Special Committee Named To Study Legalization Of Marijuana

Republican Gov. Charlie Baker is praising Massachusetts Senate President Stanley Rosenberg for trying to gather more information ahead of a potential effort to legalize marijuana.

The Amherst Democrat has created a special Senate committee to study the issue. Pro-pot activists have vowed to put a question on the 2016 Massachusetts ballot that would legalize recreational use of the drug.

Massachusetts voters in 2008 approved a question decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana.

In 2012, voters overwhelmingly approved a question legalizing up to 35 medical marijuana dispensaries statewide. That effort has stalled with no dispensaries currently open.

Baker, who opposes legalizing marijuana, credited Rosenberg for wanting to collect the data and facts needed to help the state come to grips with the issue ahead of a full legalization ballot question.