I’m sure many of us never thought we’d see it, but recreational marijuana is now legal in Massachusetts.
The recreational pot law approved Nov. 8 went into effect on Thursday. There are still a few details to be ironed out, like a regulatory mechanism that allows the legal sale of the substance, with Beacon Hill naturally taking its cut. So while you still can’t sell it, if you are 21, you can possess and consume it privately without fear of arrest — something that I’m sure has been gleefully occurring across the commonwealth since the stroke of midnight Thursday.
But even before people began to indulge legally, a “lighting up” of an entirely different kind was taking place involving a member of the Franklin County Beacon Hill Delegation and former Gov. Deval Patrick.
When asked if he was concerned that the roll-out of the new legal marijuana law would be as problematic as medical marijuana was, 1st Franklin District State Rep. Steve Kulik said there’s little chance it would be because Patrick no longer occupies the corner office.
“The way his administration handled medical marijuana was a disgrace,” Kulik said. “There’s no other way to describe it. I’m not sure whether his administration or his secretary of health and human services deliberately sat on their hands, but it was not dealt with properly.”
Kulik has never been shy about criticizing Patrick, but this exchange contained an element of vitriol that Kulik usually reserves for Republican governors, but not in this case.
“I have much more confidence in this executive, in Charlie Baker’s ability to make the trains run on time, and make government work, and carry out the will of the voters,” Kulik said.
It’s worth noting that Kulik made these comments before Baker announced his $98 million mid-year, discretionary 9C budget cuts, ones that Kulik and a whole lot of other Democrats have been screaming about ever since, some would say with good reason.
The Greenfield Human Rights Commission took the first step in what will likely be a very interesting debate over whether Greenfield should become a “sanctuary city.”
“It’s something which has been done in other places, like Northampton, Amherst and Holyoke, and we want to learn more about it,” Human Rights Commission Chair Phillipe Simon said.
For those who don’t know, a sanctuary city designation prevents a town from prosecuting undocumented immigrants solely for violating federal immigration law. Some towns have taken it a step further by forbidding anyone in government, including the police, from assisting federal efforts to identity, apprehend, or otherwise assist in the deportation of illegals.
It’s not known whether Greenfield will vote to adopt this designation, but it will be the Greenfield Town Council that makes the final decision — the same council that just took a big ideological swing to the right, so much so that it amended its rules of procedure to include a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of each meeting.
Can you imagine any scenario where a Brickett Allis/Isaac Mass-led Town Council would entertain a proposal making the town effectively an accomplice to the violation of federal immigration law? I can’t, and yet I’m quite certain there will be more than a few of their more liberal constituents who will fight hard for it, especially given the change in direction this country is expected to take after Jan. 20.
While on the subject of our soon-to-be president, regular readers of this column know that I’ve done my best to be upbeat in the weeks following Donald Trump’s election. I still think that we need to give the guy a chance and remain hopeful it will all work out, but I must admit that every time he announces a new cabinet appointment, that optimism wanes just a little.
I’m not going to waste time laying out the names which, by now, you know, assuming you’ve been paying attention. But from where I sit, it looks like “The Donald” is assembling something of a “Bizarro” Cabinet — something out of the Superman comics, “where everything is the opposite of life on Earth. Beauty is hated, ugliness is revered, and it is a crime to make anything perfect.” With his cabinet picks, Trump has nominated individuals who seem diametrically opposed, both ideologically and philosophically, to a lot of the programs they will soon be responsible for overseeing.
Maybe the guy knows what he’s doing and I’m just not seeing it, but one thing is apparent — if you voted for Trump expecting change, you are certainly going to get it.
What it will look like, and what it will mean for the nation, is another matter entirely.
Chris Collins, who worked in local radio in a number of capacities, has observed political life in Franklin County for years. He also is a former staff reporter for The Recorder and a Greenfield native.