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STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

SENATE PRESIDENT STANLEY ROSENBERG WANTS his fellow lawmakers to consider raising the age for legal marijuana use to 25, a policy change he expects to be unpopular.

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Marijuana use, possession and home-growing become legal for adults aged 21 and over on Thursday after the passage of a ballot question in the Nov. 8 election. Rosenberg said he wants to put a future age change “on the table and at least have it discussed, even if the decision is to stick with 21.”

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“The research that I’ve done indicates from the neurological scientists that the full development of the brain is not complete until approximately age 25, and that smoking marijuana, especially in large quantities, can affect the completion of that brain development and have lifelong impacts,” the Amherst Democrat told reporters. “So it’s a personal opinion. I will certainly be raising it with my colleagues. It’s not going to be a popular proposal, I’m sure of that.”Rosenberg, who said in October that he would vote in favor of the ballot question, said no other states with legal marijuana have set their minimum ages at 25.

“What they put in the ballot question is not unreasonable given what’s happening in other states, but there is this element that I think is worthy of consideration even if it doesn’t result in changing of the policy,” he said

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