seeds of doubt
Battenfeld: Pot panel will be buzzkill on budding industry
The fix is in.
The state’s unwieldy cannabis control effort is off to a plodding start, which is just the way pot opponents want it.
Just one supporter of marijuana legalization will sit on the powerful, fivemember Cannabis Control Commission. And it’s unclear whether the commission will even have the financial resources it needs to operate.
The loading up of the commission with recreational marijuana opponents is a signal of how state officials are going to treat the implementation of the new law — like an ingrate in-law they just want to go away.
The state’s legislative leaders, all opposed to legalization, have already shifted the deadlines back from what voters supported in the 2016 ballot question, and now the commission is likely to drag its feet even more.
“We have a board that doesn’t answer to any constitutional officer,” said Jim Borghesani, spokesman for the Yes on 4 coalition of marijuana backers. “If there’s a blown deadline there’s no repercussions.”
It was supposed to be a three-member commission appointed by Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, but legislative leaders changed that, too, expanding it to five and making sure Gov. Charlie Baker and Attorney General Maura Healey, both vehement pot opponents, got a hand in it.
Baker campaigned against pot legalization and then, when it passed, did the next best thing — pushed for delays and gave one of the $120,000-a-year commission seats to state Sen. Jennifer Flanagan, another public opponent of pot during her time in the Legislature.
So anyone who thinks the commission and all the bureaucrats it hires will promptly and smoothly execute the legalization law is dreaming. This is Massachusetts. We botched the medical marijuana legalization rollout, which took two years to get going before dispensaries finally opened.
The commission needs about $10 million for startup costs, according to pot supporters, and the Legislature is underfunding that by approving just $1.2 million in the budget. So without the needed money and resources, the commission is doomed to fail already.
“I’m worried we’re going to see medical (marijuana) all over again,” said Borghesani. “It could be problematic.”
There are a lot of unknowns about the pot law, including whether it will lead to an increase in crime, but there’s no doubt about one thing: It will bring millions of dollars more in tax revenues to the fiscally-challenged state coffers. But some pot businesses now are treading cautiously about expanding in Massachusetts, because of uncertainties over delays.
The voters spoke loud and clear. They believe recreational marijuana, including the opening of pot-selling dispensaries, should be legal. It shouldn’t be up to the Legislature and a state-controlled commission to muck things up any more.