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presence
03-20-2015, 09:05 AM
http://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2015/03/massachusetts-bill-would-legalize-marijuana-and-hemp-effectively-nullify-federal-prohibition/


BOSTON (Mar. 18, 2015) – A bill introduced in Massachusetts would legalize marijuana and hemp for the general public, effectively nullifying the federal prohibition on the same.

House Bill 1561 (H1561) was introduced on March 10 by State Reps. David Rogers (D-Cambridge) and Patricia Jehlen (D-Somerville) along with 13 bipartisan co-sponsors. If this bill is successful, Massachusetts would become the first state to legalize both hemp and marijuana for recreational purposes through the legislature rather than the popular vote.

Both are considered illegal by all branches of the federal government, and with a vast majority of prohibition arrests done by states and not the federal government, passage would nullify in practice any attempt by the federal government to keep these plants illegal in Massachusetts.

H1561 would allow an individual over the age of 21 to possess, use, obtain, purchase and transport up to 10 ounces of marijuana or up to 10 pounds of marijuana-infused products. Possession of marijuana by individuals between the ages of 18 and 21 shall be a civil infraction. Minors caught with marijuana would be required to complete a Drug Awareness Program.

Individuals would be allowed to set up marijuana shops, referred to as cannabis cafes in the bill, if they obtain a proper license. They would also be permitted to grow marijuana after receiving a cultivation license. The bill also classifies industrial hemp as a “product from cannabis,” and legalizes that crop for production and distribution as well.

Bills like H1561 are sweeping the nation, and for good reason. Reforms like these can affect federal policy while circumventing the Washington D.C. power structure completely.

CONSTITUTIONALITY

Congress and the president claim the constitutional authority to ban marijuana. The Supreme Court concurs. However, nearly two-dozen states have taken steps to put the well-being of their citizens above the so-called federal supremacy by legalizing marijuana to varying degrees anyway.

“The rapidly growing and wildly successful state-level movement to legalize marijuana, either completely, or for medical use, proves that states can successfully effectively reject unconstitutional federal acts. The feds can claim the authority to prohibit pot all they want, but it clearly has done nothing to deter states from moving forward with plans to allow it, pushed by the will of the people,” Tenth Amendment Center executive director Michael Boldin said.

H1561 is an especially ambitious proposal because it doesn’t just legalize recreational marijuana, but industrial hemp as well.

Experts suggest that the U.S. market for hemp is around $500 million per year. They count as many as 25,000 uses for industrial hemp, including food, cosmetics, plastics and bio-fuel. The U.S. is currently the world’s #1 importer of hemp fiber for various products, with China and Canada acting as the top two exporters in the world.

Massachusetts has the opportunity to join five other states – Colorado, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vermont – that have already passed similar measures. Farmers in SE Colorado started harvesting the plant in 2013, and farmers in Vermont began harvesting in 2014, effectively nullifying federal restrictions on such agricultural activities. On Feb. 2, the Oregon hemp industry officially opened for business and one week later, the first license went to a small non-profit group who hopes to plant 25 acres this spring. The Tennessee Agricultural department recently put out a call for licensing, signaling that hemp farming will start soon there too.

The momentum is on our side, but Massachusetts cannot legalize it without your help. This effort needs your support to achieve victory. H1561 is currently in Joint Committee on the Judiciary where it will need to pass through successfully before it can receive a full vote in the state house.

surf
03-20-2015, 11:14 AM
this could be bigger than deflategate. good luck MA.

euphemia
03-20-2015, 09:45 PM
Who did not see this coming? Doesn't anyone see that every new permission government give has a direct link to a new tax?

Tinnuhana
03-21-2015, 05:07 AM
Hemp for recreational purposes? Okay, I guess jump rope comes to mind.

luctor-et-emergo
03-21-2015, 05:12 AM
Hemp for recreational purposes? Okay, I guess jump rope comes to mind.
Well those hemp stalks are damn tall.... You can easily make a maze in it.

osan
03-21-2015, 06:40 AM
http://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2015/03/massachusetts-bill-would-legalize-marijuana-and-hemp-effectively-nullify-federal-prohibition/

More governmental chicanery. The scumbags in MA see the writing on the wall and decide to cash in. That is ALL this is about. It has nothing whatsoever to do with anyone acting because it is right, but because it will meet the coming trend with the maximal retention of control over the change.

Doing what may be the right thing for the wrong reasons and heaping atop it all the evil of yet another tax.

To hell with stupid Americans who stand for this. The rest are so outnumbered, it seems most of the time.

Were Cultural Marxism represented by an RPF account, it would have to have ten quadrillion rep points just for the unimaginably effective job it has done on the people of this nation. Where we should have now long-ago hanged these vile bastards by their necks, we stand timidly as they run us into the dust of the ground. I daresay no other success in human endeavor can equal what Theye have accomplished in America alone, much less the entire world. Indeed, I would say every other human accomplishment, normalized in value and taken as a sum would amount not to even a pimple on an elephant's backside when compared with this, the coup de grace of all coups de grace.

Would that these times were a little less interesting.

mrsat_98
03-21-2015, 06:55 AM
So how does the Sovereign state legalize mj and then tax it like it was a federal state when it's illegal in the federal state ? mind boggling.