Council Subcommittee Continues Discussion On Sale of Retail Marijuana in City – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

By Adam Swift

Councillor-at-Large Marc Silvestri continued a conversation about opening up Revere to medical and recreational marijuana sales at last week’s City Council economic development subcommittee meeting.

“Back in November, we had a consultant come in and discuss a little bit about cannabis and recreational and medical marijuana,” said Silvestri. “As we know, here in the city of Revere, we only allow for one license for medical, which can be transferred to recreational once it is opened.”

The owners of that single license on Railroad Avenue have been working to open their location for years. Silvestri said he spoke to the business owners recently, and that while they were working on the location and initially had plans to open this spring, it now looks like the plan is to open in the late fall.

Last week, Silvestri discussed a recent impact study that showed there are over 30 cities in the state that are seeing at least $500,000 to $1.5 million in tax revenue from marijuana sales each year.

“I know a lot of people look at it like the market has been saturated and there is not a lot left on that tree,” said Silvestri. “But a city like Revere that is vastly growing, that has tourist attractions, I think that there is an appetite for recreational and medical cannabis to open up. I think that if we do this properly and we do it strategically, we could do it and plan it in the city in locations such as Squire Road.”

When recreational marijuana was…