Framingham – Saying they won’t stand in the way of Massachusetts voters, selectmen on Tuesday refused to back efforts by a municipal lobbying group to slow the implementation of the state’s new recreational marijuana law.
Members of the board voted unanimously to withhold their support from a letter that asks lawmakers to delay the opening of recreational pot shops.
Voters in November passed a ballot question that allows marijuana sales in the Bay State beginning Jan. 1, 2018. However, members of the Legislature have signaled their interest in pushing back that date to provide more time to develop a regulatory framework for the new law.
Selectmen on Tuesday considered a request from the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) to join those seeking to stall the deadlines approved by voters. All five members of the board rejected the proposal, however, saying it’s up to state officials to prepare for legal pot.
"I think the voters have made the decision," Selectman Jason Smith said. "I think we should stick by the voters 100 percent, and sending a letter to delay the process because they’re not ready for it, well – shame on them for not doing their homework."
Approved by close to 54 percent of voters statewide, Ballot Question 4 eliminates criminal penalties for marijuana possession, allowing those 21 and older to have up to 10 ounces in their homes and to carry up to 1 ounce of the drug outside their residences.
The law also allows adults to grow up to six marijuana plants and to give away up to 1 ounce of pot to another adult free of charge.
While the law is set to take effect Thursday, it will be at least another year before Bay State residents can walk into a retail shop to purchase marijuana. Commercial sales won’t be allowed until 2018, giving a new three-person Cannabis Control Commission time to get up and running.
Despite the delay, the MMA argues more time is needed to recruit commissioners and allow them to hire staff, draft regulations and establish a new licensing system for pot shops.
The group, which advocates on behalf of city and town officials, is asking Gov. Charlie Baker and leaders of the House and Senate to push back the deadlines included in the law to address the "many unanswered questions and many significant flaws" in its wording.
"If the state fails to meet the January 1 deadline, the industry has written Question 4 in such a way that the commercial industry would arise in a mostly unregulated environment," reads a Nov. 30 letter drafted by the MMA, "because medical marijuana operators would automatically be licensed as commercial agents for recreational marijuana, giving them a near-monopoly in the marketplace."
In the interim, MMA is asking lawmakers to grant cities and towns the authority to enact moratoriums on new commercial marijuana facilities, arguing local governments will receive applications for new shops "before they know the full extent of the regulations under which those facilities will be operating."
The MMA is also seeking a delay in the home grow provisions in the law and the ability for cities and towns to collect a local excise tax of between 2 percent and 6 percent on retail sales.
The new law is also creating confusion for police, said Acting Police Chief Steven Trask, since street-level sales of marijuana are still technically illegal.
"I don’t know how it arrives in your pocket," Trask told selectmen Tuesday, noting that it’s legal to possess marijuana, but not to buy it from a drug dealer.
"These are the kinds of things that we’re trying to talk about …;," Trask said. "We don’t even have the boards appointed yet, the state boards, that are going to oversee these types of things, particularly when we’re talking about commercial sale."
While they acknowledged concerns about the new law, selectmen were reticent to stall the process approved by voters, saying the state risks treading the same path it followed on medical marijuana. Despite being approved by voters in 2012, only a small number of medical pot dispensaries have opened in the state as a result of delays in the licensing process.
"The voters have spoken," Smith said. "There’s been dates determined. People have had plenty of time to take a look at this issue. This is not the first time this issue has been in front of anybody."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: Framingham Selectmen Reject Marijuana Law Delay
Author: Jim Haddadin
Contact: 508-626-3800
Photo Credit: Jim Haddadin
Website: Wicked Local Framingham
