BOSTON — Rep. Ellen Story would like to see the state go further than approval of medical marijuana.



Saying she wants to comply with the wishes of voters in her district, Story, an Amherst Democrat, has submitted a bill that would legalize, regulate and tax the commercial production of marijuana in Massachusetts.

The bill would go beyond a proposed ballot question on Nov. 6 that seeks to legalize marijuana only for medical use and by prescription.

Story's bill would allow people 21 and older to possess or grow marijuana for personal use.

"The state needs more money," said Story, who spoke in favor of the bill at a legislative hearing in March. "This would allow the state to benefit from marijuana by taxing it."

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Critics, including police, some medical professionals and the federal government, have said legalization is a bad idea that would cause serious health and safety problems.



"As a police officer, I would be against any legalization of marijuana," said Hugh J. Cameron, president of the Massachusetts Coalition of Police. "It's a gateway drug. It's been proven to be a gateway drug."

Story's bill, which is consponsored by Reps Ruth B. Balser,D-Newton, Lori A. Ehrlich, D-Marblehead and Anne M. Gobi, D-Spencer, is not expected to be approved.



Rep. Todd M. Smola, a Palmer Republican, said he would consider a bill to legalize marijuana, but he said he doubted that Beacon Hill leaders would allow it to surface for a debate.



"I probably have a better shot of hitting Powerball than seeing that bill come to the floor for a vote," said Smola, who had people in his district vote 56 percent in support of a non-binding question on medical marijuana in 2010.



Story's bill would legalize the possession and growing of marijuana for personal use by people 21 and older, regardless of bans in federal laws.



However, proposed taxes and regulations on commercial marijuana would only go into effect in Massachusetts if the federal government legalizes commercial marijuana, the bill said.



In 2010, about 70 percent of voters in Story's 3rd Hampshire District, which includes Amherst and Granby, approved a non binding advisory ballot question that asked if the state should be allowed to regulate and tax marijuana like alcohol.



Voters in a total of 18 legislative districts that year approved similar questions on legalizing marijuana or approving medical marijuana. Click here for a tally of those votes by a pro-marijuana group.



Sen. Stanley C. Rosenberg, D-Amherst, is pushing a different bill for medical marijuana.

Story's bill could have health consequences.



The Western Massachusetts Center for Healthy Communities, which is operated by Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton and offers consulting and training, issued a policy statement in March of last year that opposed the legalization of marijuana. The Center, whose main funding source is the state Department of Public Health, cited "significant individual and community risks and negative health consequences associated with marijuana use."



The Center said marijuana can create serious health problems especially for adolescents whose brains are still developing.



In a brief issued in January, the Center, however, did not take a position on medical marijuana. "We're remaining neutral,'" said Jeff Harness, director of the center.



The Center said it supports the principle of access to valid treatment options for people with debilitating illness and pain. But the Center also supports prevention of drug abuse and is concerned that medical pot could expand access and lead to abuse and mis-use, the center's brief said.



In Washington, the administration of President Barack Obama "steadfastly opposes" legalization of marijuana because it poses "significant health and safety risks" to all people, particularly young people, said a statement by the federal Office of National Drug Policy.

On its website, the federal office said marijuana can create problems with learning and memory. Research also shows that chronic marijuana use is linked to higher rates schizophrenia, and high doses of pot can produce acute psychotic reactions, the drug policy office said.

"The administration steadfastly opposes legalization of marijuana and other drugs because legalization would increase the availability and use of illicit drugs, and pose significant health and safety risks to all Americans, particularly young people," the federal office said.

The drug-policy office also warns that marijuana affects heart and respiratory functions. One study found that marijuana users have a nearly five-fold increase in the risk of heart attack in the first hour after smoking the drug, the office said on its web site.

In testimony on the bill, Richard M. Evans, a Northampton lawyer, said that a 2008 ballot law in Massachusetts to decriminalize possession of an ounce of less of marijuana received about 45,000 more votes than Obama, who was elected that year.

The ballot law, which took effect Jan. 1 of 2009, replaced criminal penalties with a civil fine of $100, or about the same as receiving a traffic ticket.



Since 2002, Evans said, non binding questions on legalizing marijuana or medical marijuana were approved by voters in all 45 state legislative districts that faced the questions.



Nonetheless, Evans said, he has no illusions that the state Legislature would approve Story's bill.



"The Legislature will not do anything when it comes to marijuana reform," said Evans, who said he wrote Story's bill and first introduced it in 1981 as a citizen petition to the Legislature. "I think it's because they incorrectly perceive it will be damaging to them politically."



Marijuana could generate significant taxes for the state, Evans said. In the state of Washington, $560 million a year in taxes would be raised if voters approve a ballot question in November that would legalize and tax marijuana, according to a government estimate in Washington.



Story's bill would create a seven-member Cannabis Control Authority to supervise and license the growing, distribution and sale of marijuana in Massachusetts.



The authority could charge a tax on sales of marijuana.



The authority could issue and collect fees for licenses for cultivation, processing, trade, retail sale, import, research and for farmer-processor-retailers.

