Lawmakers revisiting the Massachusetts marijuana law: Are they making big changes or small tweaks?
BOSTON Legislative leaders have made clear they are not through with making changes to the voter-approved recreational Massachusetts marijuana initiative, but it remains to be seen whether future action amounts to an overhaul of or a mere tinkering with the new law.
A committee of House and Senate lawmakers will soon be named to consider potential revisions and make recommendations to the full Legislature.
Marijuana backers are watching closely to see whether the panels makeup tilts toward members who opposed the November ballot question, or those who were supportive. That could offer a hint as to how significant any changes might be.
The Legislature bought itself more time last month by postponing key deadlines related to retail sales of recreational marijuana by six months.
A look at just some of the issues the committee might weigh:
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TAXES
The law calls for a 3.75 percent excise tax on recreational pot sales. Marijuana products will also be subject to the states 6.25 percent sales tax and a local option sales tax of 2 percent, making for an effective maximum tax rate of 12 percent.
Many critics of the law say thats too low, and wont even cover regulatory costs.
States where recreational marijuana was previously legalized have substantially higher tax rates: Colorado, 29 percent; Washington, 37 percent; and Oregon, 25 percent.
Ballot measures recently passed by California and Nevada voters establish 15 percent tax rates, while Maines new law is more in line with Massachusetts, imposing a 10 percent sales tax on marijuana.
Backers of the current Massachusetts law say theyre open to higher taxes in the future, but argue that lower taxes initially will strengthen the legal marijuana market while weakening the illegal market.
They also note that some legal states in the west have lately been reducing, not raising their taxes.
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LOCAL CONTROLS
While a few Massachusetts communities have signaled a willingness to put out the welcome mat for marijuana businesses, others are far more hesitant. So lawmakers may well debate how much control local officials should have over pot shops.
The law allows cities and towns to place reasonable safeguards on the operation of marijuana establishments, but they cannot, without voter approval, prohibit stores totaling fewer than 20 percent of the liquor stores in their community. For example, if a town has 10 liquor stores, it must allow at least two pot shops.
One possibility would be to reverse the procedure and require local voters to opt in if they want retail marijuana stores, rather than opt out if they dont want them.
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HOMEGROWING
Democratic Senate President Stan Rosenberg, who supported passage of the ballot question ...
