Medical marijuana facilities were approved in both Northborough and Southborough by respective Boards of Selectmen, provoking discussions and debates surrounding the controversiality of the drug.

Northborough will see a medical marijuana grow facility, which was authorized in November of 2015, built on Lawrence Street. The facility will grow the drug but will not sell it. Vice-Chair of the Northborough Board of Selectmen Leslie Rutan suspects the facility will begin construction by the summer.

“The Northborough Medical Marijuana Grow Facility will be a very secure building, to be built for the express purpose of growing marijuana for approved medical purposes, and for distribution to area, in-state dispensaries,” Rutan wrote in an email to The Harbinger. “As this building will only function as a grow facility, there is little impact on the community in terms of security, parking, and increased traffic to the area.”

The facilities in Northborough and Southborough are unrelated and are contracted by different companies.

In Southborough, a medical marijuana dispensary will be constructed on Route 9 next to the Volvo dealership. The dispensary recently passed the stage of non-opposition from the Southborough Board of Selectmen in January, meaning the developer company CommCan Inc can move forward with their plans.

Southborough Town Administrator Mark Purple stated the facility is set to be built in 2017 at the earliest.

Though not approved for recreational use, Massachusetts approved the use of medical marijuana in 2012. According to voting records, approximately 61 percent of Southborough voters favored the legalization of medical marijuana at the 2012 election.

The facilities will be designed to localize the availability of medical marijuana and make it more accessible for patients.

“If it can help people who are suffering from conditions that medical marijuana can help, then I think it can be a good thing,” Purple said.

The legalization of marijuana remains a widely controversial topic, and the prospect of medical marijuana in Northborough and Southborough has raised concerns for some people.

“I think we’re already leaning towards it being legal recreationally in the near future in Massachusetts,” health and fitness teacher Kristen Morcone said. “My biggest issue is that it still is the number one gateway drug and that’s what students don’t really realize.”

Some students believe the risks surrounding marijuana are not as severe as they are said to be.

“There’s never been any documented overdoses on this drug and it does not have addictive qualities, and therefore with minor use, people can use it recreationally and have a good time,” junior Jaiden Dallis said.

“[Drug use with students] is already high and people already have their access routes,” senior Bijoy Shah said. “I think getting this new way of accessing it isn’t really going to increase the amount of weed that’s being smoked [by students].”

Security was a major goal of both Boards of Selectmen; the Southborough Board of Selectmen has ensured that the dispensary will not be located within 1000 linear feet of a school in Southborough.

“We were assured by the applicant that excellent measures would be put into place to deter any type of inappropriate entry into the building,” Rutan said

Despite this, some are still wary of possible negative effects.

“I think it’s easy for patients to manipulate their doctors into prescribing medicines that they don’t actually need, so they might be able to do that easily with marijuana,” junior Simran Mahanta said.