Massachusetts voters may have enthusiastically approved the legalization of medical marijuana, but that has not stopped communities around the state from rushing to amend their zoning regulations to make sure marijuana dispensaries are banned or restricted in their towns.

Although the law allowing the use of marijuana for patients with serious medical conditions went into effect Tuesday, the state Department of Public Health has until May 1 to issue regulations on who will run the dispensaries, who will work there, and how they will be operated.