MOTS: Marijuana shops in Wayland

Wayland+voted+no+on+marijuana+shops+in+town%2C+but+some+WHS+students+hd+mixed+opinions.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Wayland voted no on marijuana shops in town, but some WHS students hd mixed opinions.

Joyce Wu and Charlie Moore

Wayland voters hiked to the polls on Tuesday, Oct. 2 to answer a single ballot question: the rejection of marijuana shops in Wayland. The single ballot sheet offered voters two options: ‘yes,’ accepting the rejection of the legality of the shops or ‘no,’ putting the vote to bed and allowing pot shops to open up in Wayland. Though the outcome was a resounding yes for the pre-midterms vote, WHS students weighed in on the matter:

Sophomore Nick Urato
“I honestly don’t think it will increase the amount of marijuana available in our town already.”
Sophomore Charlotte Salitsky
“I don’t have a strong opinion on it, but I think that if it is legalized, there’s no harm in having the shops. If you are of age and want to purchase [marijuana], you should be able to.”
Freshman Isabella Donovan
“I mean, if it’s medicinal, then you have to have a doctor’s note with it, and even then you can only have a certain amount. But if it gets too out of hand, that’s when I don’t feel fine with it.”
Senior Jared Dines
“A new form of tax is probably better for the town. More stuff can get done, and I feel like it could compete with the illegal selling [of marijuana] in Wayland.”
Junior George Natsis
“I don’t really have an opinion on it because it doesn’t affect me directly. I also haven’t looked into this, so I don’t know the pros and cons. I don’t really have an opinion.”
Junior Emma Carroll
“I’m kind of uncomfortable with it–I’m against drugs, and I don’t think that marijuana in any form is really helpful, because it still affects your brain.”

Senior Ashley Nova
“We learned about [the ballot question] in Wellness. At first, it didn’t really matter [to me], but after [learning about it], I don’t think it’s that good of an idea. Just because you can have shops next to, let’s say, a children’s care place, and you can just smoke [marijuana] there, and kids can just breathe that in and honestly get high by second-hand smoke. I feel like it’s not the best idea to have it in Wayland. Also, there are six other [marijuana shops] in Framingham, so you can just drive down there; it’s not that big of a deal if it’s not in Wayland.”
Freshman Dylan Bonner
“Yes, [pot shops should be legalized] because I hold stock in marijuana business and I want it to boom.”