Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Boston City Council President Michelle Wu and Councilor Tito Jackson will formally endorse the state ballot push to legalize marijuana for recreational use. The move, to be announced at a State House event Wednesday morning, puts them directly at odds with Mayor Martin J. Walsh, who is helping to lead the charge against the pot referendum and is vociferously opposed to legal retail sales of marijuana.
A 2007 graduate of Harvard College, Wu said she never used the drug, but recalled some classmates did during their years in Cambridge.
"It just seems ridiculous that kids at Harvard can smoke pot and have incredibly successful careers while black and Latino, particularly men and boys, who are using the same substance are sent to jail," she said, voice rising.
"It doesn't make sense for our criminal justice system. It doesn't make sense for our economy. Certainly, there are issues we have to work out for our regulation of it, but I believe we are up to the task," Wu said. "I will be voting yes on the ballot question."
Jackson confirmed his formal support for the referendum in a text message.
Both Jackson and Wu have previously expressed support for legalization, but their decision to stand at the State House and formally join with the pro-legalization campaign represents a boost for the effort, which enjoys only limited support from elected officials.
Alex Morse, the 27-year-old mayor of Holyoke, endorsed the legalization question Monday and is poised to participate in the event as well.
But the opposition includes Walsh, Governor Charlie Baker and House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo. Top medical, business, education, and law enforcement groups - from the Massachusetts Medical Society to the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association - also oppose legalizing retail sales of pot.
Supporters of the pot measure are likely to back up Wu's criminal justice argument, that marijuana laws disproportionately affect minorities, by pointing to an American Civil Liberties Union report from June 2013.
According to that study, the arrest rate for marijuana possession in Massachusetts was the lowest in the country after possession of relatively small amounts was decriminalized by voters in 2008. But, the report says "the racial disparities in marijuana possession arrests did not improve - in fact, they grew worse: the arrest rate in 2010 was 61 per 100,000 Blacks and 16 per 100,000 whites, a ratio of 3.81."
Yet the report is more than three years old and is sure to see pushback from those who oppose the ballot effort.
State Senator Jason M. Lewis, who led a committee studying the issue and now is working to defeat legalization, told the Globe earlier this year that some criminal justice worries are unfounded.
He said criminal penalties for marijuana possession of an ounce or less have already been replaced with a system of civil penalties. And for most adults who use pot casually, there simply aren't any criminal sanctions.
"Virtually nobody is actually being arrested and going to jail for marijuana use," he said, adding that as best as his staff can tell, fewer than 10 people a year are incarcerated for possession of more than an ounce of pot, and most of those people are getting locked up for another offense.
Should voters pass the referendum, possessing, using, and giving away an ounce or less of recreational marijuana would be legal for adults 21 and older as of Dec. 15, and retail sales could commence in January 2018. Marijuana for medical use is already legal in Massachusetts.
The proposed law would create a "Cannabis Control Commission," with members appointed by the state treasurer to oversee marijuana stores, cultivation facilities, testing facilities, and manufacturers of edible products like pot-infused cookies.
The measure would impose a 3.75 percent excise tax on retail marijuana sales, in addition to the state's 6.25 percent sales tax - and it would allow cities and towns to levy an additional 2 percent tax that the municipalities could keep.
Voters in four other states - Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska - and the District of Columbia have already approved recreational legalization efforts.
Marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Boston City Council President Backs Marijuana Legalization
Author: Joshua Miller
Contact: 1-888-694-5623
Photo Credit: David L. Ryan
Website: The Boston Globe
A 2007 graduate of Harvard College, Wu said she never used the drug, but recalled some classmates did during their years in Cambridge.
"It just seems ridiculous that kids at Harvard can smoke pot and have incredibly successful careers while black and Latino, particularly men and boys, who are using the same substance are sent to jail," she said, voice rising.
"It doesn't make sense for our criminal justice system. It doesn't make sense for our economy. Certainly, there are issues we have to work out for our regulation of it, but I believe we are up to the task," Wu said. "I will be voting yes on the ballot question."
Jackson confirmed his formal support for the referendum in a text message.
Both Jackson and Wu have previously expressed support for legalization, but their decision to stand at the State House and formally join with the pro-legalization campaign represents a boost for the effort, which enjoys only limited support from elected officials.
Alex Morse, the 27-year-old mayor of Holyoke, endorsed the legalization question Monday and is poised to participate in the event as well.
But the opposition includes Walsh, Governor Charlie Baker and House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo. Top medical, business, education, and law enforcement groups - from the Massachusetts Medical Society to the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association - also oppose legalizing retail sales of pot.
Supporters of the pot measure are likely to back up Wu's criminal justice argument, that marijuana laws disproportionately affect minorities, by pointing to an American Civil Liberties Union report from June 2013.
According to that study, the arrest rate for marijuana possession in Massachusetts was the lowest in the country after possession of relatively small amounts was decriminalized by voters in 2008. But, the report says "the racial disparities in marijuana possession arrests did not improve - in fact, they grew worse: the arrest rate in 2010 was 61 per 100,000 Blacks and 16 per 100,000 whites, a ratio of 3.81."
Yet the report is more than three years old and is sure to see pushback from those who oppose the ballot effort.
State Senator Jason M. Lewis, who led a committee studying the issue and now is working to defeat legalization, told the Globe earlier this year that some criminal justice worries are unfounded.
He said criminal penalties for marijuana possession of an ounce or less have already been replaced with a system of civil penalties. And for most adults who use pot casually, there simply aren't any criminal sanctions.
"Virtually nobody is actually being arrested and going to jail for marijuana use," he said, adding that as best as his staff can tell, fewer than 10 people a year are incarcerated for possession of more than an ounce of pot, and most of those people are getting locked up for another offense.
Should voters pass the referendum, possessing, using, and giving away an ounce or less of recreational marijuana would be legal for adults 21 and older as of Dec. 15, and retail sales could commence in January 2018. Marijuana for medical use is already legal in Massachusetts.
The proposed law would create a "Cannabis Control Commission," with members appointed by the state treasurer to oversee marijuana stores, cultivation facilities, testing facilities, and manufacturers of edible products like pot-infused cookies.
The measure would impose a 3.75 percent excise tax on retail marijuana sales, in addition to the state's 6.25 percent sales tax - and it would allow cities and towns to levy an additional 2 percent tax that the municipalities could keep.
Voters in four other states - Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska - and the District of Columbia have already approved recreational legalization efforts.
Marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Boston City Council President Backs Marijuana Legalization
Author: Joshua Miller
Contact: 1-888-694-5623
Photo Credit: David L. Ryan
Website: The Boston Globe