Massachusetts legislators have voted to delay the opening of retail marijuana stores for six months – from January to the summer of 2018.
Critics say the strict deadlines in the voter-approved law don’t permit enough time to put a regulatory framework in place to oversee the new marijuana industry.
Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno said the state is in uncharted waters.
" We have to be very structured and defined on this issue, and I am looking for a time-limited moratorium," Sarno said last month after voters approved Question 4 by a large margin.
The authors of the voter-approved marijuana law say any tinkering with it by the legislature flies in the face of democracy.
1.8 million people voted for the referendum and about 1.5 million people voted against legalizing marijuana.
The action by the legislature, which came during an informal session with no debate, does not affect the parts of the law that allow adults to lawfully possess and use marijuana, and grow up to a dozen plants at home.
