The October 1 Town Meeting was the second attempt to pass a bylaw prohibiting recreational marijuana in Bourne. The previous attempt occurred in late March and failed. However, anti-cannabis groups, like Bourne Opt Out, criticized that meeting for not making it clear to attendees how to vote if they wanted to approve the ban. That lack of clarity fueled the movement to propose the ban again.

Gray Gables resident Aaron R. Tobey Jr. is a CAN-a-biz member. Mr. Tobey said the CAN-a-biz survey has been online since October 13. By Monday, October 22, 171 people had responded to it, with the majority saying they were opposed to the ban, he said.

Mr. Tobey said that CAN-a-biz currently comprises 12 to 15 residents. However, there are many more people who have contacted him to say they are interested in becoming involved in the marijuana retail business should the ban be overturned, he said.

“People with interest on different levels, from selling edibles to working out front, as well as providing security,” he said.

Mr. Tobey was a Bourne police officer for seven years, from 1976 to 1983. He started as a provisional officer while attending college at the University of New Haven. He earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice administration from University of New Hampshire in 1979, he said. He left the force in 1983 and went to work as a correctional officer at the Barnstable House of Correction. He retired a year later, in 1984.

He said that he has heard from some retired Bourne police officers who, like himself, have said they would be interested in getting in on the security end of the business.

Mr. Tobey said that it is his background in law enforcement that has fueled his desire to see legalized recreational marijuana in Bourne. He said that, legal or illegal, marijuana will still be sold in Bourne. Legalizing it and having the product controlled and regulated by the state would reduce what he called “the illicit market.”