Food Quality & Safety
  • Home
  • About
    Us
    • Food Quality & Safety‘s Mission
    • Contact Us
    • Authors
    • Manage Subscription
    • Advertise
    • Magazine Archive
    • Copyright
    • Privacy Policy
  • On the
    Farm
  • Safety & Sanitation
    • Environmental Monitoring
    • Hygiene
    • Pest Control
    • Clean In Place
    • Allergens
    • Sanitizing
    • Training
  • Quality
    • Authenticity
    • Textures & Flavors
    • Labeling
    • Shelf Life
    • Outsourcing
    • Auditing/Validation
    • Supplier Programs
  • Testing
    • Seafood
    • Dairy
    • Hormones/Antibiotics
    • Produce
    • Ingredients
    • Beverages
    • Meat & Poultry
    • Animal Food
  • In the
    Lab
    • Lab Software
    • Pathogen Control
    • Physical Properties
    • Contaminants
    • Measurement
    • Sampling
  • Manufacturing & Distribution
    • Information Technology
    • Plant Design
    • Foreign Object Control
    • Temperature/Humidity
    • Packaging
    • Transportation
    • Tracking & Traceability
  • Food Service & Retail
    • Cleaning & Sanitizing
    • Stock Management
    • Hygiene
    • Food Preparation
    • Allergens
    • Education
    • Temperature Monitoring
  • Regulatory
    • FSMA
    • Guidelines & Regulations
    • Recalls
  • Resources
    • Whitepaper
    • Webinars
    • Video
    • Events
    • Food Library
    • Jobs
  • FQ&S
    Award
  • Search

Opponents Say Massachusetts Pot Initiative is Hazy on Food

June 8, 2016 • By Scott Malone (Reuters)

  • Tweet
Print-Friendly Version

A ballot initiative that would allow Massachusetts voters to legalize recreational marijuana use is fatally flawed because it does not explicitly say it would also legalize the sale of food containing the drug, opponents argued on June 8.

You Might Also Like
  • News from Cannabis Business Summit & Expo
  • Factoring Food Safety into Cannatourism
  • Marijuana as a Food Additive: Explosive Growth Likely
ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Opponents of the measure, which was submitted by the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, told the state’s Supreme Judicial Court that a summary of the petition produced by the state attorney general’s office and used to gather supporters’ signatures was not specific enough.

“The voters were significantly misled when they were told that this was going to legalize marijuana,” said John Scheft, the attorney for the 59 voters who filed a lawsuit challenging the measure. “What people are being asked to legalize is marijuana, hashish, marijuana concentrates and also food products.”

Massachusetts is one of a half-dozen U.S. states, including California and Maine, where voters may have a chance this fall to follow Colorado, Washington, Alaska, and Oregon in legalizing recreational use of the drug by adults aged 21 and over.

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Representing the state attorney general’s office, Robert Toone argued that it would have been impossible for the summary of the initiative to mention all of the possible products that could be infused with Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the ingredient that causes the drug’s effects. The summary instead refers to “marijuana products.”

“Using the term marijuana products is clear and people understand what that means,” Toone told the court. Noting that opponents of the measure had focused on sweets, he added, “to single out particular applications—they have singled out ice cream and candy—would slant the summary in a particular direction.”

Justice Robert Cordy expressed skepticism at the state’s argument, saying, “Having read your summary I would have no idea that the measure allows the infusion of a hallucinogen into food and drink at all.”

ad goes here:advert-3
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

After supporters gathered 64,000 voter signatures and the attorney general’s office verified the measure’s suitability for the ballot, the state legislature had a chance in May to enact it without waiting for a vote. Lawmakers declined to do so and proponents now need to gather another 10,000 signatures to secure the initiative a spot on the November ballot.

Opponents of the measure are asking the court to block the measure from inclusion on November ballots, while the state argues that it should be left unchanged.

Justices also suggested a third option, that the text of the summary could be corrected before it appears on the ballot, something the state argued is not allowed by state law.

“It’s not misleading if it’s corrected and the whole idea of the initiative process is to get citizens involved in lawmaking,” said Justice Geraldine Hines.

Massachusetts already allows medical marijuana use.

Filed Under: eUpdate, Regulatory Tagged With: edibles, Food Safety, marijuana, marijuana edibles, THC

You Might Also Like:
  • News from Cannabis Business Summit & Expo
  • Factoring Food Safety into Cannatourism
  • Marijuana as a Food Additive: Explosive Growth Likely
  • Food Industry High on Edibles

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Current Issue

October/November 2019

  • Issue Articles »
  • Current Issue PDF »
  • Subscribe »
  • Follow Us:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Food Quality & Safety Blog  

Managing Change as a Food Safety Professional

… [Read More]

Previous posts »

Paid Partner Content

Avoiding Overwhelming Product Recall Costs

Innovative food safety inspection systems are being developed in Germany. Learn more about the latest technologies from Bizerba and benefit from our free guidelines ensuring consistent food production safety.

  • Recall News
  • Industry News
    • Cay Thi Queentrees Food USA Recalls Poultry Products
    • Padrino Foods, LLC Recalls Beef Tamales
    • Simmons Prepared Foods, Inc. Recalls Poultry Products
    • Rastelli Bros., Inc. Recalls Meat Products
    View more »
    • Researchers Uncover Science Behind Using UV Light to Disarm Pathogens
    • In Memoriam: Daniel Y. C. Fung, PhD
    • E. coli Illness Linked to Romaine Lettuce Expands
    • Salmonella Outbreak and Ground Beef Recall Stir Transparency Debate
    • FDA Extends Deadline for Supply-Chain Approval
    View more »

Polls

How interested is your company in cannabis testing for its food/beverage products?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...
  • Polls Archive

Whitepapers

  • Food Authenticity Testing with Agilent 6546 LC/Q-TOF and MassHunter Classifier

View More Whitepapers »

On-Demand Webinars

  • Reduce Non-Recyclable Materials
  • Why a Food Safety Culture Is Critical to Your Business

View More Webinars »

Food Quality & Safety (formerly Food Quality) is the established authority in delivering strategic and tactical approaches necessary for quality assurance, safety, and security in the food and beverage industry.

Advertise / Targeted list rental/3rd Party emails / Subscribe / Contact Us / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

ASBPE Award Winner

Copyright © 2000–2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., a Wiley Company. All rights reserved. ISSN 2399-1399

Wiley

This site uses cookies: Find out more.