BOSTON (AP) — Supporters of the state’s new recreational marijuana law are taking lawmakers to task for approving a six-month delay in key provisions, including the opening of retail pot shops.
Members of the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) plan to hold a protest outside the Statehouse on Friday.
The activists say the move by the Democratic-controlled Legislature, taken during an informal end-of-year session with only a handful of members present, was “underhanded” and “flies in the face of the will of the voters.”
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker doesn’t seem to agree. He’s called the six-month delay “perfectly appropriate,” though he has yet to sign the bill.
The measure would push back the opening of retail marijuana stores until mid-2018.
(AP Photo/Haven Daley) 
