“We need to try to restore some trust”: Massachusetts senators debate their marijuana plan
BOSTON The debate over the reshaping of Massachusetts recreational marijuana law shifted Thursday to the state Senate, where a more modest set of revisions to the existing law appeared headed for passage.
Discussions in the Senate came just hours after the House backed a bill calling for a significant overhaul in the law voters passed in November that legalized adult use of pot, including a sharp hike in the tax on marijuana sales from 12 percent to 28 percent.
Unlike the House version, the Senate bill would not repeal the current law, but instead keep it in place and make a number of proposed changes in the way both recreational and medical marijuana would be regulated by the state.
We should not repeal and replace we should amend and improve, said Sen. Patricia Jehlen, co-chair of the Legislatures Marijuana Policy Committee, at the outset of debate. That is what this bill will do.
We need to try to restore some trust in government by not overriding the will of the people, added the Somerville Democrat, a veiled reference to criticism leveled at the House bill by pro-marijuana activists.
Action by the Senate would set the stage for negotiations between the House and Senate on a compromise bill. Legislative leaders self-imposed a July 1 deadline to deliver a bill to Republican Gov. Charlie Bakers desk, acknowledging that further delays would jeopardize the planned July 1, 2018 start of retail marijuana sales.
The Senate bill holds the tax rate at a maximum of 12 percent, as approved by voters. Keeping taxes relatively low, Jehlen said, would entice consumers to buy pot from legal suppliers, while a higher tax might persuade them to continue purchasing from an illegal dealer or perhaps even drive to Maine, where recreational marijuana will be taxed at 10 percent.
The House and Senate bills both change the structure ...
