Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Massachusetts appears poised to legalize recreational marijuana - and it's not alone. Four other states take a similar vote this Tuesday on ballot initiatives with near-identical language.
In the Bay State, Ballotpedia summarizes the measure like this: A "yes" vote supports this proposal to legalize marijuana but regulate it in ways similar to alcoholic beverages.
In Arizona: A "yes" vote supports legalizing the possession and consumption of marijuana by persons who are 21 years of age or older.
California: A "yes" vote supports legalizing recreational marijuana for persons aged 21 years or older under state law and establishing certain sales and cultivation taxes.
Maine: A "yes" vote supports legalizing recreational marijuana for adults over the age of 21.
And Nevada: A "yes" vote supports legalizing the recreational use of one ounce or less of marijuana by individuals 21 years of age and over.
Patch compared the legalization campaigns in all five states and took a closer look at the national group backing all five campaigns.
The Bay State has been on marijuana legalization advocates' agenda for quite a while.
"In 2016, Massachusetts will find itself in the crosshairs for cannabis reform," the executive director of national pro-legalization group NORML once told The Boston Globe.
That was January of 2014, just more than a year after Colorado voters passed a ballot measure legalizing recreational marijuana there. Shortly thereafter, the same group credited with bringing home the pro-pot vote in the Centennial State turned its attention to Massachusetts and four other states.
That organization is the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C.-based group with lobbying and fundraising arms that have reached to Congress and into the states in an effort to change policy around marijuana. Its leadership started with NORML, later splintering to form a group focused on changing laws, starting with the decriminalization of marijuana possession.
Those five 2016 ballot initiatives advance the Project's vision, outlined on its site as "a nation where marijuana is legally regulated similarly to alcohol, marijuana education is honest and realistic, and treatment for problem marijuana users is non-coercive and geared toward reducing harm."
The main message it hopes will resonate this election is that marijuana is safer than alcohol and should be regulated and taxed accordingly.
It's no wonder Massachusetts is among the states considered ripe for legalization.
The Bay State in 2008 voted to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana, and in 2012 it voted to legalize the drug for medical purposes. Both ballot measures handily won approval, and Question 4 appears poised to do the same next week.
The other four Marijuana Policy Project-supported ballot campaigns also target states with similar laws already on the books. Medical marijuana is legal in all five states with a "Yes" campaign underway this election cycle. Every one, except for Arizona, has also already decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
That's according to a map produced by MPP, which claims responsibility for "most of the major state-level marijuana policy reforms enacted in the past decade," including Massachusetts' 2012 medical ballot question.
You'll notice a common thread between the dates.
The Marijuana Policy Project's successful ballot pushes are widely considered to be bolstered by the high turnout at the polls during presidential election years, particularly among young voters.
A Washington Post breakdown of fundraising efforts across the five states looking to legalize marijuana found there was no unifying big-dollar opponent to the measures, but all had common strains: the healthcare industry, alcohol industry and individual donors, including pricey contributions from Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who has donated handsomely to opposition efforts in Massachusetts and elsewhere.
More than $9 million has been spent by both sides here in Massachusetts, with most of that total pouring from outside state lines and on the side of legalization. The Marijuana Policy Project donated some $350,000, while a Washington, D.C.-based Political Action Committee, New Approach, gave $5.3 million in support of the measure, as of Nov. 6.
Leading the opposing charge in Massachusetts is Gov. Charlie Baker and other state officials, who launched the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts opposition effort in July.
They emphasized concerns over the dangers of candy- or pastry-like edibles, particularly for young children, and talked about marijuana as a gateway drug whose potential risks are especially potent in a state already confronting the opioid addiction epidemic.
And another core message: "This proposed law is written by and for the marijuana industry."
But where the MPP's messaging around marijuana and alcohol is meant to readily resonate with voters, the "how the sausage gets made" aspect of legalization opponents' pitch may not have as much success.
"I don't think that people are moved by process, to be honest," said Peter Ubertaccio, a Stonehill College professor who has been following all four ballot initiatives.
Where a ballot question's backing comes from is important to voters, he said, but what's decided is even more important.
Currently, multiple polls forecast a victory for the measure in Massachusetts, although political insiders reportedly expect a close vote. That also appears to be the case in the other four states where marijuana legalization is on the ballot.
If the ballot initiative, Question 4, passes here it would do the following:
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: MA Question 4 - In Marijuana Push, Massachusetts Is Far From Alone
Author: Alison Bauter
Contact: Beacon Hill Patch
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Beacon Hill Patch
In the Bay State, Ballotpedia summarizes the measure like this: A "yes" vote supports this proposal to legalize marijuana but regulate it in ways similar to alcoholic beverages.
In Arizona: A "yes" vote supports legalizing the possession and consumption of marijuana by persons who are 21 years of age or older.
California: A "yes" vote supports legalizing recreational marijuana for persons aged 21 years or older under state law and establishing certain sales and cultivation taxes.
Maine: A "yes" vote supports legalizing recreational marijuana for adults over the age of 21.
And Nevada: A "yes" vote supports legalizing the recreational use of one ounce or less of marijuana by individuals 21 years of age and over.
Patch compared the legalization campaigns in all five states and took a closer look at the national group backing all five campaigns.
The Bay State has been on marijuana legalization advocates' agenda for quite a while.
"In 2016, Massachusetts will find itself in the crosshairs for cannabis reform," the executive director of national pro-legalization group NORML once told The Boston Globe.
That was January of 2014, just more than a year after Colorado voters passed a ballot measure legalizing recreational marijuana there. Shortly thereafter, the same group credited with bringing home the pro-pot vote in the Centennial State turned its attention to Massachusetts and four other states.
That organization is the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C.-based group with lobbying and fundraising arms that have reached to Congress and into the states in an effort to change policy around marijuana. Its leadership started with NORML, later splintering to form a group focused on changing laws, starting with the decriminalization of marijuana possession.
Those five 2016 ballot initiatives advance the Project's vision, outlined on its site as "a nation where marijuana is legally regulated similarly to alcohol, marijuana education is honest and realistic, and treatment for problem marijuana users is non-coercive and geared toward reducing harm."
The main message it hopes will resonate this election is that marijuana is safer than alcohol and should be regulated and taxed accordingly.
It's no wonder Massachusetts is among the states considered ripe for legalization.
The Bay State in 2008 voted to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana, and in 2012 it voted to legalize the drug for medical purposes. Both ballot measures handily won approval, and Question 4 appears poised to do the same next week.
The other four Marijuana Policy Project-supported ballot campaigns also target states with similar laws already on the books. Medical marijuana is legal in all five states with a "Yes" campaign underway this election cycle. Every one, except for Arizona, has also already decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
That's according to a map produced by MPP, which claims responsibility for "most of the major state-level marijuana policy reforms enacted in the past decade," including Massachusetts' 2012 medical ballot question.
You'll notice a common thread between the dates.
The Marijuana Policy Project's successful ballot pushes are widely considered to be bolstered by the high turnout at the polls during presidential election years, particularly among young voters.
A Washington Post breakdown of fundraising efforts across the five states looking to legalize marijuana found there was no unifying big-dollar opponent to the measures, but all had common strains: the healthcare industry, alcohol industry and individual donors, including pricey contributions from Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who has donated handsomely to opposition efforts in Massachusetts and elsewhere.
More than $9 million has been spent by both sides here in Massachusetts, with most of that total pouring from outside state lines and on the side of legalization. The Marijuana Policy Project donated some $350,000, while a Washington, D.C.-based Political Action Committee, New Approach, gave $5.3 million in support of the measure, as of Nov. 6.
Leading the opposing charge in Massachusetts is Gov. Charlie Baker and other state officials, who launched the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts opposition effort in July.
They emphasized concerns over the dangers of candy- or pastry-like edibles, particularly for young children, and talked about marijuana as a gateway drug whose potential risks are especially potent in a state already confronting the opioid addiction epidemic.
And another core message: "This proposed law is written by and for the marijuana industry."
But where the MPP's messaging around marijuana and alcohol is meant to readily resonate with voters, the "how the sausage gets made" aspect of legalization opponents' pitch may not have as much success.
"I don't think that people are moved by process, to be honest," said Peter Ubertaccio, a Stonehill College professor who has been following all four ballot initiatives.
Where a ballot question's backing comes from is important to voters, he said, but what's decided is even more important.
Currently, multiple polls forecast a victory for the measure in Massachusetts, although political insiders reportedly expect a close vote. That also appears to be the case in the other four states where marijuana legalization is on the ballot.
If the ballot initiative, Question 4, passes here it would do the following:
- Create a Cannabis Control Commission to regulate marijuana legalization, issue licenses to retailers and other firms selling marijuana products;
- Legalize the possession of less than 10 oz. of marijuana inside homes or less than 1 oz. in public;
- Make it legal to grow up to six marijuana plants in the home;
- Stipulate that marijuana retailers would be subject to the state sales tax, with an additional 3.75 percent excise tax (local municipalities can choose to add another 2 percent tax);
- Direct revenue from excise taxes, license application fees and fines for minor violations of this law into a Marijuana Regulation Fund that would cover the administrative costs of the new law; and
- It would take effect Dec. 15, 2016.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: MA Question 4 - In Marijuana Push, Massachusetts Is Far From Alone
Author: Alison Bauter
Contact: Beacon Hill Patch
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Beacon Hill Patch
