Massachusetts Lawmaker Wants 80 Percent Less Marijuana Legalization

Massachusetts Lawmaker Wants 80 Percent Less Marijuana Legalization

Massachusetts state senator Jason Lewis has no chill.

Voters in the Bay State just legalized recreational cannabis, but if Lewis has his way, theyll be enjoying far less weed, and they wont be able to purchase any until 2020 at the earliest more than two years behind the schedule set by voters.

More than 53 percent of voters in the birthplace of the American Revolution approved Question 4 on Election Day, legalizing marijuana use, small-scale cultivation, and possession of up to an ounce of marijuana for adults 21 and over.

Massachusetts was one of four states to legalize marijuana during the 2016 general election and one of eight states in the country to experiment with letting adults ditch the black market and legally grow their own cannabis or just buy some in a store if they cant grow or just cant be bothered to.

So far, very little has happened. Stores arent supposed to open until July 2018 a deadline already pushed back by six months once, by lawmakers who called a sparsely attended special session around Christmastime and adults 21 and over have only enjoyed the right to possess without fear of arrest and grow cannabis in their homes since Dec. 15.

But before the experiment can even begin play out as the voters clearly intended, Lewis is already pushing for extended delays. Hes also backing a proposal that would allow regulators to ban any marijuana product in stores aside from unadulterated flower.

That means no edibles, no concentrates, no vape-pen cartridges and no anything else thats not a neatly trimmed flower.

The Boston Globe said Lewis is coming even harder for home growers: he wants to cut the amount of marijuana that can be harvested at a home grow by 80 percent from 10 ounces down to two.

For voters who thought they were getting broad legalization, this is all bad, and it quickly could become much worse: another state lawmaker has suggested raising the legal age for cannabis possession and use from 21 to 25 and reducing the number of plants allowed in a single household.

Marijuana advocates are predictably furious, and are accusing their elected leaders of eviscerating a law approved by 1.8 million voters.

Lewis, a suburban Democrat who strongly opposed Question 4, released a statement in which he said (apparently rhetorically) that lawmakers must respect the will of the voters.

But Lewis inexplicably claims voters werent voting on specifics.

I think that when the voters voted on Nov. 8, they voted to make it legal and safe to possess, use, purchase, sell, and to grow ...

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