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Massachusetts marijuana is at a decisive moment.
More than a decade into this ambitious recreational experiment, an undertaking only matched by alcohol licensing nearly a century earlier, the successes have been undeniable, from north of $300 million in annual tax revenue to more than 25,000 jobs.
There are also tragic valleys connecting those peaks. Dozens of licenses have been surrendered, dreams obliterated. Still, hundreds of provisional applicants are clawing their way into the game yet, all while regulators weigh a license freeze to address market saturation.
But instead of every last flash of attention going to paving and widening the path ahead for both the recreational and medical programs, the people of Mass have been pushed back to the crossroads we faced in 2016, prior to legalization. I am of course chiefly referring to the prohibitionist ballot initiative to shutter adult-use dispensaries.
In one direction is more progress, adding not only new businesses but also additional ancillary opportunities and, hopefully, a more ethical industry with better weed. It’s a future with less red tape, higher standards, and social consumption.
The other road, past a successful referendum, is darker. Tens of thousands out of work. Hundreds of millions in annual revenue torched. Anti-opioid programs that rely on that revenue—scrapped. A resurgent underground economy and all the nasty shit that comes with that. Plus investments and the life savings of countless small entrepreneurs squandered.
And for what? For nothing whatsoever, that’s what. Purely to feed the selfish whims of a few grifters so that they can go and stroke their aging benefactors on their deathbeds, the last remaining dinosaurs of the Just Say No era leaking their final farts. I encourage anyone who dares proffer a more substantial explanation for the ballot question’s mere existence to send over a correction. I won’t hold my breath, full of pot smoke to be certain, waiting for a response.
Most importantly, I implore you to take action. And you and you too. The organized cannabis business and policy front which has formed to oppose the repeal proposition plans to meet formally later this month, while NECANN in April will make for a critical mass congregation point. But for the individuals comprising those groups and other stakeholders as well—from industry workers in every department to sticky tree smokers in every apartment—the time to start campaigning is the day before yesterday.
Lucky for the lot of us, the snow will soon melt, friends bound to increasingly build and barbecue while sharing joints and infused cocktails. This year, we need to use those opportunities to educate. Because if you’re reading this, then you likely fully fathom the enormous stakes, but most allies are still in the I don’t get it, how can they suddenly make all dispensaries close? phase.
Explain it to them. Tell them that the threat is real. Then guide them to the light. Each one, teach one.
Or a hundred. Might as well; the whole bundle’s on the line this time.
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