Pubdate: Wed, 09 Mar 2016
Source: Pawtucket Times (RI)
Copyright: 2016 Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.pawtuckettimes.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1286
Author: Bob Salsberg, Associated Press

MASS. SENATE PANEL CAUTIOUS ON MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION

BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts may not be prepared for public health and 
safety issues associated with the potential legalization of 
recreational marijuana, a special state Senate committee that 
recently visited Colorado warned Tuesday.

In a 118-page report, the panel recommended steps that could be taken 
should voters approve a likely November ballot question that would 
allow the recreational use and possession of up to an ounce of 
marijuana for those 21 and older.

The report suggested that taxes proposed in the ballot initiative 
would not cover the cost of implementing a recreational marijuana law 
and warned that a black market for pot would persist in the state 
even if the drug was sold legally at retail outlets.

Representatives of Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, the 
group behind the proposed ballot question, said the committee made a 
number of false claims in its report.

In January, members of the panel spent several days in Colorado, 
which was the first U.S. state to regulate recreational marijuana sales.

Here are some things to know about the report from the Special Senate 
Committee on Marijuana.

PRO OR CON?

The committee took no official stance on legalizing recreational 
marijuana in Massachusetts, but the tone of the report and comments 
made during a Statehouse news conference suggested that senators were 
skeptical of the ballot question - and some were outright opposed. 
The panel's chairman, Democratic Sen. Jason Lewis, of Winchester, 
downplayed public opinion polls showing strong support for 
legalization, saying it was too early to predict what voters might do 
in November.

HIGHER TAXES

The proposal would create a 3.75 percent state excise tax on retail 
marijuana sales to be assessed on top of the state's 6.25 percent 
sales tax. Cities and towns would also have the option of imposing an 
additional sales tax up to 2 percent on marijuana sales.

Such a tax structure would not be enough to cover the regulatory and 
social costs of legalized marijuana, the report said. It suggested a 
marijuana sales tax of between 10 percent and 20 percent, a local 
option tax of up to 5 percent, and an excise tax on marijuana growers 
of between 5 and 15 percent. Jim Borghesani, a spokesman for the 
group sponsoring the ballot initiative, argued the current tax plan 
not only would cover regulatory costs, but provide additional revenue 
for other state needs.

HOMEGROWN FEARS

Allowing Massachusetts residents to legally grow pot in their homes 
could provide consumers with greater choice, and be helpful to those 
who do not live near retail outlets, the committee said. But 
marijuana cultivated at home, the senators said, can't be tested for 
safety or potency and could be more easily diverted to the black 
market. So they suggested a ban or temporary moratorium on homegrown 
pot, or alternatively a requirement that growers register with the state.

The proposed ballot question would allow cultivation of up to 12 
plants and 12 seedlings per household.

RESTRICTING EDIBLES

Edible forms of marijuana, such as cookies or candy, are the fastest 
growing segment of the marijuana market in Colorado and now comprise 
half the state's legal pot sales, the report found. The senators 
called for prohibitions on the sale of products that could be 
mistakenly eaten by children, such as candy bars or gummy bears, and 
safeguards against the spraying of THC on existing food products.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom