Hearing coming up! H1371,  An Act to Regulate and Tax the Cannabis Industry, is scheduled for hearing before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary of the Massachusetts legislature. The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, March 6, 2012, at 1:00 PM in Room A-2 of the Statehouse in Boston. FAQ Sheet. 

The medical marijuana initiative appears to be securely en route to the ballot in November. I’ll be posting much more about this soon.

Now pending in the legislature:

1. H00626/S01161,  the Massachusetts Medical Marijuana Act, modeled closely on the Rhode Island and Maine statutes, and

2. H1371, An Act to Regulate and Tax the Cannabis Industry.  See FAQ Sheet above.

The hearing on the medical bill occurred June 28, 2011. The hearing was well-attended, vigorous, and ignored by the Boston Globe. One observer noted that the medical value of marijuana appeared no longer to be in doubt; the issue for lawmakers was how to build a system that gave legal access to patients without creating other problems. Unfortunately, regulation and taxation of non-medical marijuana was not considered as a way to accomplish that.

Massachusetts policy-watchers are not optimistic that the legislature will take any lead in reform of the marijuana laws, as it has consistently ducked the issue, even after decrim passed by 65% in 2008, a vote politicians in this state do not seem to have noticed.