Pubdate: Thu, 03 Sep 2015
Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)
Copyright: 2015 Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Contact:  http://www.telegram.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/509

GOING TO POT?

If you're excited by the prospect of a Hillary vs. Trump spectacle (or 
pick your own combination) on election night next year, a number of 
initiative petitions on the ballot may represent a strong second billing.

Depending on the number of signatures gathered in the next two months, 
initiatives on 16 issues could hit the ballot. (Twenty-two actually met 
state requirements, the attorney general announced yesterday, but they 
included multiple versions from petitioners.) Petitioners will begin 
collecting signatures on a constitutional amendment on public funding 
for abortions, and measures ending Common Core education standards, 
establishing a special tax on people earning more than $1 million per 
year, and not one but two different and competing efforts to legalize 
marijuana for recreational use.

Government by referendum anyone? We're only at the beginning of the 
process. It's still to be determined which measures get the necessary 
64,750 certified signatures to earn a place on the ballot in 2016 - the 
total is based on a percentage of voter turnout in the last state-wide 
election. A rule of thumb is to get nearly twice as many signatures as 
necessary in order to survive the checking process, so 100,000 is a 
likely target. Does anyone doubt that legalized marijuana measures won't 
hit that total?

The competing marijuana initiatives present a potential conundrum. Both 
legalize the cultivation, sale, possession and use by adults 21 and 
older. Both would create a tax revenue stream targeted for certain 
purposes. But one measure takes a top-down approach that would establish 
a three-member Cannabis Control Commission, appointed by the state 
treasurer, to regulate and license commercial establishments, similar to 
the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission. Communities could vote on 
whether to permit the sale and consumption of products at commercial 
establishments. The other measure is more bottom-up, enabling 
communities to license cannabis cafes or private clubs to sell marijuana 
and products for consumption on the premises - no consumption or sale of 
alcohol would be allowed. But it would come without an overriding 
ABCC-like structure. Growers would be licensed by the state Department 
of Public Health, which is involved now in the medical marijuana program.

Surveys conducted last year indicate there's support among Massachusetts 
voters for legalizing recreational use of marijuana but not to the level 
of the 63 percent of voters who approved medical marijuana in 2012. The 
state has struggled in implementing the medical marijuana law, including 
a problem-plagued process for licensing dispensaries that's prompted 
lawsuits from unsuccessful applicants. Only one dispensary, in Salem, 
has been approved for opening so far.

At least part of the problem with medical marijuana's implementation can 
be tied to the initiative petition route taken to force a reluctant 
state administration without a fully thought-through process.

A similar dynamic is again at play. The governor opposes legalization, 
the Legislature doesn't appear inclined to act on the controversial 
issue, and proponents are taking matters into their own hands by 
initiative petition. Further complications could ensue if both measures 
get enough signatures to make it onto the ballot and both are approved 
by voters pushing for legalization. It's not that farfetched.

Government insiders couldn't recall an instance when two petitions on 
the same subject were both passed on the same ballot. Differences in the 
two measures would be adjudicated by whichever got the most votes. It 
wouldn't be a shock if the matter ended up in court.

The Legislature would be smart to step in if the measures get enough 
signatures. Rather than be handed a problematic law, the Legislature 
could adopt its own ballot measure - one that's hammered out after 
hearing from both opponents and proponents, even drawing from the two 
petitions. Yes, potentially representing a third ballot measure, but one 
more that's more palatable to all if it's to pass.
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MAP posted-by: Matt