On Tuesday, the Massachusetts Special Senate Committee On Marijuana published a report studying the probable “policy ramifications” of legalized cannabis for recreational use. That will be a decided by voters on the ballot in November. While stating that the committee had not taken “an official position” on the legalization measure, the report talks about a bunch of reasons as to why cannabis legalization may have a negative impact on the state and has not spoken on the good parts of legalization.
According to the report, there are worries that cannabis legalization may increase the amount of younger people taking marijuana, the amount of people driving under the influence, and that there will not be enough tax revenue to make up for the social downfalls. Other issues touched upon were edible cannabis products shown to be attractive to the youth, the black market still staying in place after legalization and that high THC will make marijuana more “addictive” today than it was before.
To stop the youth from being able to smoke marijuana and stop addiction, from which about 1 in 9 smokers suffer from, according to the report, the committee believes there should be heavy rules on marketing and advertising, including a law that would ban celebrity ads. If the people of Massachusetts were to legalize cannabis on the ballot, the report said that there should be a higher tax rate than the current bill, home growing should not be allowed, there should be a limit on THC in the body while driving and that there should be a cap on THC allowed in edibles, along with other restrictions.
Proponents of cannabis legalization in Massachusetts state that they are not shocked by the report’s hesitant tone. Powerful elected officials in Massachusetts have been critical of cannabis recently. For instance, the state’s largest leaders, Gov. Charlie Baker, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as well as Attorney General Maura Healey, have been telling voters not to support the November legalization initiative.
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