Around New England

Liberal Wayland Overwhelmingly Supports Banning Recreational Marijuana – In Town

November 15, 2018

Town Meeting voters in Wayland voted 531-194 to ban selling recreational marijuana in the town on Tuesday night. If voters at the annual town election in the spring of 2019 agree, then the ban will take effect.

“Some residents on the floor said marijuana doesn’t fit Wayland’s values. Others said teenagers are already using the drug, and allowing regulated marijuana shops would provide a safe product,” reports the MetroWest Daily News.

Wayland voters already overwhelmingly rejected recreational marijuana businesses in a special town election in October 2018, 1,226-465, or 2.6 to 1, but that election was ruled invalid because the town’s selectmen didn’t notify all residents of the town of the election by mail, according to the MetroWest Daily News.

A bare plurality of voters — 49.6 percent to 48.7 percent – voted Yes on legalizing recreational marijuana in the statewide referendum in November 2016, which got a much higher turnout than typical local town elections. The Yes vote carried the town 4,268-4,189, a difference of 79 votes, according to the Wayland Town Clerk’s office.

Wayland is a liberal town. Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election in Wayland, 71-20.