Massachusetts lawmakers put brakes on pot shops

It took less than an hour and about a half-dozen state lawmakers to pass legislation undoing the will of 1.8 million voters expressed just last month.

The House and Senate passed a bill on Wednesday delaying the opening date for recreational marijuana stores in Massachusetts by half a year — from January to summer 2018.

The extraordinary move would unravel a significant part of the marijuana law. About 1.5 million people voted against legalization on Nov. 8.

The measure now goes to Governor Charlie Baker, whose office said yesterday he was studying the bill.

Part of the new law — legalizing possession and home-growing — took effect on Dec. 15. That wouldn’t change under the measure, which emerged Wednesday morning in the state Senate. Together, both chambers took under an hour to pass the bill.

Read the full article by Joshua Miller and Jim O’Sullivan at the Boston Globe

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