Enough Signatures Collected to Put Legalization to Vote in Massachusetts

Enough Signatures Collected to Put Legalization to Vote in Massachusetts

The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol has just submitted over 103,000 signatures for their initiative to legalize recreational cannabis, well over the 64,750 signatures required to put it to a vote.

If the state verifies that enough of the signatures are valid (from registered Massachusetts voters), the initiative will be put before the state’s legislature. If the legislature decides against passing it into law, advocates will have a month (in June) to collect an additional 10,792 signatures, which would place it on the 2016 ballot in November.

If passed into law by lawmakers or voters, the initiative would make the possession of up to an ounce of cannabis, and the cultivation of up to six cannabis plants, legal for those 21 and older. State-licensed cannabis retail outlets and cultivation centers will also be authorized, with an excise tax of 3.75% placed on retail cannabis sales.

“This is direct democracy in action,” says campaign manager Will Luzier. “People can see that our current prohibition policy isn’t working, and they’re taking action to replace it with a more sensible system. Based on the level of support and enthusiasm we saw during the petition drive, voters are ready to end prohibition and start treating marijuana more like how our state treats alcohol.”

The full initiative, including an initiative summary, can be found by clicking here.

– TheJointBlog