Cops say they fear the legal pot farms allowed under the state's new medicinal marijuana law could turn into crime magnets that will draw armed criminals and turn into a law enforcement nightmare.
"If someone is going to go in and try to wipe out these facilities, chances are they would be armed," Wayne Sampson, executive director of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association said about the prospect of robberies. "Their intent there is to take a significant amount of drugs."
It is still unclear where any marijuana greenhouses — permitted for licensed dispensaries under the law — will be located. The Department of Public Health is weeding through 100 applications and will award up to 35 licenses — up to five in each county — at the end of January.
The licensees won't have to grow and sell their product in the same location. An urban storefront dispensary could have greenhouses in more less settled areas.
"Those would certainly be targets of interest for people to break into," said Auburn Police Chief Andrew Sluckis, whose town was being eyed as a potential pot-growing location by a prospective dispensary operator who approached town officials, but backed off after meeting resistance. "I did not want them here in the town of Auburn," Sluckis said.
Even those looking to make money from the legal sale of marijuana acknowledge greenhouses full of the leafy stuff will be difficult to secure.
"I think their concerns are legitimate," said one dispensary license applicant, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the licensing process is ongoing. "The security issue is a critical one."
Department of Public Health spokeswoman Anne Roach, when asked about security concerns, cited the Massachusetts' marijuana law will allow patients with certain "debilitating" conditions to smoke pot to alleviate their pain. The law requires dispensary operators to keep their facilities secure with alarm systems and video cameras.
Sampson said he also would like to see private security officers at the big pot farms.
"These facilities may be so large there might be people caring for the plants 24 hours a day," Sampson said. "If they don't have somebody in there working, with the volume of profit they're making, they certainly can have security there."
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