Allston medical marijuana dispensary gets nod from City Council

A nonprofit hoping to open a medical marijuana dispensary got an OK from Boston’s City Council on Wednesday.

The vote — which was to sign a letter of “non-opposition” —was unanimous.

Mayflower Medicinals hopes to open a facility at 230 Harvard Avenue, next to a liquor store.

Councilor Mark Ciommo, who represents Allston-Brighton, at the meeting said the location was “ideally suited” for patients and neighbors.

It marks the first dispensary in the city to get the quasi-endorsement from councilors before starting to collect the other necessary OKs from state regulators and the zoning board.

“I think this is a really good thing, that they come to us first before they can even get out of the gate,” Councilor Bill Linehan said at the meeting.

Mayflower Medicinals is not the only one vying for a presence in the neighborhood when it comes to medical pot. A company called Compassionate Organics has also been in the running for a piece of Allston real estate, down the street at 114 Harvard Avenue.

Each has accused the other of offering plans that break the law banning dispensaries within 500 feet of areas where children congregate. Accordint to the Boston Herald has report,Compassionate Organics’ is nearo a martial arts gym, While Mayflower is near the Chabad Center of Brookline.

Compassionate Organics, which lobbied for the chance to get a similar non-opposition vote from the council, did not come up at the meeting.

Last year, the Zoning Board of Appeals lent conditional approval to what would be the city’s first medical marijuana dispensary, a facility Patriot Care Corp. hopes to open in downtown Boston on Milk Street.

Voters in Massachusetts will get to weigh in on a ballot question this November that would legalize marijuana for recreational use.