Massachusetts Supreme Court Rules Legalization Initiative can Appear on November Ballot
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that an initiative to legalize cannabis for everyone 21 and older can appear on this November’s general election ballot. The ruling comes a day after the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol announced that they’ve collected over twice the amount necessary to put the initiative to a vote of the people.
This is how the measure will appear on the ballot: “A YES VOTE would allow persons 21 and older to possess, use, and transfer marijuana and products containing marijuana concentrate (including edible products) and to cultivate marijuana, all in limited amounts, and would provide for the regulation and taxation of commercial sale of marijuana and marijuana products.”
If the measure is passed into law, the possession of up to an ounce of cannabis – or 10 ounces at a private residence – would be legal for those 21 and older. The cultivation of up to six cannabis plants would also be legalized, as would cannabis retail outlets.
The full text of the initiative can be found by clicking here.
Cassie
I hate this legislation, and I am not naive. Child of alcoholics. There is no such thing as “a little” amount of legal mj, because it has an odor. The odor is attractive to those who have ever used it. Legalizing it is opening a huge can of worms that cannot be contained, for when it is being used, it is also inadvertently encouraging others to get high. I am afraid of the impact. This push for it seems to be a middle class dream, for consequences of mischievous behavior are not so severe in that group that can handle college. But for people outside middle class, this country is already struggling, people don’t know how to argue effectively, work together, spend public time together. The people to interview about the negative impact of MJ, are not those who wish to use it – it is their children, and the children of alcoholics and drug users. The neglected children who watch adults skirt over issues of relating to each other – already being diminished by chronic cell phone use, and the raft of other drugs and substances. Country has lost identity and ability to handle differences and conflict as it is. MJ, like other drugs, gives the short range impression that relationships are improved through this artificial relaxation – but the relief is illusory. If one cannot relax and learn to relate without substances, then is a person really any good at relating? We have big issues today, which affect the planet, and we don’t need another diversion which could be rapidly growing and hard to control, for once its legal to smoke, people will encounter it everywhere, public parks, etc.
Nick .M
I would love to start a rally in Lafayette Louisiana