Pubdate: Sat, 31 Dec 2016
Source: Providence Journal, The (RI)
Copyright: 2016 The Providence Journal Company
Contact:  http://www.providencejournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/352

MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR SIGNS DELAY FOR MARIJUANA SHOPS

Action by the governor and legislature doesn't change a new law that
allows adults 21 and older to possess and use limited amounts of
recreational marijuana and grow as many as a dozen pot plants in their
homes, but it pushes back the timetable for opening retail marijuana
stores from the beginning of 2018 until the middle of that year.

BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill Friday
aimed at delaying by up to six months the opening of marijuana shops
in the state until mid-2018.

An aide to the Republican governor said Baker shares the desire of
state lawmakers to thoroughly prepare for the launch of a new industry
distributing a controlled substance.

Baker is "committed to adhering to the will of the voters by
implementing the new law as effectively and responsibly as possible,"
the governor's communications director Lizzy Guyton said.

Baker's decision to sign the bill came as a small group of marijuana
activists protested outside the Statehouse.

Members of the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition and the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws faulted lawmakers for
passing the bill during end-of-year sessions and said the delay "flies in
the face of the will of the voters" who approved the ballot question
legalizing pot.

The House and Senate passed the bill Wednesday without a public hearing
and without debate during informal sessions in both chambers. Only a
handful of lawmakers were present.

The ballot initiative that allows adults 21 and older to possess and use
limited amounts of recreational marijuana and grow as many as a dozen pot
plants in their homes was approved by 53.7 percent of voters on Nov. 8 and
took effect Dec. 15.

The action by lawmakers doesn't change that. But what it's almost certain
to do is push back the timetable for opening retail marijuana stores from
the beginning of 2018 until the middle of that year.

Senate President Stan Rosenberg and House Speaker Robert DeLeo, both
Democrats, said pushing back the deadlines will give lawmakers more time
improve the law by considering issues that were not addressed in the
ballot question.

RachelRamone Donlan was among the dozen or so protesters outside the
Statehouse. The 45-year-old Braintree resident said she and other
marijuana activists are "100 percent outraged" that a small group of
lawmakers undid the will of the people. She said she's even angrier that
Baker signed the bill.

Donlan also warned of what she called a legal gray area that will confuse
people.

"We are in fear that people are going to get arrested in the next six
months because there will be a time frame when it's legal to possess it
but you cannot buy it," Donlan said. "We're losing out on tax revenue and
we're fueling the black market."

Among the key deadlines that would be put off six months include the
current March 1 deadline for state Treasurer Deb Goldberg to appoint a
cannabis control commission to oversee the recreational marijuana market;
a Sept. 15 deadline for the commission to approve detailed regulations; an
Oct. 1 deadline for accepting applications for retail marijuana outlets,
and the Jan. 1, 2018, deadline for licensing the first pot shops.

For now, it remains illegal in Massachusetts to sell pot except to
registered medical marijuana patients.
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