By THOMAS GRILLO
LYNN — Pot smokers light up.
Thanks to a voter-approved ballot initiative in November, marijuana in Massachusetts is legal starting today. Adults are allowed to have limited quantities of the drug for recreational purposes and grow pot plants in their homes.
Under the new measure, one person can grow up to six plants for personal use and a dozen plants per household. Adults 21 and over will be able to give one another up to one ounce of marijuana as a gift and they can possess up to 10 ounces of pot in their own home.
Still, there’s a catch. It’s still illegal to sell marijuana in the Bay State except to registered medical marijuana patients. It will be that way for at least a year until the first pot shops are licensed and regulated.
Despite opposition from most political leaders and chiefs of police, the ballot question passed with 1.7 million votes in favor and 1.5 million votes against. Lawmakers are considering potential changes to the law, which could emerge next year.
Low-level pot dealers will likely escape law enforcement scrutiny, raising the possibility of legislating new, reduced limits on the amount of the intoxicating plant that can be legally grown, according to Senate President Stanley Rosenberg (D-Northampton).
Recreational marijuana cannot be sold in any form in Massachusetts without a retail license. A Cannabis Control Commission to be named next year will be responsible for issuing retail licenses.
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Despite voter approval, police remain worried about enforcing the law.
Lynn Police Chief Kevin Coppinger said he opposed legalization because he has seen a rise in the number of children smoking marijuana since it was decriminalized in 2008.
Saugus Police Chief Domenic DiMella said smoking pot impairs driving and law enforcement lacks a breathalyzer test.
But James Borghesani, a spokesman for Yes on 4 who is under contract by the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, said he has no patience with complaints about testing.
While police do not have a breathalyzer test for marijuana users, Borghesani said, law enforcement have been dealing with intoxicated pot drivers for decades.
“It’s not like marijuana hasn’t existed before passage of the ballot question,” he said. “Police have been pulling over marijuana users for intoxication for decades, pot is the most widely used illegal substance in the U.S.”
Police can still use a field sobriety test, and if a person can’t walk a straight line or touch their nose, they can be arrested, Borghesani said.
“A new breathalyzer test for recent use of marijuana goes on the market next year,” he said. “We want police to have that ability, but we don’t know why they have taken so long.”
Material from State House News and the Associated Press was used in this story.
