Massachusetts Senate President Creates A Special Marijuana Committee

Marijuana legalization is coming to Massachusetts sooner than later. Anyone who has studied polling and is aware of the effort on the ground knows that marijuana legalization in Massachusetts isn’t a matter of if, but when. I have Massachusetts high on my list of states that could legalize via the Legislature before the 2016 Election. And if the Legislature doesn’t step up, Massachusetts is very likely to legalize on Election Day.

It appears that Massachusetts Senate President Stanley Rosenberg realizes that the winds of change are picking up around him, which is why he has created a special committee tasked with researching marijuana legalization in Massachusetts. Per the Boston Herald:

Senate President Stanley Rosenberg says lawmakers have to be prepared to do a “deep dive” into the debate over legalizing marijuana, saying both legislation and an expected 2016 ballot question push are coming whether they like it or not.

“The point of this exercise it to do a very deep interdisciplinary dive into the subject matter,” the Amherst Democrat said on the Boston Herald Radio show “Morning Meeting” today. “If we’re going to participate appropriately in the debate as the legislation moves through and the ballot question (is prepared), we have to do a deep dive.”

Rosenberg, in structuring the Senate and his leadership team this week, created a special committee, headed by Sen. Jason Lewis, to study the legalization of the recreational use of marijuana, moving a topic many pols on Beacon Hill have dodged for years quickly up the list of priorities for the Senate.

It’s encouraging that Massachusetts politicians are pulling their heads out of the sand on this issue. So many state legislatures act like the strategies of the past can still be pursued, and that if they just ignore the marijuana issue it will just go away. However, almost every state in America is now in play when it comes to marijuana reform. The sooner politicians realize that, the better off they will be, because the anti-marijuana politician is going the way of the dinosaur.