Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
In a townwide referendum May 20, Wilbraham residents unequivocally rejected recreational marijuana, voting 1,244 to 477 for a ballot question banning all forms of commercial enterprise related to the distribution or production of recreational marijuana in the Town of Wilbraham.
That includes retail shops, cultivation and testing facilities, and businesses that manufacture pot products.
The ballot vote follows the passage of three anti-recreational-pot measures at Wilbraham's annual town meeting May 15, including articles amending general and zoning bylaws to ban all recreational facilities and an article for a moratorium on retail sales. The last article was just in case voters failed to support an outright ban on "pot for fun," rather than pot for medical purposes.
Voters amend town bylaws to prohibit recreational pot
Using the same recreational marijuana "opt out" model employed by the Town of Westborough, the first Massachusetts municipality to reject the commercialization of recreational pot, Wilbraham residents first voted to change their general and zoning bylaws at the May 15 town meeting.
Town meeting votes affirmed by ballot vote
Next, Wilbraham residents affirmed the town meeting bylaw votes by approving a ballot question at the May 20 town election to prohibit the establishment and expansion of commercial marijuana operations within the town's borders.
The voters have spoken, so what happens next?
Like Westborough, Wilbraham has taken the proactive steps that a municipality must take in order to opt out of permitting the commercialization of marijuana within its borders.
Now, Town Clerk Beverly J. Litchfield will send the three bylaws (the two amendment articles and the moratorium article) approved by town meeting voters to the office of Attorney General Maura Healey, which has 90 days to review the changes and issue a ruling.
State must sign off on local bylaw and ballot votes
Assuming Healey's office signs off on the bylaws and ballot vote, the Town of Wilbraham will send a letter to state Treasurer Deb Goldberg, whose office is responsible for implementation of the state law that legalized the personal possession, use and cultivation of marijuana and the commercial regulation and sale of the drug.
Goldberg's office is also responsible for overseeing the Cannabis Control Commission, the body that will issue licenses for the commercial sale, cultivation and processing of recreational marijuana.
Rejecting commercial marijuana = rejecting tax revenue
The law that legalized the commercial sale of recreational pot established a total tax of 12 percent: a 6.25 percent sales tax, a 3.75 percent excise tax, and a 2 percent "local option" tax. Communities that reject commercial weed, including Wilbraham and Westborough, lose out on a tax revenue stream that is widely expected to be adjusted upward if Goldberg and state lawmakers get their way.
Goldberg is on record as saying the higher, the better when it comes to setting taxes on commercial pot sales. Meanwhile, a state Senate report issued last year called for raising the sales tax to 10-20 percent, raising the excise tax to 5-15 percent, and raising the local option tax to 5 percent.
Once the smoke clears, what's legal, what's not?
The recreational marijuana law legalized by statewide ballot vote in November 2016 was pretty clear-cut:
1.Outside of their personal residence, adults over the age of 21 may possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana.
2.Within their residence, adults may possess up to 10 ounces of marijuana for personal use and cultivate up to 6 marijuana plants per person, with a limit of 12 plants per household.
3.Recreational marijuana may not be commercially grown, processed, or sold in Massachusetts without a license issued by the yet-to-be formed Cannabis Control Commission, which will regulate the sale of pot the same way that alcohol is regulated.
Towns that ban commercial recreational marijuana will forgo any of the presumed benefits associated with No. 3 on this list, including tax revenue from pot sales. Otherwise, the law remains in tact.
Principles over profits?
The status of medical marijuana, legalized in Massachusetts in 2012, is unaffected by any of the actions taken by Wilbraham voters. Also, pot for personal cultivation and use in one's own home remains legal statewide, including in Wilbraham.
Wilbraham was not only among the commonwealth communities most opposed to the initial law legalizing recreational pot, but the town has clearly rejected the spirit and letter of the new law in four subsequent and separate legislative actions taken by its citizens.
Some 57 percent of Wilbraham residents voted against the November ballot initiative that legalized recreational pot statewide, presumably putting their principles before potential profits from the sale of commercial weed in town.
On May 20, over 72 percent of Wilbraham voters rejected commercialization of recreational pot in a townwide ballot referendum.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Wilbraham just said 'No' to recreational marijuana, so what happens next? | masslive.com
Contact: Contact Us - MassLive Media Solutions
Photo Credit: Andrew Selsky
Website: Massachusetts Local News, Breaking News, Sports and Weather - MassLive.com
That includes retail shops, cultivation and testing facilities, and businesses that manufacture pot products.
The ballot vote follows the passage of three anti-recreational-pot measures at Wilbraham's annual town meeting May 15, including articles amending general and zoning bylaws to ban all recreational facilities and an article for a moratorium on retail sales. The last article was just in case voters failed to support an outright ban on "pot for fun," rather than pot for medical purposes.
Voters amend town bylaws to prohibit recreational pot
Using the same recreational marijuana "opt out" model employed by the Town of Westborough, the first Massachusetts municipality to reject the commercialization of recreational pot, Wilbraham residents first voted to change their general and zoning bylaws at the May 15 town meeting.
Town meeting votes affirmed by ballot vote
Next, Wilbraham residents affirmed the town meeting bylaw votes by approving a ballot question at the May 20 town election to prohibit the establishment and expansion of commercial marijuana operations within the town's borders.
The voters have spoken, so what happens next?
Like Westborough, Wilbraham has taken the proactive steps that a municipality must take in order to opt out of permitting the commercialization of marijuana within its borders.
Now, Town Clerk Beverly J. Litchfield will send the three bylaws (the two amendment articles and the moratorium article) approved by town meeting voters to the office of Attorney General Maura Healey, which has 90 days to review the changes and issue a ruling.
State must sign off on local bylaw and ballot votes
Assuming Healey's office signs off on the bylaws and ballot vote, the Town of Wilbraham will send a letter to state Treasurer Deb Goldberg, whose office is responsible for implementation of the state law that legalized the personal possession, use and cultivation of marijuana and the commercial regulation and sale of the drug.
Goldberg's office is also responsible for overseeing the Cannabis Control Commission, the body that will issue licenses for the commercial sale, cultivation and processing of recreational marijuana.
Rejecting commercial marijuana = rejecting tax revenue
The law that legalized the commercial sale of recreational pot established a total tax of 12 percent: a 6.25 percent sales tax, a 3.75 percent excise tax, and a 2 percent "local option" tax. Communities that reject commercial weed, including Wilbraham and Westborough, lose out on a tax revenue stream that is widely expected to be adjusted upward if Goldberg and state lawmakers get their way.
Goldberg is on record as saying the higher, the better when it comes to setting taxes on commercial pot sales. Meanwhile, a state Senate report issued last year called for raising the sales tax to 10-20 percent, raising the excise tax to 5-15 percent, and raising the local option tax to 5 percent.
Once the smoke clears, what's legal, what's not?
The recreational marijuana law legalized by statewide ballot vote in November 2016 was pretty clear-cut:
1.Outside of their personal residence, adults over the age of 21 may possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana.
2.Within their residence, adults may possess up to 10 ounces of marijuana for personal use and cultivate up to 6 marijuana plants per person, with a limit of 12 plants per household.
3.Recreational marijuana may not be commercially grown, processed, or sold in Massachusetts without a license issued by the yet-to-be formed Cannabis Control Commission, which will regulate the sale of pot the same way that alcohol is regulated.
Towns that ban commercial recreational marijuana will forgo any of the presumed benefits associated with No. 3 on this list, including tax revenue from pot sales. Otherwise, the law remains in tact.
Principles over profits?
The status of medical marijuana, legalized in Massachusetts in 2012, is unaffected by any of the actions taken by Wilbraham voters. Also, pot for personal cultivation and use in one's own home remains legal statewide, including in Wilbraham.
Wilbraham was not only among the commonwealth communities most opposed to the initial law legalizing recreational pot, but the town has clearly rejected the spirit and letter of the new law in four subsequent and separate legislative actions taken by its citizens.
Some 57 percent of Wilbraham residents voted against the November ballot initiative that legalized recreational pot statewide, presumably putting their principles before potential profits from the sale of commercial weed in town.
On May 20, over 72 percent of Wilbraham voters rejected commercialization of recreational pot in a townwide ballot referendum.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Wilbraham just said 'No' to recreational marijuana, so what happens next? | masslive.com
Contact: Contact Us - MassLive Media Solutions
Photo Credit: Andrew Selsky
Website: Massachusetts Local News, Breaking News, Sports and Weather - MassLive.com
