THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2022 Page 3 Silvestri wants discussion on economic impact of marijuana sales By Adam Swift I t’s been nearly five years since the Revere City Council banned the sale of recreational marijuana within the city limits in the wake of the statewide vote to legalize weed. One City Councillor said he thinks it might be time to take a closer look at the impact that ban has had on Revere. At Monday night’s City Council meeting, Councillor-at-Large Marc Silvestri introduced a motion asking that the council conduct a fi nancial impact study relative to medical and recreational marijuana within the city. “This is a motion that is very important to me,” said Silvestri, adding that a deep dive into the economic generation marijuana sales could bring to the city would be helpful. “I’m not asking for anyone to change their vote, just to agree that we can have educated information on what cities and localities around us are making, how many they have and the laws they have put into place and how they use them.” Silvestri said there is a three money that we have the ability to do that with in the city,” he said. “I think a study like this is important for us because there are people in the city that are moving forward to put this on the ballot, and I think we should have our ducks in a row before that is done.” Ward 4 Councillor Patrick MARC SILVESTRI Councillor-at-Large percent tax on recreational marijuana that Revere is missing out on. “We sit up here tonight and we talk about the lack of money [for traffi c enforcement]; we talk about the lack of money for parks and recreational activities and education,” said Silvestri. The money raised through the marijuana tax could be spent at the discretion of the council, Silvestri said. “We don’t often have RevereTV Spotlight A new episode of “Focus on Health” is now airing on RevereTV. This program features Revere’s Director of Public Health, Lauren Buck, discussing the city’s top health programs, concerns and initiatives. Lauren and her colleague Hajar Bichou give information about monkeypox, talk about National Suicide Prevention Week and give some new national resources that are important for residents to know about. This episode was short but is packed with a lot of information. You can watch it at any time on YouTube or throughout the day, every day, on the Community Channel. The fi rst Revere High School football season offi cially began last week with an away game in Peabody on Friday. The Patriots play an out-of-conference game versus Plymouth South tonight at home at 6 p.m. All home games are still at Harry Della Russo Stadium. RevereTV will be covering all games again this year, home and on the road. You can watch tonight’s game on Facebook, YouTube and the RTV Community Channel, where it will also replay in the following weeks. The Community Channel is 8/1072 on Comcast and 3/614 on RCN. You must be a cable subscriber to watch RevereTV on television, but anyone with internet access can watch the live game coverage on YouTube. The 9/11 Firefi ghters’ Memorial was held on Sunday morning to commemorate those who served that we lost in 2001. RevereTV will be posting and playing coverage of the event this week. You will be able to watch it on YouTube and RTV GOV. You can watch the latest municipal meetings on RTV GOV. This week included the Zoning Sub-Committee, Appointments Sub-Committee, Revere City Council, Commission on Disabilities and the Cultural Council. The Cultural Council meeting was rescheduled to yesterday from last week. RTV GOV is channel 9 on Comcast, and 13 or 613 on RCN. All Monday meetings that include the City Council are available for Spanish translation live on YouTube. Don’t forget that community member memberships at RevereTV are completely free and available to any Revere resident. You must show proof of residency to gain personal access to classes, equipment and program time on the channel. Classes are on general production, fi lm composition, studio work, directing in the control room, and more. For more information on how to become a member or to get a tour of the studio, call 781-426-9498. Dan 1972 R.Y.O. TOBACCO ---------TUBES CIGAR SMOKERS DELIGHT! 15 Handmade Cigars - Long Leaf - individually wrapped plus a $19. Surprise $43.95 ~ Humidor Special ~ Holds up to 25 Cigars. Includes Ashtray, Cigar Cutter, Leather Pocket Cigar Holder, Hygromoter and Humidor. 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Competitive prices on all Brands, Great Selection Keefe, who voted to ban marijuana sales inside the city limits in 2017, said he would support Silvestri’s motion for the study, but to not expect him to go any further in support of recreational marijuana sales in the city. “I will say that I have not been an advocate for this necessarily in the city,” said Keefe, who also noted that there is an active license that was grandfathered in for marijuana sales on Railroad Avenue. “There is nothing being done about that, so I will just say that if the money is so great and it’s such a thriving business that you’d think people would be hurdling over themselves to get something done over on Railroad Avenue. I will support the councillor in his want for more information because I respect his opinion, but will not be supporting much further after that regardless of the information we get.” Silvestri said that marijuana sales are now a billion dollar business in Massachusetts that has brought in over a half million dollars in revenue to neighboring cities like Boston and Lynn. Keefe said his statement that understand where he stands on the issue. City Council President Gerry Visconti said the discussion would continue at a future date at an Economic Subcommittee meeting. “I want to reiterate that this is only for a discussion; we are not asking anybody for a vote on where they stand on this,” said Visconti. Lawrence A. Simeone Jr. Attorney-at-Law ~ Since 1989 ~ * Corporate Litigation * Criminal/Civil * MCAD * Zoning/Land Court * Wetlands Litigation * Workmen’s Compensation * Landlord/Tenant Litigation * Real Estate Law * Construction Litigation * Tax Lein * Personal Injury * Bankruptcy * Wrongful Death * Zoning/Permitting Litigation 300 Broadway, Suite 1, Revere * 781-286-1560 lsimeonejr@simeonelaw.net he would not support marijuana sales was nothing personal against Silvestri’s eff orts, but his attempt to let people in the city Like us on Facebook advocate newspaper Facebook.com/Advocate.news.ma OurOur 50th Anniversarynniversar Chris 2022
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