“People think it should be legal to buy marijuana, but not in this way.”
By Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Beacon
Six years since Massachusetts opened the first legal recreational marijuana stores on the East Coast, residents are still by and large pleased with cannabis legalization. But they aren’t taking a lax stance on regulations.
When asked in a new poll about the rise of some THC-infused drinks skirting the state’s cannabis regulations and tax structure, cannabis consumers and teetotalers alike said the place to purchase marijuana should be behind dispensary doors.
Polling on marijuana attitudes from the MassINC Polling Group—surveying 1,001 Massachusetts residents between April 4 and 17—offers a first look at how Bay Staters might think about the unregulated hemp-based THC market (topline | crosstabs).
“Hemp is a type of marijuana plant that contains a much smaller amount of THC than the marijuana sold in dispensaries,” the poll explained. “Products containing THC from hemp are not regulated in the same way as marijuana. They are now being sold at liquor stores, convenience stores, gas stations, and some bars and restaurants.”
The poll asked respondents: “Do you think that products containing THC from hemp should only be sold at licensed dispensaries,
