As of Dec. 15, it will be legal in Massachusetts to possess small amounts of marijuana and for residents to grow pot in their homes. Retail sales are unlikely to begin until 2018.
By early morning both sides of the ballot Question 4, conceded the measure had won, with 88 percent of the votes counted and the question winning 53 percent to 47 percent.
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, who opposed the question, said in a statement that his administration would work closely with the Legislature and others “to ensure this transition protects the interests of our communities and families.”
Backers of legalization had argued that removing prohibitions on adult use of marijuana would largely remove the drug from the black market and generate a new stream of tax revenue.
Massachusetts Democratic Senate President Stan Rosenberg, who supported the question but had reservations about it, said he looks forward to working with top lawmakers “to create a best-in-the-nation law that protects public safety while respecting the wishes of the voters.”
Rosenberg has said that lawmakers may need to tweak the question.
Opponents said they respected the decision of voters.
“Our goal throughout this campaign was to make sure people knew what they were voting on — that Question 4 wasn’t just about legalization, but the commercialization of marijuana in Massachusetts,” said Nick Bayer, campaign manager for the Safe and Healthy Massachusetts campaign.
Franklin County supported the measure by roughly 59 percent to 41 percent, with most towns reporting.
“It looks like it’s going to pass, and I hope it does,” Wendell resident Patti Scutari, a medical marijuana patient, said Tuesday evening. A few months ago, Scutari and her partner, Francesco “Apollo” Kompagnone’s medical marijuana plants were raided. “We’re very hopeful that it’ll pass so that in the future, no one will have to deal with what we’ve had to deal with.”
Proponents of Question 4 have pitched the legal-marijuana industry to state voters as one similar to alcohol sales. The idea behind legalization is to eliminate the black market for marijuana, which proponents say poses more dangers than does legalization. Essentially, proponents argue that because people are going to use marijuana anyway, legalization will allow state lawmakers to regulate and tax it.
“Today, a century-long mistake has been abolished … by the voters of Massachusetts. Today, voters chose facts over fear. Today, voter chose rational arguments over hysteria. And today, voters chose honesty over alarmist rhetoric,” Yes on 4 campaign spokesman Jim Borghesani said. “The voters of Massachusetts listened and today they decided to end what has been an abysmal failure in Massachusetts, and we are on a new path to a far superior system.”
Opponents of the bill fear that legalizing marijuana could lead to an increase in hard drug use — commonly referred to as the “gateway drug” effect. In the past, they’ve also raised concerns that legalization could introduce to young people risky edible marijuana products easily mistaken for normal snacks.
Voters on Tuesday approved a law that calls for a Cannabis Control Commission to oversee and regulate the marijuana industry, in the same way the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission regulates alcohol. The commission is to be appointed by Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, a legalization opponent, and Gov. Charlie Baker, another opponent, is to appoint a 15-person Cannabis Advisory Board to guide the commission.
The ballot question requires the commission to begin accepting retail license applications from established medical marijuana dispensaries by Oct. 1, 2017. By Oct. 1, 2018, the commission must begin accepting retail licenses from others hoping to sell marijuana and associated products.
Massachusetts will join Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska as states that have legalized cannabis. Voters in California, Maine, Arizona and Nevada also voted on legalization Tuesday, though results from those states were not immediately available.
Tuesday’s vote to legalize marijuana caps a steady and incremental march by marijuana advocates who, over three successive presidential elections, succeeded handily in decriminalizing marijuana, establishing a medical marijuana program and now legalizing widespread marijuana use.
The 2008 ballot initiative to make possession of less than one ounce of marijuana a civil infraction rather than a criminal violation was approved by 65 percent voters. Four years later, medical marijuana was approved with 63 percent of voters in support.
But unlike 2008 and 2012, the 2016 legalization effort drew a high-profile, powerful and organized opposition. Most elected public officials – led by Gov. Charlie Baker, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Attorney General Maura Healey –warned unsuccessfullly against legalization.
Using marijuana in public will remain illegal when prohibition ends Dec. 15, as will driving under the influence. Opponents of the ballot question pointed to the lack of any credible roadside impairment test for marijuana, like a breathalyzer is to alcohol.
Voters OK’d a 3.75 percent excise tax on the sale of marijuana, on top of the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax. Cities and towns could add an additional 2 percent local tax on marijuana sales. Retail sales by the third year of legalization are expected to total $1 billion, generating about $100 million in annual revenue for the state.
But legislative leaders — almost all of whom opposed legalization — have said they are not certain the effective 12 percent marijuana tax rate is high enough, and would be willing to open up the new law to make alterations.
“Should the voters decide on passing it I think anything and everything would be on the board in terms of whether it’s taxation, whether it’s regulation or whatever it may be,” DeLeo said last month.
At 12 percent, Massachusetts would have the lowest marijuana tax rate of any state that has legalized the adult use of the drug. Colorado taxes marijuana at 29 percent, Washington 37 percent, Oregon 17 percent and Alaska 25 percent, according to the Tax Foundation.
DeLeo has said he would not be inclined to call legislators back into session before January to consider changes to the new law.