Senator Proposes Curtailing Marijuana Rules Passed by Massachusetts Ballot Question

WINCHESTER, MA — A Massachusetts senator and staunch opponent to the legalization of recreational marijuana is taking aim at the law passed through a statewide ballot initiative last November.

Sen. Jason Lewis, a Winchester Democrat, has filed a series of bills that nip, tuck and slash pieces of the legislation laid out in a ballot question passed by state voters on Nov. 8.

In an interview Friday, Lewis told The Boston Globe he believes the ballot initiative's support was for the generalities of legal possession and usage of marijuana in Massachusetts, but that defining the specifics is down to the Legislature.

“I don’t believe that people were voting on things like whether you should be able to homegrow three plants, or six plants, or 12 plants,” he told the paper, "or whether the marijuana tax rate was 3.75 percent or 5 percent or 12 percent. ... It’s in everybody’s best interest, including the advocates, that we do this right in Massachusetts and we do this in a way that is safe and that protects public health and safety.”

Proposals from Lewis and other legislators to curb the legal weed law have been assaulted by advocates. The Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition, which pursued the November ballot question, has called such actions "outrageous," and an attempt to "thwart the will of the voters."

Among other elements, Lewis proposed in a series of bills filed Friday:

• Reducing the amount of marijuana a person can possess
• Reducing the number of plants allowed to grow in one household
• Delaying the sale of certain marijuana-infused products
• Creating a program to track/monitor the impacts of legalization
• Instituting requirements for marijuana packaging, such as being child resistant and coming in unenticing colors
• Funding a marijuana education campaign targeting young people
• Upping local powers to reject or ban marijuana retailers

Lewis' proposals came down during a busy news day dominated by the inauguration of President Donald Trump and, in Boston, subsequent protests Friday. It comes after a fraction of the legislative body unceremoniously passed a bill delaying marijuana retail shops' openings until summer of 2018. The original timeline was January 2018, as outlined in the ballot question.

Lewis represents the 5th Middlesex District of Massachusetts, which includes the cities and towns of Malden, Melrose, Reading, Stoneham, Wakefield, and parts of Winchester.

Read More:

• As Marijuana Legalization Supporters Rally, Baker Signs Retail Delay
• MA Question 4: In Marijuana Push, Massachusetts Was Far From Alone
• Massachusetts Marijuana Legalization: What You Should Know
• Marijuana Legalized in Massachusetts; Question 4 Passes
• Marijuana Is Now Legal in Massachusetts; Here's What You Can and Cannot Do

Image via Patch Archives