Ed Andrieski/Associated Press file
photoBay State Repeal is gathering signatures for a referendum to
legitimatize marijuana, calling for no taxes on the drug, which it says
would be treated like other products sold only to adultsThe Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, one of two groups trying to get a marijuana referendum on next year’s ballot, said last week it has collected more than 100,000 signatures from voters who support its measure.
“Massachusetts voters will get the opportunity next year to vote on ending the prohibition on marijuana and eliminating the black market,” said Jim Borghesani, a spokesman for the group. “Marijuana should be produced and sold by legitimate, tax-paying businesses, not gangs and cartels.”
The group’s proposal calls for a 3.75 percent excise tax on retail marijuana sales, optional local taxes and the creation of a state commission to regulate it. If its signatures are certified by Secretary of State Bill Galvin, its proposal will move to lawmakers for consideration.
It seems unlikely that the Legislature will sign off. Lawmakers are more likely to leave the question to voters. Previous legislation allowing adults to grow marijuana has failed to gain much support.
Senate President Stanley Rosenberg said Tuesday that lawmakers face a litany of pressing issues — from the opioid crisis to incentives for the solar industry to public records reform — and won’t likely take up the marijuana question.
‘No point’ “There’s no point in taking it up,” Rosenberg, D-Amherst, told reporters. “Both the House speaker and governor have repeatedly said that they don’t see a need to take it up in the Legislature. They’ll let the voters decide.”
Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, opposes legalization and has pledged to campaign against it. Lawmakers who oppose legalized marijuana say it would send a mixed message as the state battles a wave of heroin and prescription drug addiction that claimed more than 1,200 lives in 2014.
“We face a lot of major issues, and this isn’t one of them,” said House Minority Leader Brad Jones, R-North Reading.
Meanwhile, another group, Bay State Repeal, is gathering signatures for a similar proposal. It wants no taxes on the drug, which it says would be treated like other products sold only to adults.
Opponents say recreational pot use should remain illegal, especially given the danger it poses to youth. They note that marijuana remains an illegal drug under federal law, even though a number of states have moved to legalize it.
“This is a public health disaster in the making,” said Jody Hensley, a member of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, one of several groups opposing legalization. “Young people who use marijuana risk crossing over into other, more serious drug abuse. The opioid crisis is the best reason not to open another major recreational drug market in the state.”
Targeting teens? Hensley and others say a large-scale marijuana industry would target teenagers in the same way that tobacco companies have, creating even greater public health concerns.
“It’s an addiction-for-profit scheme, just like big tobacco,” she said. “It’s exactly what they did with Joe Camel marketing tobacco to kids.”
Health officials also oppose legalization, citing concerns such as the effects of smoking, as well as research that shows long-term marijuana use impairs cognitive ability and worsens stress and depression.
Despite opposition, supporters of recreational marijuana say they believe a majority of voters support them. In 2008, Massachusetts voters decriminalized possession of up to an ounce of marijuana, replacing jail time with a $100 fine. Four years later, voters approved the cultivation and use of medical marijuana. Both initiatives were approved with more than 60 percent of the vote.
In November 2014, voters in several House districts – including several north of Boston – approved non-binding questions asking if marijuana should be legalized.
Nationally, 58 percent of Americans back the legalization of marijuana, according to a recent Gallup poll. Still, a recent Emerson College survey showed Massachusetts voters are still split. A poll of 600 likely voters found only 37 percent favor legalization.'
Other state laws Advocates say public opinion is changing, as evidenced by relaxed state laws and the approval of recreational use in Colorado, Washington and, more recently Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C. In Colorado, marijuana is now taxed and regulated similar to alcohol and tobacco. Its law gives the state and local governments authority to control and tax the sale of small amounts of marijuana to adults age 21 and older.
A law approved by voters in Washington, D.C., allows residents to possess up to 2 ounces of marijuana and grow up to six cannabis plants. Oregon allows possession of up to 8 ounces of marijuana and four plants.
Similar bills and voter referendums are being prepared for ballots in Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island and California.
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