Politicians Engineering Delay Tactics In Massachusetts & Maine

9 January 2017

In Maine, Weed News reports

Maine: Governor And Senator Proposing Delay On Marijuana Legalization Implementation

http://www.weednews.co/maine-governor-and-senator-proposing-delay-on-marijuana-legalization-implementation/

As you may have heard, marijuana will be legal for possession and cultivation on January 30.

What you may not have heard is that Governor LePage and Senate President Mike Thibodeau are proposing a one-year delay on implementing Question 1.

This is unacceptable.

Please call your state Representative and your state Senator, and let them know that you are against a delay on the new marijuana law.

Full Story At Link Above

In Massachusetts the Andover Townsman reports

BOSTON — The House and Senate, meeting in only lame-duck informal sessions at this time of year, hatched a surprise last Wednesday when it rushed through a previously unseen bill delaying nearly all major implementation dates in the recreational marijuana law by six months.

Marijuana legalization advocates criticized lawmakers for sharing the details only the night before the vote, and not giving the initial law a chance to work.

But House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Stanley Rosenberg were able to the bill passed in their respective chambers while also getting Gov. Charlie Baker to sign the bill into law.

What it does is delay many of the deadlines of the new law legalizing marijuana that would have had retail sales beginning in January 2018.

Pot remains legal to possess, use, grow and gift to friends, but the timeline for everything from the establishment of the Triple C – the Cannabis Control Commission – to the acceptance of retail license applications and the actual issuance of licenses have been pushed out.

Now legal sales of non-medical marijuana must begin no later than July 2018.

“I think a six-month delay is perfectly appropriate, sure. Make sure we do it right,” Gov. Charlie Baker commented on his way to signing the bill two days later.

http://www.andovertownsman.com/news/weed-still-legal-but-no-shops-til-mid/article_e49b002b-47ae-5941-bd34-d1720b7bbd0a.html

 

Also in Massachusetts another delaying tactic is being employed. The Boston Globe reports

Advocates are lobbying Senate leaders not to appoint Senator Jason M. Lewis as the cochairman of the new Committee on Marijuana because Lewis was a key opponent of Question 4, which legalized pot purchase, possession, and use.

Full report at https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/01/05/anti-legalization-senator-draws-ire-marijuana-advocates/UkC4mxUHRW2KbEWFKpcRAP/story.html

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