Local battles

Mr. Dundas agreed that Milford activists opposed to recreational marijuana were largely concerned about retail stores opening.

After a ban of all recreational marijuana establishments passed at town election last September, the first of a two-step process to enact a ban, Sira Naturals and marijuana advocates worked fervently with the community group pushing for the ban to find common ground before town meeting.

The compromise carve-out to the ban for existing medical marijuana businesses to expand to recreational, including Sira Naturals’ cultivation and processing plant and ProVerde’s medical marijuana testing lab, passed after a dramatic town meeting debate in October. The policy was affirmed at the ballot in March.

“I think a lot of folks are focused on the misconceptions about cannabis use, both medical and adult-use cannabis,” Mr. Dundas said. “I think it’s a win-win for communities and it will just take folks a matter of time to understand that.”

“It’s trench warfare. It’s town by town. It’s incumbent on the industry to educate,” added Spencer Knowles, a business development employee at Sira Naturals. “These businesses are going to regenerate these mill towns with a new industry.”

Milford Town Administrator Richard A. Villani said the town has had no issues with the medical marijuana businesses and signed off on a host community agreement for adult use with Sira Naturals that will bring in a $250,000 impact fee, plus taxes.