Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Governor Charlie Baker on Friday signed into law a measure delaying several parts of the state's new marijuana legalization law, announcing the move just as demonstrators gathered outside the State House to urge him to veto the plan.
The likely opening date for recreational marijuana stores in Massachusetts will now be delayed by half a year – from January to July 2018.
The measure does not undo the legalization of marijuana possession and home-growing, which went into effect Dec. 15.
"The Baker-Polito Administration has been clear that it shares the Legislature's desire to thoroughly prepare for launching an entirely new industry distributing a controlled substance and is committed to adhering to the will of the voters by implementing the new law as effectively and responsibly as possible," said Baker spokeswoman Lizzy Guyton.
Some who gathered on the State House steps to protest the plan said the delay felt like a stalling tactic in a fight that seemed to be over when voters approved legalization in November.
Joseph Gilmore, a senior at UMass Boston who campaigned for marijuana legalization with the group Students for Sensible Drug Policy, called the delay frustrating.
"Voters expected that shops would be open Jan. 1, 2018," said Gilmore, an economics major from Dorchester said.
"How are we supposed to know what's legal and not legal at this point?" said Rachel Ramone Donlan of Braintree, who called the current state of legalization – it's legal to posesses and smoke marijuana, but not to sell it – a gray area that requires lawbreaking to do what the law made legal.
She held up a small swing-top glass jar with a few green buds in it – less than an ounce, she said, and legal to possess – and offered it to reporters, free of charge. (None accepted.)
The delay emerged from the Legislature earlier this week, when just a handful of lawmakers – without public hearings or formal public notice – approved the measure in just a matter of minutes in both the House and Senate.
The Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition, an organizer of Friday's protest, said on its website that the delay "not only flies in the face of the will of the voters who voted for the January 2018 deadline, it shows contempt for the legislature itself, having been passed, not after three readings to the full House and Senate, but in the course of less than an hour by just two senators and five representatives."
The group said it was "appalled at this arrogant and cowardly move, whose effect will be to give the black market another six-month monopoly and deprive the Commonwealth of the considerable revenue that it might generate in taxes from January to July."
Outside the State House Friday, Linda Noel, a Franklin woman who was among the co-founders of the coalition in the 1980s, called the delay "ridiculous," and noted that the law voters approved provided for just this issue: Dispensaries already operate in Massachusetts, providing medical marijuana to those with prescriptions. They should be allowed to begin selling to the public in January 2018 as planned, she said.
"It was carefully thought through," Noel said. "1.8 million people are not fools. They knew what they were voting for."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Baker Signs Marijuana Delay Amid Protest
Author: Nestor Ramos and Olivia Quintana
Contact: 1-888-694-5623
Photo Credit: Jonathan Wiggs
Website: The Boston Globe
The likely opening date for recreational marijuana stores in Massachusetts will now be delayed by half a year – from January to July 2018.
The measure does not undo the legalization of marijuana possession and home-growing, which went into effect Dec. 15.
"The Baker-Polito Administration has been clear that it shares the Legislature's desire to thoroughly prepare for launching an entirely new industry distributing a controlled substance and is committed to adhering to the will of the voters by implementing the new law as effectively and responsibly as possible," said Baker spokeswoman Lizzy Guyton.
Some who gathered on the State House steps to protest the plan said the delay felt like a stalling tactic in a fight that seemed to be over when voters approved legalization in November.
Joseph Gilmore, a senior at UMass Boston who campaigned for marijuana legalization with the group Students for Sensible Drug Policy, called the delay frustrating.
"Voters expected that shops would be open Jan. 1, 2018," said Gilmore, an economics major from Dorchester said.
"How are we supposed to know what's legal and not legal at this point?" said Rachel Ramone Donlan of Braintree, who called the current state of legalization – it's legal to posesses and smoke marijuana, but not to sell it – a gray area that requires lawbreaking to do what the law made legal.
She held up a small swing-top glass jar with a few green buds in it – less than an ounce, she said, and legal to possess – and offered it to reporters, free of charge. (None accepted.)
The delay emerged from the Legislature earlier this week, when just a handful of lawmakers – without public hearings or formal public notice – approved the measure in just a matter of minutes in both the House and Senate.
The Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition, an organizer of Friday's protest, said on its website that the delay "not only flies in the face of the will of the voters who voted for the January 2018 deadline, it shows contempt for the legislature itself, having been passed, not after three readings to the full House and Senate, but in the course of less than an hour by just two senators and five representatives."
The group said it was "appalled at this arrogant and cowardly move, whose effect will be to give the black market another six-month monopoly and deprive the Commonwealth of the considerable revenue that it might generate in taxes from January to July."
Outside the State House Friday, Linda Noel, a Franklin woman who was among the co-founders of the coalition in the 1980s, called the delay "ridiculous," and noted that the law voters approved provided for just this issue: Dispensaries already operate in Massachusetts, providing medical marijuana to those with prescriptions. They should be allowed to begin selling to the public in January 2018 as planned, she said.
"It was carefully thought through," Noel said. "1.8 million people are not fools. They knew what they were voting for."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Baker Signs Marijuana Delay Amid Protest
Author: Nestor Ramos and Olivia Quintana
Contact: 1-888-694-5623
Photo Credit: Jonathan Wiggs
Website: The Boston Globe
