BOURNE, Mass. (WBZ News Radio) —You’ll have to go elsewhere than one town on the Cape if you want to buy recreational cannabis products.
According to the Cape Cod Times, a recreational cannabis ban is being upheld in Bourne after a decision from the Barnstable County Superior Court.
The decision comes after The Haven Center sued the town when the ban was passed in 2018, in hopes of opening a dispensary there.
Bourne Town Attorney Robert S. Troy said the town defended it's ban under the "Home Rule Amendment" in the Massachusetts State Constitution. The idea of "home rule" refers to when a city or town in the Commonwealth can make a ruling through the approval of its legislative body and its voters -- whether that be through town meeting, city council, town council, etc.
Troy added that he believes this is the first judicial decision that has upheld an individual Massachusetts community's prohibition on recreational cannabis.
Cannabis first became legal on a recreational basis in Massachusetts in December of 2016, following a ballot question in November of the same year.
The first retail cannabis store to open it's doors on the Cape was the Curaleaf store in Provincetown back in January of 2020.
WBZ NewsRadio's Rob Woodard reports.
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Written by Rachel Armany
(Photo: Getty Images)