Marijuana law:Local officials struggling in Westborough

In Westborough and Milford, elected officials are already making moves ahead of the implementation of the law, after a week Massachusetts voters resoundingly urged a tight question legalizing the use of medical marijuana in the state, officials in the Metro West and Milford areas are starting to explore regulations that would control how or where pot dispensaries open.

The officials of Westborough will hold a public hearing on their plan to regulate dispensaries after expressing worries about how the new law could impact crime and drug use levels as well as departmental budgets.

On Tuesday they conducted meeting about the medical law, officials talked about creating zoning restrictions that could make it tough for medical pot dispensaries to come into town. Planning Board member Joanne Mallozzi said she liked the idea of a ban on medical marijuana facilities, but Town Counsel Gregory Franks said he didn’t think an outright ban would pass legal muster.

The town arranged to keep a public hearing on the proposal, although an official dates hasn’t been set, they don’t have a problem with a dispensary opening in town, and they want to be able to ensure that it doesn’t go into an inappropriate spot.

The City Council President Patricia Pope revealed the council is concerned about medical marijuana facilities locating near a school or downtown and said the city’s legal department was in the process of reviewing the regulations to see if any changes can be made. Pope added, however, that a dispensary would need special permit approval, which is granted by the City Council, so the council would have a say over the location of the potential facilities.

Cyberlaw pointed at US conference by Federal enforcement law

The National Security Division restate at Thursday on Seattle that threats posed through cyberspace are expected to become the number one threat to the nation’s security. Lisa Monaco the assistant attorney expressed the keynote address at the 2012 Cyber crime Conference which was hosted by United States Attorney Jenny stated that cyber threats are rapidly evolving. They impact our daily lives, our economy, and our personal and national security.

He told that we will use every means to detect, disrupt, and defend against this growing problem; we are bringing the right people with better tools to the fight. To confront the cyber threats, we need to ensure that cyber law enforcement, private industry, and our international partners are sharing information, working together, and coordinating responses.

Assistant Attorney General Monaco explained how the Internet is being used not only to facilitate bomb plots and other terrorist operations targeting the United States, but it is also being used for espionage and cyber intrusions aimed at obtaining American economic, commercial, or trade secrets. 

All the members of the panel agreed it is critical to have international relations in place to be able to investigate and prosecute cyber criminals. There is no such thing as a local cyber crime, Assistant Attorney General Monaco said. The hacker has probably touched three continents before he skims your bank account.” United States Attorney Jenny Durkan is chair of a DOJ committee on Cyber crime and Intellectual Property Enforcement. The Cyber crime Conference is an annual event bringing together leaders in technology from the private sector, government, and law enforcement. The conference, attended by more than 200 people, touched on a variety of issues.

The committee also discussed the efficacy and practicality of such rules in the context of computer forensics. Also they discussed about implementing better methods of sharing information between researchers, law enforcement, and industry in an effort to assist in identifying threats, mitigating the harm caused by cyber attacks, and bringing the wrongdoers to justice, with a special focus on several of the practical and legal limitations on such information sharing.