim Strategies.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”