Rosenberg predicts 'rock 'em sock 'em' ballot fight over pot
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Senate President Stanley Rosenberg predicts a fight over legalized marijuana.
His support absent for a campaign launched last week with the backing of the House speaker, governor and mayor of Boston to defeat a proposed ballot question to legalize recreational marijuana, Senate President Stanley Rosenberg said Tuesday he still supports a third option that would make it more politically palatable for lawmakers to play a role in legalization if approved by voters.
Gov. Charlie Baker, House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh teamed up last week to announce the formation of the The Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts to fight the marijuana legalization ballot drive. Rosenberg said his absence from that group does not mean he supports legalizing the adult recreational use of marijuana.
“I'm still trying to get the idea that a question on the ballot that asks the people do you want to do this without approving an actual bill, as has been presented by two groups, is the better way to go,” Rosenberg told the News Service.
Some polling has shown strong support for legalizing marijuana, but Rosenberg said the if the ballot question, as written, were to pass “there's likely to have to be some surgery on the bill here in the Legislature to address some of the matters that have not been covered in the ballot version.” Lawmakers are typically reluctant to tinker with laws approved by voters on the ballot, but it has been done in the past, mostly notably when the Legislature voted to slow a rollback in the income tax to 5 percent.
"It's going to be a very vigorous campaign unless the governor and the speaker decide to join in the idea that we put a question on the ballot to give the voters a chance to answer yes or no and then leave it to the Legislature to debate and form bill in the next term. If that doesn't happen, which at the moment it doesn't look like it will, there's going to be a very, very robust and rock 'em sock 'em campaign on the ballot," Rosenberg said. "A lot of money's going to get spent. It's a very political issue and there will be a lot of rhetoric and there will be a lot of give and take, but in the end it will be up to the voters to decide.”
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