MA House Joins Senate In Backing Marijuana Law Changes To Promote Diversity
The House bill would direct 20% of the money in the Marijuana Regulation Fund
For the first time since rewriting the voter-approved legalization law in the summer of 2017, Massachusetts lawmakers are poised this session to reform state cannabis policy as the House and Senate have each now approved legislation targeting some of the most persistent issues in the young industry.
The House voted 153-2 on Wednesday afternoon to pass a bill that aims to promote greater diversity in the legal marijuana industry, ratchet up oversight on the host community agreements that marijuana businesses are required to enter into with municipalities, and to lay the groundwork for cities and towns to green light on-site cannabis consumption establishments within their borders. The ‘no’ votes were cast by Rep. Jeff Turco, a Winthrop Democrat, and Rep. Marc Lombardo, a Billerica Republican. The Senate unanimously passed similar legislation last month.
“Since the passage of legal recreational cannabis, the creation and growth of the legal industry in the commonwealth has been, in most cases, a success, leading to hundreds of new businesses, thousands of new jobs and the creation of new revenue streams for the commonwealth and its municipalities through this new and innovative industry,” Rep. Dan Donahue of Worcester, the House chair of the Cannabis Policy Committee, said as he introduced the bill. “It is, however, time to revisit the initial legislation to provide clarity on the intent of legislation and to work to ensure we continue to remove barriers to entry into this unique industry for those communities who are so disproportionately harmed and impacted by the prohibition of marijuana.”
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