MRCC Consumer Advocate Prep-Sheet 

Stand up for your community. 
Massachusetts Counties:
Barnstable | Berkshire | Bristol | Dukes | Essex ​| ​Franklin ​|​ ​Hampden | Hampshire | Middlesex |
Nantucket | Norfolk | Plymouth | Suffolk | Worcester

What is an MRCC consumer advocate? 

Consumer Advocates are volunteers working to increase transparency and defend the 
cannabis industry through civic engagement, community organizing, and activism. 
 
What do consumer advocates do? 
Consumer advocates are needed to attend local town hall marijuana discussions and be 
vocal during public comment about creating the industry we want our communities to be 
apart of. ​Some of the duties of consumer advocates include​: Testifying before public 
officials in support of cannabis establishments, live-streaming public hearings, sharing calls 
to action on social networks, alerting the community after discovering a marijuana discussion 
is approaching. 
 
Why are consumer advocates important? 
Without cannabis supporters in the audience, the conversation is dictated by prohibitionists 
which stifles our industry and the economic benefits marijuana legalization can provide to 
our communities. ​Consumer advocates are specifically necessary to​: prevent bans or 
moratoriums, encourage the municipality to form a citizen marijuana committee, encourage 
the municipality to host a marijuana educational meeting inviting experts to address local 
concerns, influence the municipality to implement less restrictive zoning , decrease buffer 
zones, advocate for small business models such as microbusinesses and co-ops. 
 
What kind of marijuana-related town meetings are there? 
- Discussions on Moratorium and Bans 
- Planning and Zoning meetings 
- Discussions regarding local marijuana Bylaws and Ordinances 
Consumer Advocate Checklist: 
- Arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the meeting 
- Sit in the front row as a group with other consumer advocates 
- Print several copies of your testimony so that public officials can read along  
- Be presentable. Dress business casual to business professional 
- Stay for the entire meeting to show you care about the community and not just your 
agenda. 
Email ​Joe@massreccouncil.com​ with any questions or to get involved. 
 
 Talking points to support marijuana establishments in you 
city/town 
 
1​.​Local Control​. Restricting marijuana establishments through a ban or moratorium
allows the illicit market to remain uncontrolled and untaxed. Local regulations determine
what, where, and when marijuana products are sold in the municipality. Implementing a
regulated system would remove profits from drug dealers and put them in the hands of
legitimate businesses.

2.​ Education + Youth prevention​. Establishments can set aside funds to help the town
educate the youth about prevention, substance abuse, and drug awareness. Drug
dealers don’t ask for ID, but regulated marijuana establishments would require strict
prevention standards to decrease use by minors. ​Multiple studies​ reveal states with
legal access to marijuana decrease underage marijuana consumption.

3.​ Safe Access​. Consumers need access to clean cannabis products that are tested for
potency and harmful contaminants such as mold, pesticides, and fungicides. Legal
cannabis establishments provide safe products and secure settings which provide safety to 
the greater community. 

4. ​Taxes + Revenue​.​ Municipalities can reap major benefits that can be used for city projects 
such as rebuilding education systems, fixing roads, helping the homeless, and addressing the 
opioid crisis. The total maximum tax from cannabis establishment’s gross sales is 20% plus 
up to an additional 3% of gross sales per marijuana establishment.  

Colorado's Booming Marijuana Industry ​ is helping fight homelessness and drug Addiction: 
The state’s ​$105 million in tax revenue​ from marijuana sales in the 2016-2017 fiscal year will 
go toward the “Marijuana Tax Cash Fund,” which will help create housing programs, aid 
mental health programs in jails and contribute to health programs at local middle schools. 
Last week, ​Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper​ signed the ​budget bill​ declaring the fund, which 
will also help oversight efforts for the industry “We expect to reduce incarceration, 
hospitalization and homelessness for many of Colorado’s most vulnerable citizens,” the bill 
reads. 

5.​ Improving the overall local economy​. Countless jobs come with this emerging industry 
including many that are not associated with dealing with the actual marijuana. The flow of 
economic activity would also attract traffic to local and surrounding businesses in the area.  

Recent reports​ project that the legal cannabis industry will generate $2.3 billion in total 
economic activity in Massachusetts, including nearly 17,400 pot industry jobs statewide. 

6.) ​Marijuana is a safer alternative to alcohol​.  

In legal adult use cannabis states,” the analysts wrote, “the number binge drinking sessions 
per month (for states legal through 2016) was -9% below the national average.” 

What’s more is legal marijuana states, where adults 21 and older can walk into a dispensary 
and purchase a variety of cannabis products, experienced 13 percent less binge drinking than 
areas of prohibition. The writing is on the wall – people with legal access to recreational 
marijuana are opting to spend either all or a portion of their booze budget on a substance 
that has been deemed “a safer alternative. 

 
 

Most common arguments against marijuana 

establishments  
 
1.) “Marijuana will get into the hands of minors putting them at risk.” 
Rebuttal​ - Marijuana is the most easily accessible illicit substance for minors to obtain 
because of its availability in the unregulated market. Drug dealers don’t ask for ID, 
dispensaries do.   
 
Multiple studies ​conducted at accredited institutions such as ​Columbia University​ Medical 
Center and Colorado Department of ​Health​ and Environment suggest marijuana use among 
minors actually decrease when regulated marijuana establishments are implemented in legal 
states. 
 
Investigators at the University of Oregon compared traffic accident outcomes in Colorado and 
Washington following legalization to other states with similar pre-legalization economic and 
traffic trends. They reported, “We find that states that legalized marijuana have not 
experienced significantly different rates of marijuana- or alcohol-related traffic fatalities 
relative to their synthetic controls.” 

Authors concluded, “In summary, the similar trajectory of traffic fatalities in Washington and 
Colorado relative to their synthetic control counterparts yield little evidence that the total 
rate of traffic fatalities has increased significantly as a consequence of recreational marijuana 
legalization.” 
----- 

2.) “Kids will get their hands on edibles.”  

Rebuttal​ - All marijuana products require child-proof packaging as well as an identifiable 
warning label signifying THC-infused products. Adults need to be cognisant of where how 
they store cannabis products. Just like with alcohol products,   
 
----- 
 
3.) “Access to marijuana will lead to more auto-collisions aka “stoned driving.” 
Rebuttal​ ​- ​ There is no evidence asserting marijuana use alone is affiliated to an 
increase in auto-collisions or fatalities. 
 
A study released last week in the American Journal of Public Health evaluated crash 
fatality rates in Colorado and Washington before and after the states legalized 
marijuana, compared those rates to eight control states with similar traffic, roadway 
and population characteristics that did not alter their marijuana laws. The changes in 
motor-vehicle-crash fatality rates observed in Washington and Colorado were not 
“significantly different” from those observed in the control states. 
 
Another study in the same journal last year found that states with medical cannabis 
laws had lower traffic fatality rates compared to states where marijuana is not legal. 
And there was an immediate decline in car deaths following the establishment of a legal 
marijuana market – particularly among those under 44 years of age. 
Finally, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found that while 
marijuana negatively impacts several skills needed for safe driving, it’s “unclear whether 
marijuana use actually increases the risk of car crashes.” 
 
4.) “Marijuana establishments will increase in crime in our town” 
Rebuttal​: ​There is no evidence that suggests legal marijuana increases crime in any form.  
 
Source​: Legalizing medical marijuana causes no increase in crime, according to a new study. 
In fact, legalized medical pot may reduce some violent crime, including homicide, University 
of Texas at Dallas researchers wrote in ​a journal article​ published this week. 
 
 
5.) “Marijuana establishments will lead to a rise in drug use” 
Rebuttal: ​Cannabis has actually reported to be helping reduce the number of opiates 
prescribed in legal marijuana states. One ​study​ found that states with legalized medical 
weed had a 25 percent lower rate of opioid overdoses than states without MMJ, perhaps 
because marijuana can treat the same chronic pain often afflicting opioid users.  
 
Chief medical correspondent ​Dr Sanjay Gupta ​and​ Dr. Oz​ have actually expressed that 
cannabis is being used as an “exit drug” as opposed to a “gateway drug.”