Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Any Massachusetts resident over 21 can legally possess up to an ounce of marijuana outside their home Thursday -- but don't go walking down the street smoking it.
Though the ballot question approved by voters Nov. 8 is scheduled to go into effect, the law doesn't allow using pot in public places, nor selling it.
And so Massachusetts enters a legal "gray period," Jim Borghesani, spokesman for the group RegulateMass, which sponsored the ballot initiative, told the Associated Press.
"It is legal to possess," Borghesani said. "It is illegal to sell without a retail license and retail licenses won't be available for quite a while."
Selling marijuana without a license before the regulated market is established will remain a crime punishable by up to two years of incarceration and up to a $5,000 fine.
Borghesani told the AP Colorado, Washington and other places which previously legalized marijuana went through similar transition periods without major problems.
But, John Suthers, the attorney general of Colorado during the 13-month gray zone between a retail market and the end of prohibition, did not offer so optimistic an outlook. He told the Boston Globe: "It will be a mess for law enforcement."
Suthers said "the unenforceability of the limitation on 12 plants per house" will prove a "nightmare" and lead to the establishment of a "significant" black market before regulated stores open their doors.
On the other side of the argument, advocates for legalization say fears of huge black markets never came true in other states that legalized, according to the Globe.
Despite the drug becoming legal, noted The Globe article, those who "want to purchase some pot" are "going to need to do it the old-fashioned way: from a guy who knows a guy."
The law does permit a single individual to cultivate up to 6 marijuana plants for personal use. Up to 12 plants per household are allowed if more than one adult lives on the premises.
People over 21 can also give another adult up to an ounce of pot or marijuana seeds under the law, but not for money.
In addition to public use and sale, the law does not permit people to carry marijuana on school grounds, operate a vehicle under the influence of marijuana, give pot to someone under 21, keep an open containers of marijuana inside a vehicle, grow pot in a plainly visibly place, or bring it across state lines.
Also, tenants may not grow marijuana in places where the landlord has forbidden such activities.
The lag time in the law was intended by its authors to prioritize the ending of prohibition even at the expense of creating the legal "gray period."
"People who want to use marijuana are going to have to get it from the same sources they were getting it from before Dec. 15," Borghesani told the Globe. "The gray zone is not ideal, but there's really no other way around it."
Massachusetts' law will also not change the fact that the substance remains strictly forbidden under federal law, which classifies it as a Schedule 1 drug, in the same category as ecstasy, LSD and heroin.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Marijuana Becomes Legal In Massachusetts On Thursday But Don't Go Walking Down The Street Smoking It
Author: Phil Demers
Contact: 413-731-1036
Photo Credit: Shaina Mishkin
Website: MassLive
Though the ballot question approved by voters Nov. 8 is scheduled to go into effect, the law doesn't allow using pot in public places, nor selling it.
And so Massachusetts enters a legal "gray period," Jim Borghesani, spokesman for the group RegulateMass, which sponsored the ballot initiative, told the Associated Press.
"It is legal to possess," Borghesani said. "It is illegal to sell without a retail license and retail licenses won't be available for quite a while."
Selling marijuana without a license before the regulated market is established will remain a crime punishable by up to two years of incarceration and up to a $5,000 fine.
Borghesani told the AP Colorado, Washington and other places which previously legalized marijuana went through similar transition periods without major problems.
But, John Suthers, the attorney general of Colorado during the 13-month gray zone between a retail market and the end of prohibition, did not offer so optimistic an outlook. He told the Boston Globe: "It will be a mess for law enforcement."
Suthers said "the unenforceability of the limitation on 12 plants per house" will prove a "nightmare" and lead to the establishment of a "significant" black market before regulated stores open their doors.
On the other side of the argument, advocates for legalization say fears of huge black markets never came true in other states that legalized, according to the Globe.
Despite the drug becoming legal, noted The Globe article, those who "want to purchase some pot" are "going to need to do it the old-fashioned way: from a guy who knows a guy."
The law does permit a single individual to cultivate up to 6 marijuana plants for personal use. Up to 12 plants per household are allowed if more than one adult lives on the premises.
People over 21 can also give another adult up to an ounce of pot or marijuana seeds under the law, but not for money.
In addition to public use and sale, the law does not permit people to carry marijuana on school grounds, operate a vehicle under the influence of marijuana, give pot to someone under 21, keep an open containers of marijuana inside a vehicle, grow pot in a plainly visibly place, or bring it across state lines.
Also, tenants may not grow marijuana in places where the landlord has forbidden such activities.
The lag time in the law was intended by its authors to prioritize the ending of prohibition even at the expense of creating the legal "gray period."
"People who want to use marijuana are going to have to get it from the same sources they were getting it from before Dec. 15," Borghesani told the Globe. "The gray zone is not ideal, but there's really no other way around it."
Massachusetts' law will also not change the fact that the substance remains strictly forbidden under federal law, which classifies it as a Schedule 1 drug, in the same category as ecstasy, LSD and heroin.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Marijuana Becomes Legal In Massachusetts On Thursday But Don't Go Walking Down The Street Smoking It
Author: Phil Demers
Contact: 413-731-1036
Photo Credit: Shaina Mishkin
Website: MassLive
