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Marshfield voters narrowly deny ban on recreational pot sales

Voters in Marshfield rejected a measure that would have banned the sale of recreational marijuana in town.

“I would like to see outright prohibition. I left the town meeting early before the vote.  Unfortunately, it went the other way,” Marshfield resident Kevin O’Connor said.

It was a narrow vote, just 19 votes shy of the two-thirds needed to approve the ban, but that was enough to make what’s happening in the town stand out.

More than 100 other cities and towns in Massachusetts have completely banned or put restrictions on the sale of recreational marijuana including Braintree, Abington, Scituate and Falmouth.

>>PREVIOUSFind out which towns voted against marijuana legalization

Last November, 53 percent of voters in Massachusetts passed a ballot question legalizing the use and sale of marijuana for recreational purposes.

Monday night, Marshfield held a special town meeting were voters were asked to decide about prohibiting recreational marijuana facilities in town.

“I don't use it but other people that might need it definitely be a good purpose,” Marshfield resident Eddie Everett said.

One of the reasons the measure failed was money. The state predicts as much as $83 million in tax revenue from marijuana sales the first year that stores are allowed to open.

“Why not make some money off it? It's not going to stop, it's going to keep going make some money off it,” Marshfield resident Rich DeCoste said.

The first recreational pot shops are set to open in July 2018.

In a twist, Marshfield was one of the towns where the majority of people voted against legalizing marijuana for recreational use in 2016.

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