>>> NOW FOR A LOCAL PERSPECTIVE ON MASSACHUSETTS' NEW MARIJUANA
REGULATIONS.
I SPOKE WITH TWO JOURNALISTS WHO HAVE FOLLOWED THIS ISSUE, ROB
RIZUTTO OF “MASSLIVE” AND “THE REPUBLICAN,” AND “THE BERKSHIRE
EAGLE'S” KRISTIN PALPINI.
>> MY REACTION IS IT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE.
I THINK THAT MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATORS HAVE FROM THE START
SAID THEY ARE GOING TO DO THIS AT A SNAIL'S PACE AND THEY HAVE
BEEN TRUE TO THEIR WORD.
THIS IS NOT TOO SURPRISING.
I WAS A LITTLE DISAPPOINTED ABOUT THE LACK OF CAFÉS COMING
THROUGH.
THAT SEEMS LIKE A NATURAL THING TO HAPPEN WITH LEGALIZING
MARIJUANA.
YOU WANT SOMEWHERE WHERE PEOPLE CAN BE TO USE THIS INSTEAD OF
SENDING THEM OUT INTO WHO KNOWS WHERE.
>> THEY DIDN'T SAY NO ON AT THAT ALL TOGETHER BUT THEY SAID THEY
WERE GOING TO TAKE THEIR TIME, DO BRICK AND MORTAR AND GO FROM
THERE.
THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF DISCUSSION, ESPECIALLY IN THE
HOLYOKE AREA, ABOUT THIS BEING AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ENGINE.
WE'VE GOT A LOT OF SPACE.
YOU KNOW, ANY SENSE FROM THE COMMUNITY THERE, THE IMPACT OF
THIS SO FAR?
>> I THINK PEOPLE ARE HAPPY THAT THINGS ARE MOVING AHEAD.
I HAVE HEARD SOME POSITIVE THINGS.
WE HAVE SEEN SOME PRETTY SUCCESSFUL JOB FAIRS HELD BY
LOCAL MARIJUANA COMPANIES.
HOLYOKE JUST HAD ONE A COUPLE WEEKS AGO, GTI, IT WAS HUGE.
THERE WAS A LOT OF PEOPLE THERE.
AND I THINK THAT THE INTEREST IS BIG.
PEOPLE ARE HAPPY THINGS ARE MOVING ALONG.
AS FAR AS KIND OF THE HOLDING OFF FOR ANOTHER YEAR ON CAFÉS,
MOVIE THEATRES, OTHER PLACES WHERE YOU COULD HAVE SOCIAL
CONSUMPTION OF MARIJUANA, I THINK YOU WILL HAVE A MIXED
REACTION THERE.
WHAT THE STATE IS TRYING TO DO IS GET SOME TYPE OF -- TAKE
THEIR TIME, CONSIDER ALL THE POSSIBILITIES, GET SOME TYPE OF
REGULATIONS THAT MAKE SENSE IN PLACE BEFORE PULLING THE TRIGGER
ON THAT.
>> I MEAN THE COMMISSION HAD LOTS AND LOTS OF DIFFERENT
PUBLIC HEARINGS AND THEY SPREAD THEM ACROSS THE STATE, AND I
THINK SOME OF THE FEEDBACK THAT THEY HEARD WAS SMALLER PLAYER
SAY THIS IS GOING TO MAKE IT HARDER FOR US TO GET INTO THE
GAME IF WE HAVE TO WAIT A YEAR.
ANY SENSE FROM OTHER COMMUNITIES OUTSIDE OF MASSACHUSETTS IF THAT
WAS THE CASE, DO YOU KNOW, FROM YOUR REPORTING, KRISTIN?
>> I DON'T REALLY.
WHETHER THAT WAS AN ISSUE FOR THEM AS WELL.
I DO KNOW THAT TOWNS ALONG THE BORDER OF MASSACHUSETTS ARE
REALLY TRYING TO MOVE AHEAD WITH THIS A LITTLE BIT MORE, LIKE WE
HAVE CLARKSBURG AND WILLIAMSTOWN REALLY THINKING ABOUT IT BECAUSE
THEY HAVE THE ABILITY TO ATTRACT PEOPLE, AND WITH VERMONT ON THE
BORDER.
>> THE PRESSURE FROM VERMONT.
>> THEY ARE SUPPORTING MARIJUANA THERE A LOT MORE THAN
MASSACHUSETTS.
THEY DID IT THROUGH LEGISLATURE.
>> PARDONING PEOPLE IN JAIL BECAUSE OF PREVIOUS MARIJUANA,
WHAT IS THE FEELING?
>> YOU CAN'T JUSTIFY KEEPING PEOPLE IN JAIL WHAT YOU DID WAS
WRONG AND NOW IT'S OKAY AND WE ARE GOING TO MAKE MONEY OFF IT.
I THINK THE HYPOCRISY ANGLE IS ASTOUNDING.
I UNDERSTAND THE RELUCTANCE TO OPEN THE GATE AND LET X AMOUNT
OF CRIMINALS OUT OF PRISON, BUT IF IT'S OKAY FOR THE STATE TO
TAX, REGULATE AND ACCEPT, I THINK THE SENTIMENT OUT THERE
WITH A LOT OF PEOPLE I SPOKE WITH IT'S TIME TO LOOK AT THAT.
>> THE COMMISSION IS NOT REALLY TOUCHING THIS, NOT THEIR
PURVIEW.
THE GOVERNOR HAS HIS OPINION.
COMMISSIONER HOFFMAN MIGHT VA HIS PERSONAL OPINION.
>> BEING CONCERNED VERY MUCH DOWN ON MARIJUANA, HE DOESN'T
WANT TO DO -- THE GOVERNOR, IF YOU GOT A FELONY FOR DEALING
DRUGS FOR SOME POINT YOU CANNOT GET INTO THE MARIJUANA GAME
UNLESS IT WAS MARIJUANA YOU WERE DEALING.
>> IT WAS A TIGHT VOTE, 3-2 ON THE COMMISSION SIDE WHETHER OR
NOT TO LET PEOPLE WITH PREVIOUS OFFENSES GET IN ON THAT GAME,
BUT THAT'S AN INTERESTING POINT.
YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER EVEN THOUGH IT'S A BLUE STATE WE DO HAVE A
REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR CONCERNED ABOUT WHERE HE FITS INTO THIS
ISSUE.
>> I'M SORRY.
ONE MORE THING.
AND THE THING ABOUT THE -- IT SOUNDS BAD.
WHY WOULD YOU LET CRIMINALS, YOU KNOW, SELL DRUGS AGAIN?
THE THING IT'S NO SO MUCH AS HAVING THIS KIND OF CONVICTION
BARRING YOU FROM ENTERING THE BUSINESS, IT AFFECTS -- IT
DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECTS PEOPLE OF COLOR AND PEOPLE OF
LOWER INCOMES, AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT HAS TO BE
CONSIDERED.
>> HAS TO BE DEALT WITH.
ANOTHER PIECE OF THE INDUSTRY THAT WE KNOW IS HUGE IS THE
MEDICINAL MARIJUANA PORTION OF THIS AND RESEARCH AROUND
MEDICINAL MARIJUANA, A RESEARCHER AT U MASS HAS FOR 20
YEARS BEEN TRYING TO GET PERMISSION FROM THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT TO GROW MEDICINAL MARIJUANA FOR RESEARCH AT U
MASS, BUT RIGHT NOW WE KNOW THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI IS THE
ONLY PLACE IN OUR COUNTRY THAT THE DEA ALLOWS TO HAVE THIS
PARTICULAR LICENSE.
IS IT TIME FOR THIS TO CHANGE?
>> I THINK IT'S ABSOLUTELY TIME FOR CHANGE.
PARTICULARLY RELATING TO THIS, I THINK THAT THE PHARMACEUTICAL
INDUSTRY HAS LOBBIED FOR DECADES, SPENT BILLIONS TO
PREVENT ANYBODY ELSE FROM BEING ABLE TO STUDY THE POTENTIAL
MEDICINAL BENEFITS OF MARIJUANA, AND THE IMPACT OF THAT IS THE
OPIOID CRISIS.
>> IT'S A POWERFUL INDUSTRY.
IS THIS NEEDLE GOING TO GET MOVED ANY TIME SOON?
>> I DON'T THINK ANY TIME SOON.
CERTAINLY NOT UNDER TRUMP'S WATCH.
YOU KNOW, IT WOULD TAKE A NEW PRESIDENT TO HAVE THAT CHANGE I
THINK.
>> WE WILL HAVE TO SEE.
SO THERE IS THIS CONCEPT OF GRAY MARKET WEED AT THIS POINT.
WE SAW IT IN SPRINGFIELD RECENTLY WHERE THERE WAS A
VENDOR OFFERING A COVER CHARGE, 20 OR 50 BUCKS, DEPENDING ON HOW
MUCH WEED YOU WANTED TO PROCURE AT THE DOOR, YOU COME IN AND PAY
YOUR 20 BUCKS AND YOU GET FREE MARIJUANA AT THE DOOR.
WE HAVE SEEN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT HERE IN SPRINGFIELD
CLOSE THAT DOWN.
IS THIS NOW THE WILD, WILD WEST OF WEED HERE?
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING AT?
>> WELL, I THINK THAT IT'S GONE DOWN A LITTLE BIT.
THE POLICE CLAMPED DOWN ON THEM AND THEY SAID, OKAY, WE WERE
CAUGHT, OKAY, WE'RE DONE.
>> BUT THERE IS THIS GRAY AREA RIGHT NOW.
>> THERE IS.
>> BECAUSE WE SEE THAT MEDICINAL MARIJUANA IS LEGAL, RECREATIONAL
SALES WILL BE AVAILABLE AS OF JULY 1ST, AND THERE IS SORT OF
ROCK AND A HARD PLACE GOING ON HERE.
>> I THINK WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO SEE A LOT OF MUNICIPALITIES AND
POLICE DEPARTMENTS TAKING THIS ON ON THE BASIS OF HOW MUCH
PUBLIC CONCERN THERE IS.
>> THERE WAS A LINE OF 50 PEOPLE OUTTHE DOOR.
>> YOU HAVE SOMETHING HAPPENING IN THE WAY THAT'S NOT UPSETTING
ANYBODY IN THE COMMUNITY, I WOULDN'T BE NONE TOO SURPRISED
TO SEE, YOU KNOW, LAW ENFORCEMENT TURN A BLIND EYE AND
LET THINGS BE, IF THERE IS NO PUBLIC OUTRAGE.
>> KRISTEN, ONE OF THE THINGS YOU HAVE BEEN COVERING IN THE
BERKSHIRES IS WHO IS IN AND WHO IS OUT.
WE HAVE CITIES AND TOWNS LOOKING AT THIS ON A CASE-BY-CASE BASIS
AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THEY WANT TO ALLOW THIS IN THEIR
COMMUNITY.
YOU LOOK AT COMMUNITY X AND YOU THINK, YES, THEY ARE GOING TO
LET THIS HAPPEN, OR COMMUNITY Y, OR IS IT SOMETHING NOT THAT CUT
AND DRY?
>> IT REALLY GOES COMMUNITY BY COMMUNITY WHAT FOLKS ARE GOING
TO DO.
SOMETHING INTERESTING THAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW IN NEW
MARLBOROUGH, ONE OF THE FEW COMMUNITIES THAT DECIDED WE
DON'T REALLY NEED A MORATORIUM AND WE ARE NOT READY TO DO THE
ZONING REGULATIONS.
THEY DIDN'T JUMP RIGHT NOW.
RIGHT NOW THEY ARE HAVING AN ISSUE WITH A VERY LARGE
MARIJUANA PRODUCING AND CULTIVATING BUSINESS WANTING TO
GO IN AND THEY FILED THEIR PERMIT, AND NOW IT'S TOO LATE TO
GO BACK AND START A MORATORIUM.
>> AND NEW MARLBOROUGH IS A SMALL TOWN, SO THIS WOULD BE BIG
DOINGS IN A SMALL TOWN IF YOU HAVE THIS VERY LARGE, VERY LEGAL
BUSINESS WANTING TO COME AND SET UPSHOT.
>> AND RIGHT WHERE THE LAKE IS VERY POPULAR WITH TOURISTS.
>> AND THIS ALSO I THINK TOUCHES ON A VERY INTERESTING ISSUE,
WHICH IS STIGMA.
YOU HAVE SEVERAL GENERATIONS AGO, REEFER WAS A HUGE THING,
AND CLASSIFIED AS A CLASS 1 DRUG JUST AS DANGEROUS AS HEROIN.
WHERE ARE WE ON PUBLIC PERCEPTION VERSUS LEGALITY?
>> I THINK POLLING HAS SHOWN THAT PEOPLE ARE A LOT MORE
ACCEPTING OF MARIJUANA THESE DAYS, NOT JUST IN LIBERAL BLUE
STATES, BUT ACROSS THE BOARD.
THAT'S A VIEW THAT'S NOT SHARED BY THE NATION'S ATTORNEY GENERAL
JEFF SESSIONS.
>> AND THE ATTORNEY GENERAL -- EXCUSE ME.
THE U.S. ATTORNEY IN MASSACHUSETTS, WE ARE NOT SURE
WHERE HE IS ON IT.
>> BUT YOU GOT TO UNDERSTAND FROM HIS PERSPECTIVE HE HAS A
BOSS, JEFF SESSIONS, WHO IS ONE OF HIS TOP CONCERNS IS
MARIJUANA.
THAT'S WHERE HE IS.
AND IF YOU ARE TRYING TO MAKE YOUR BOSS HAPPY, ARE YOU GOING
TO GO AGAINST HIM PUBLICALLY OR ARE YOU GOING TO KIND OF DO WHAT
HE WANTS YOU TO DO?
A VERY TOUGH SPOT BEING IN MASSACHUSETTS WHERE THIS IS
LEGAL AND HAVING TO ANSWER TO ATTORNEY GENERAL JEFF SESSIONS.
>> THIS COULD BE SUCH A POWDER PEG IF SESSIONS AND TRUMP WANT
TO PUSH IT AND GO AFTER STATE RIGHTS OVER MARIJUANA.
WOW, WHAT A FIGHT THAT WOULD BE.
>> STATE RIGHTS ARE GOOD UNTIL YOU DISAGREE WITH WHAT THEY HAVE
CHOSEN.
THAT'S AN INTERESTING ARGUMENT.
WE DID SEE THIS IN THE EARLY YEARS OF THE GEORGE W. BUSH
ADMINISTRATION WHERE THEY WERE DOING RAIDS UP IN THE NORTHEAST
DESPITE THE MARIJUANA BEING LEGAL AND THAT CREATED A LOT OF
ISSUES AND A LOT OF CLASH BETWEEN STATE GOVERNMENT AND
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
IF THAT STARTS HAPPENING HERE, WHICH IS COMPLETELY POSSIBLE, I
THINK WE ARE GOING TO SEE A WHOLE NOTHER MYRIAD OF ISSUES
BETWEEN ELECTED OFFICIALS, MUNICIPALITIES, STATE AND LOCAL,
FEDERAL.
>> AND NOT JUST HERE, BUT OTHER STATES.
WE GOT LIKE WASHINGTON, OREGON, COLORADO.
THIS IS A LOT FOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO TAKE ON.
THIS WOULD BE REALLY HUGE.
>> WE HAVE A MINUTE LEFT.
I WANT TO QUICKLY TALK ABOUT PUBLIC SAFETY AROUND THIS ISSUE
BECAUSE THAT IS A CONCERN FOR MANY PEOPLE.
WE HAVE LOTS OF COMMUNITIES LOOKING AT BUFFER ZONES AROUND
SCHOOLS, IN ADDITION TO OTHER THINGS LIKE THAT.
WHERE ARE WE ON PUBLIC SAFETY?
>> WELL, IT'S LIKE A TOWN BY TOWN THING.
PEOPLE ARE DECIDING WHETHER THEY WANT TO HAVE THE BUFFER ZONES
WITH SCHOOLS, AND CHURCHES IN SOME CASES.
AND IT'S REALLY WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT, WHICH IS KIND OF A COOL
THING BUT ALSO KIND OF A CONFUSING THING.
>> THE COMMISSION LEFT THIS TO MUNICIPALITIES TO FIGURE OUT
WHAT THEY WANT TO DO AS FAR AS ZONING, AND THEY WILL STILL
FIGURING IT OUT.
IT'S REALLY GOING TO BE INTERESTING.