The process for licensing retail marijuana shops would be delayed by six months under legislation that surfaced first on Dec. 28 in the Senate before clearing both branches, the result of which could push the legal sale of marijuana, authorized by a successful ballot campaign this year, well into 2018.
Senator Patrick O’Connor said it’s just a "technical delay."
"The Cannabis Control Commission is set to be developed," O’Connor explained. "Then, they’ll have six months to do the rules and regulations. If they can’t finish in time, then in the seventh month, it becomes an unregulated industry."
The legislation would give the forthcoming Cannabis Control Commission an extra six months until March 15, 2018 to develop initial regulations, and applications for testing facility licenses and for retail sales from established medical marijuana dispensaries would be delayed until April 1, 2018.
Treasurer Deborah Goldberg would also have until September, instead of March, to set up the new Cannabis Control Commission.
The House and Senate passed the bill (S 2524) on Dec. 28 during lightly attended informal sessions, pushing out the effective dates of several key milestones in the new law. The bill is over 20 pages long, and legislators want to give themselves enough time to look at the details carefully, said O’Connor.
"We want to make sure we get it right, because this is such a serious change in how our culture and society is going to move going forward," O’Connor said.
"It’s an extensive law," echoed State Rep Joan Meschino. "I wonder if people have really read it. It has a lot of moving pieces and an aggressive time frame. This seemed like a brief, reasonable delay that allowed for thoughtful administration of the law."
The move highlights a rare willingness among lawmakers to tinker with a law approved directly by voters.
The bill also directs the Baker administration to contract for a study of marijuana use, including patterns of use and methods of consumption, incidents of impaired driving and marijuana-related hospitalizations and the economic impacts on the state.
"This isn’t trying to mess with the will of the voter or run the clock out on it," O’Connor said. "We’re going to get to work on day one to make sure we get this done in a timely fashion, but not put ourselves under the gun to be voting on things at the last minute. I can’t see why we wouldn’t want to delay it if it could prevent us from making mistakes."
Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, who presided over the Dec. 28 session, said the bill would not impact any provisions of the new law that went into effect on Dec. 15, including the legalization of possession, use, gifting and home-growing of marijuana.
"The legislature has a responsibility to implement the will of the voters while also protecting public health and public safety. This short delay will allow the necessary time for the Legislature to work with stakeholders on improving the new law," Rosenberg said in a statement.
"Luckily, we are in a position where we can learn from the experiences of other states to implement the most responsible recreational marijuana law in the country."
Will Luzier, who was part of the coalition that passed the marijuana ballot law, said he was "disappointed" that lawmakers are pushing back retail sales of marijuana. He believes the delay will likely be a hardship for those in the burgeoning marijuana industry.
"Sitting on an investment for that much longer is probably a problem," Luzier said.
Luzier was also disappointed with the process of passing the change through the Legislature, saying he only saw the new language on the morning of the session.
"We’re disappointed that it went through in an informal session and we would have liked to have had more to review it, but the process is the process," said Luzier.
Meschino didn’t think the delay undermined the move toward legalization.
"People need to be ready," Meschino said. "Municipalities need to put all the pieces into place. I didn’t see it as undermining it. I thought it made sense."
Rosenberg and Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo said that in the coming weeks they will also set up a Committee on Marijuana comprised of Democrats and Republicans from both branches to work with stakeholders and draft additional legislation to address concerns with the new law.
The bill must still be signed by Gov. Charlie Baker before becoming law.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: Massachusetts Crawls Slowly Toward Legal Marijuana Sales
Author: Amanda C. Thompson
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