jct74
11-08-2016, 10:43 PM
Massachusetts Becomes the Fifth State to Legalize Marijuana
Passage of Question 4 creates a pot-tolerant foothold in the Northeast.
Jacob Sullum
Nov. 8, 2016
Today voters made Massachusetts the fifth state and the first in the Northeast to legalize marijuana for recreational use. With 65 percent of precincts reporting, the legalization initiative, Question 4, was favored by 53 percent of voters.
Question 4 eliminates state penalties for adults 21 or older who possess up to an ounce of marijuana in public (currently a civil offense punishable by a $100 fine) or share up to an ounce with other adults. It allows private possession of up to 10 ounces plus whatever is produced by up to six plants per person and 12 plants per household. Those provisions take effect on December 15.
The initiative creates a Cannabis Control Commission that is charged with licensing and regulating marijuana growers, testing facilities, edible manufacturers, and retailers. The commission is supposed to begin accepting applications for licenses by October 1, 2017, with preference given to operators of medical marijuana dispensaries until January 1, 2018.
Unlike the legalization initiatives passed in 2012 and 2014, Question 4 allows home delivery of marijuana products. It also breaks new ground by allowing consumption of cannabis on the premises of businesses that sell it, subject to regulation by the state and approval by local voters, while otherwise prohibiting consumption "in a public place."
...
read more:
http://reason.com/blog/2016/11/08/massachusetts-becomes-the-fifth-state-to
Passage of Question 4 creates a pot-tolerant foothold in the Northeast.
Jacob Sullum
Nov. 8, 2016
Today voters made Massachusetts the fifth state and the first in the Northeast to legalize marijuana for recreational use. With 65 percent of precincts reporting, the legalization initiative, Question 4, was favored by 53 percent of voters.
Question 4 eliminates state penalties for adults 21 or older who possess up to an ounce of marijuana in public (currently a civil offense punishable by a $100 fine) or share up to an ounce with other adults. It allows private possession of up to 10 ounces plus whatever is produced by up to six plants per person and 12 plants per household. Those provisions take effect on December 15.
The initiative creates a Cannabis Control Commission that is charged with licensing and regulating marijuana growers, testing facilities, edible manufacturers, and retailers. The commission is supposed to begin accepting applications for licenses by October 1, 2017, with preference given to operators of medical marijuana dispensaries until January 1, 2018.
Unlike the legalization initiatives passed in 2012 and 2014, Question 4 allows home delivery of marijuana products. It also breaks new ground by allowing consumption of cannabis on the premises of businesses that sell it, subject to regulation by the state and approval by local voters, while otherwise prohibiting consumption "in a public place."
...
read more:
http://reason.com/blog/2016/11/08/massachusetts-becomes-the-fifth-state-to