The following appeared in today’s edition of Talking Joints Memo, our newsletter about all things cannabis in Mass. If you’re not yet registered you can sign up QUICKLY AND FOR FREE RIGHT HERE. And you can also check our past newsletters out on the Facebook page.
Patients, smokers, tokers, dabbers, and decent people of Massachusetts in general. I come to you today, just hours before Governor Charlie Baker’s State of the Commonwealth address, to summarize the trials we have been through, as well as those that we will face in 2017 and beyond.
As you already know, this past November approximately 1.8 million Commonwealth voters approved a ballot measure to end the prohibition of cannabis statewide. Among other permissions, the resulting law was intended to allow adults who are 21 years of age or older to possess 10 ounces of marijuana (at home) and to grow up to 12 plants per household.
But since said popular vote, or even before Election Day actually, politicians on both sides of the aisle have worked hard to keep marijuana underground. In December, the House and Senate delayed the scheduled opening of legal facilities another six months from the intended January 2018 starting date. And their meddling has just begun.
As Senator Jason Lewis recently told the Boston Globe, “I don’t believe that people were voting on things like whether you should be able to homegrow three plants, or six plants, or 12 plants.” In his latest assault, Lewis, who the Globe less than mockingly calls “the Legislature’s top authority on the recreational marijuana industry,” hopes to raise taxes on cannabis while drastically reducing the amount of pot you can grow and own. He also wants to ban edibles and all non-flower forms for years to come.
Lastly, I will remind you all that the state of cannabis in the Commonwealth is not particularly strong (though the strains certainly are). There are countless legislative impediments, including in many stubborn municipalities, and lots of work still needs to be done by advocates and aspiring Mass pot industrialists as well. In the meantime, I leave you with these parting words:
- Remember that a lot of pols are actually smart people, and know damn well that they are, if anything, bolstering the black market with their stall and scare tactics.
- Remember that a lot of the “advice” coming from Colorado is coming from prohibitionists.
- Remember to stockpile seeds.
- Remember that law enforcement still has an insane boner for cannabis users.
- Remember to support patients through this rigmarole.
And we may just break on through to the other side.
A Queens, NY native who came to New England in 2004 to earn his MA in journalism at Boston University, Chris Faraone is the editor and co-publisher of DigBoston and a co-founder of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. He has published several books including 99 Nights with the 99 Percent, and has written liner notes for hip-hop gods including Cypress Hill, Pete Rock, Nas, and various members of the Wu-Tang Clan.
