Pot group kicks off legalization campaign this morning
One of two groups looking to put marijuana legalization on the ballot in 2016 is launching its campaign to collect signatures Tuesday morning.
The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol supports a tightly regulated recreational marijuana market, which would include an excise tax on marijuana sales in addition to state sales tax and the creation of a new regulatory commission. It is backed by the Marijuana Policy Project, a national group that has successfully pushed for marijuana legalization elsewhere, including Colorado.
The committee’s a long way off from getting the question to voters. It will first need to collect nearly 65,000 signatures from Massachusetts voters before early December. If successful, the initiative will then be put to the legislature. If the legislature does not pass the initiative by next May, backers will need to collect nearly 11,000 more signatures to put it on the ballot during next year’s presidential election.
According to the campaign, public officials including state Sen. William Brownsberger (D-Belmont) and Reps. David Rogers (D-Cambridge) and Jay Livingstone (D-Boston) will sign the petition today.
Another group, Bay State Repeal, is pushing for a different take on marijuana legalization. Bay State Repeal’s initiative would not include the creation of a new commission or an excise tax on consumers.
Marijuana legalization, state by state:
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