It’s looking more and more likely that Massachusetts’ recreational marijuana law could be a lot different than the one we, 1.8 million of us, approved in November.
A very different marijuana bill came out of committee yesterday, which included an increase in the tax rate of marijuana from 12 percent, which voters approved last year, to 28 percent. The proposal would also grant local city councils and boards of selectmen the authority to limit or ban retail stores. In the original version, that power went exclusively to the voters.
House Speaker Robert DeLeo told reporters they were postponing a vote on the proposal, originally scheduled for Thursday, but hope to have a bill on the governor’s desk by the end of the month.
Jim Borghesani, spokesman for Yes on 4, the group that sponsored the original ballot question, and Representative Aaron Vega, a Holyoke Democrat, who serves on the Marijuana Policy Committee, joined Jim Braude for more on what’s next.
credit:news.wgbh.org
