Gov. Charlie Baker will sign into law a tax hike on retail marijuana sales and new restrictions on marketing and packaging of pot products Friday.
The move comes after the Legislature last week reached a deal to overhaul the 2016 ballot law legalizing pot in Massachusetts.
The bill increases the tax rate on retail sales of marijuana from 12 percent to 20 percent.
Baker teamed with the legislature last December to delay some aspects of the ballot law, including the licensing of retail pot shops, by six months while lawmakers worked to rewrite the law approved by about 1.8 million voters.
Policymakers now hope to have retail shops licensed by July 2018, but will have to act fast to begin making appointments to the new Cannabis Control Commission and a separate advisory board to meet deadlines under the bill.
credit:420intel.com
