By Patricia Pérez Elías
This article explores whether an equal protection claim under the Massachusetts Constitution could be brought to successfully challenge the local control provision currently included in Chapter 55, Section 23 of the Massachusetts Acts of 2017 (“marijuana law”) regarding adult use marijuana. The local control provision (“Section 23”) of the marijuana law differentiates between Massachusetts municipalities based on how they voted on Question 4 of the 2016 election ballot, which was titled “Legalization, Regulation, and Taxation of Marijuana.” Specifically, Section 23 allows local elected officials in municipalities that voted against the legalization of marijuana to adopt ordinances that limit the number of marijuana establishments within their borders without first submitting the ordinances for approval by the voters. On the other hand, Section 23 requires officials in municipalities that voted in the affirmative on ballot Question 4 to first submit such ordinances to voters for approval. A claimant seeking to challenge Section 23 on state equal protection grounds would argue that the local control provision burdens the fundamental right to vote . . .