Massachusetts Medical Marijuana Initiative Makes Ballot

 Posted by at 4:04 PM on July 9, 2012  Medical Marijuana Policy  Add comments
Jul 092012
 

massachusetts cannabisby Phillip Smith

Voters in Massachusetts will have the chance to decide in November whether to legalize the medicinal use of marijuana. A spokesman for Secretary of State William Galvin said last Tuesday that proponents had successfully delivered the 11,000 additional signatures necessary and the measure had qualified for the ballot.

Earlier this year, proponents had gathered some 80,000 voter signatures so that if the legislature failed to act on pending medical marijuana bills–and it did fail to act–by May 1, they only needed the additional 11,000 to take the issue directly to the voters.

Sponsored by the Committee for Compassionate Medicine, the initiative allows patients with specified medical conditions “and other conditions” to possess up to a 60-day supply of marijuana. Patients or their caregivers would have to obtain their medicine from one of up to 35 non-profit dispensaries or “medical marijuana treatment centers” and would not be able to grow their own unless they qualified under a hardship provision. Patients, caregivers, and dispensaries would be registered with the state.

If the initiative wins at the polls in November, it will be the latest move in a trend that is seeing the Northeast become nearly as medical marijuana-friendly as the West. New England neighbors that already have medical marijuana laws include Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Vermont, while in the Mid-Atlantic, New Jersey and Washington, DC, also have full-fledged medical marijuana laws and Maryland offers an affirmative defense.

Currently 17 states and DC have legalized medical marijuana.

Article From StoptheDrugWar.org — Creative Commons Licensing

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About Jay Smoker

I have been smoking marijuana for almost twenty years and I have no plans to stop anytime soon. My life was turned upside down in 2009 after getting arrested and tossed in jail for being in the wrong state with legal medical marijuana. I got fed up, and I now devote all my time to ending this insanity.I am responsible for the technical side of this project, but try to chip in when I can, either with syndicated articles or original content.Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, and Digg and feel free to email. any questions or concerns. Peace!
  • Jetdoc

    Very SMART to gather so many signatures so EARLY on, so that 11,000 was ALL they needed to get it on the ballot. I’m PROUD of New England for stepping up and doing WHAT’S RIGHT!

  • eitan ziv

    nice but the provision not allowing you to grow your own sucks, who the heck wrote this bill? 11,000 doesnt seem like much at all compared to what was needed in other states im suprised they dont already have medical marijuana in place.