In what seems to be an annual event in Massachusetts, state Representative Jeffery Sánchez has once again sent promising medical marijuana legislation to study – effectively killing the bills early in this legislative session.
Sánchez, a Democrat representing progressive arts community Jamaica Plain, is the chair of the Joint Committee of Public Health. This week, he sent two promising medical marijuana bills, Senate Bill No. 1161 and the identical House Bill No. 625, to study, killing both bills with one swing of the axe.
The neighborhood that Sánchez represents, Jamaica Plain, voted in favor in decriminalization of marijuana in a state-wide 2008 with a 78% approval, higher than the state-wide average of 65% . Massachusetts voters are overwhelmingly in favor of legalizing medical marijuana, with recent polls showing over 80% of Bay State voters in favor.
Sánchez, despite his constituents’ overwhelming support of marijuana reform, has single-handedly killed medical marijuana legislation in the past. Every year, some type of medical marijuana legalization bill comes before the legislature’s Joint Committee on Public Health, which Sánchez chairs. In 2010, he sent House Bill 2160 to an identical fate.
READ MORE: Mass. Murderer: Lawmaker Kills Medical Marijuana Bills Yet Again
The Daily Chronic, Jan. 25, 2012