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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3771 FILED ON: 1/20/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3589 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Nicholas A. Boldyga |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act concerning the legalization of certain natural plants and fungi. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Nicholas A. Boldyga3rd Hampden1/19/2023 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3771 FILED ON: 1/20/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3589 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Boldyga of Southwick, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3589) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Nicholas A. Boldyga relative to the legalization of certain natural plants and fungi. The |
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| 20 | 20 | | Judiciary. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act concerning the legalization of certain natural plants and fungi. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 Chapter 94C of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 32L the |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2following section:- |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3 Section 32L½. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, possession, |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4use, ingestion, cultivation, transportation or transferring without financial gain of not more than 2 |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5grams of a controlled substance defined in clauses (6), (8), (9), (13) or (14) of paragraph (e) of |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6Class C of section 31 by a person who is 21 years of age or older shall not be subject to any form |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7of criminal or civil punishment or disqualification. The weight of the controlled substance |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8subject to the provisions of this section shall exclude the weight of water and plant or fungi |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9materials that are part of the controlled substance. |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10 (b) Neither the commonwealth nor any of its political subdivisions or their respective |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11agencies, authorities or instrumentalities may impose any form of penalty, sanction or |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12disqualification on a person 21 years of age or older for the possession, use, ingestion, 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13cultivation, transportation or transferring without financial gain of not more than 2 grams of a |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14controlled substance defined in clauses (6), (8), (9), (13) or (14) of paragraph (e) of Class C of |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15section 31. Such penalty, sanction or disqualification shall include, but not be limited to, the |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16denial of professional licenses, mental and behavioral health services, student financial aid, |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17public housing or any form of public financial assistance including unemployment benefits, the |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18right to operate a motor vehicle or disqualification from serving as a foster parent or adoptive |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19parent. The possession, use, ingestion, cultivation, transportation or transferring without financial |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20gain of not more than 2 grams of a controlled substance defined in clauses (6), (8), (9), (13) or |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21(14) of paragraph (e) of Class C of section 31 by a person 21 years of age or older shall not serve |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22as the sole basis for a child welfare investigation. |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23 (c) Information concerning the possession, use, ingestion, cultivation, transportation or |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24transferring without financial gain of not more than 2 grams of a controlled substance defined in |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25clauses (6), (8), (9), (13) or (14) of paragraph (e) of Class C of section 31 shall not be deemed |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26''criminal offender record information,'' ''evaluative information,'' or ''intelligence information'' as |
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| 55 | 55 | | 27those terms are defined in section 167 of chapter 6 and shall not be recorded in the criminal |
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| 56 | 56 | | 28offender record information system. |
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| 57 | 57 | | 29 (d) A political subdivision of the commonwealth shall not enact ordinances or bylaws |
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| 58 | 58 | | 30regulating or prohibiting conduct contrary to the provisions of this section. |
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