Worcester Magazine Article
By Walter Bird, Jr.
State Sen. Mike Moore is in Colorado this week, but not to ski. He and seven other Bay State senators are in Rocky Mountain country to find out how that state has handled the legalization of marijuana.
What they learn could help Massachusetts prepare for a November ballot question that, if passed, would make it legal to smoke pot here.
A leery Gov. Charles Baker, meanwhile, is waiting to hear from the Senate’s Special Committee on Marijuana, of which Moore, a Worcester Democrat, is a member. You can count the Republican governor among those concerned about the impact legalizing marijuana could have in Massachusetts. Specifically, Baker is worried the state is heading down the “Joe Camel path” if it legalizes marijuana, with other forms, such as edible products becoming even more prevalent than they are now.
Edible marijuana and other issues are precisely what Moore and his colleagues have been talking about with Colorado lawmakers, health officials and others during a tour that started Monday, Jan. 11.
“The intent is not to get information to sway voters,” said Moore, who said he personally is leaning toward not supporting the measure that would appear on the November ballot. “It’s to see what we would have to deal with [if it passes].”
Even critics appear resigned to the question passing. According to a Suffolk University/Boston Herald poll last February, 53 percent of likely voters in Massachusetts favored the legalization of marijuana, while just 36 percent were in opposition.
“I was coming out here with an open mind to hear from both sides of the spectrum,” said Moore, who spoke by phone with Worcester Magazine Monday, after taking part in three meetings that day.
If marijuana is going to be legalized here, Moore said, Massachusetts at least has the advantage of being able to draw on the experiences of other states, such as Colorado. The Centennial State did not have that luxury.
Among the meetings Moore has had while in Colorado was with the state’s marijuana director, a position Moore said Colorado officials highly recommended if pot is legalized in Massachusetts.
Committee members have also met with the Colorado Health Institute and the state’s Department of Public Health and Environment.
What have the Massachusetts senators learned so far?
“Right now, a lot of the data we’re looking for they’re saying a lot of it’s too early to say where it’s going.”
Some of the preliminary information, however, might be cause for concern.
Moore said Colorado is testing various procedures to be used in testing for operating under the influence of marijuana, similar to a Breathalyzer test. He said initial testing may be showing more fatalities with serious injury resulting from OUI of marijuana than previously known.
“Again,” he noted, “that’s preliminary data.”
Hospitalization rates have also been discussed, said Moore.
According to a study titled “2015 Final Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado: The Impact,” there were 8,197 visits to the emergency room in 2011 related to marijuana, before it was legalized. Two years later, in 2013, about a year after Constitutional Amendment 64 was passed, legalizing marijuana, the number was 14,148. In 2014, the number was 18,255.
One of the questions Massachusetts lawmakers have asked is whether the rate is increasing because of edible marijuana. Baker recently addressed edible marijuana earlier this week in an interview on Boston Public Radio on WGBH.
“There are a lot of legitimate and significant problems with legalizing marijuana and the one I had not thought about before, apparently the edibles is a really big deal,” the governor said.
Health concerns aside, economics may also be a factor.
According to Moore, Colorado officials have said while they initially anticipated more than $100 in tax revenue through the sale of marijuana, it is now down to about $53 million. Part of that, he said lawmakers were told, was the law surrounding medical marijuana, which allows up to six marijuana plants to be cultivated, tax-free.
Supporters of legalizing marijuana remain confident in their cause.
“This is direct democracy in action,” High Times magazine recently quoted Will Luzier as saying. Luzier is manager of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol. “People can see that our current prohibition policy isn’t working, and they’re taking action to replace it with a more sensible system. Based on the level of support and enthusiasm we saw during the petition drive, voters are ready to end prohibition and start treating marijuana more like how our state treats alcohol.”
While in Colorado, Moore said his committee expected to meet with public safety officials as well as tour cultivation and retail facilities. He said he will be returning from the trip early on Thursday because of a prior commitment.
The senator pointed out taxpayers are not shouldering any financial burden for the trip, other than his regular salary, because it is being sponsored by the Milbank Memorial Fund.
SOURCE: http://worcestermag.com/2016/01/12/high-times-worcester-senator-in-colorado-to-learn-of-legal-pots-effect-on-state/39380