Pubdate: Fri, 13 Mar 2015
Source: Boston Herald (MA)
Copyright: 2015 The Boston Herald, Inc
Contact:  http://news.bostonherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/53
Note: Prints only very short LTEs.
Author: O'ryan Johnson

LEGISLATORS HIGH ON LEGALIZING - AND TAXING POT

Beacon Hill could be taking up a new bill soon that would legalize 
and tax marijuana, while also creating a bureaucracy to heavily 
regulate cannabis cafes, pot shops and growth operations.

The bill, sponsored by state Rep. David Rogers (D-Belmont) and state 
Sen. Pat Jehlen (DS-omerville), is backed by the nonprofit Marijuana 
Policy Project, which also "plans to support a 2016 ballot initiative 
to regulate and tax marijuana like alcohol."

"Voters in Massachusetts are ready to end marijuana prohibition," 
said Matt Simon, the project's political director. "We hope their 
elected officials are, too. If the status quo is maintained in the 
legislature, change will occur at the ballot box."

The bill would legalize sale and use for those 21 and older. It 
includes the creation of cannabis cafes, retail shops, and a 
"Cannabis Commission" that would hand out "cannabis cultivation 
licenses, marijuana processing licenses, hemp processing licenses, 
marijuana wholesale licenses, and testing and research licenses."

It mandates child resistant packaging for marijuana in the following 
amounts: one ounce, half-ounce, and quarter-ounce packages. Packages 
are also to carry the following warning: "Consumption of cannabis may 
impair your ability to operate a motor vehicle or machinery, and may 
cause health problems."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom