January 7, 2026 • 39 mins
Bradley Jay Filled in On NightSide
Boston Globe reporter Anjali Huynh joined us this evening to discuss seven new MA laws that are going into effect this year. Some of the laws include new cannabis cafes, new boater safety educational requirements, an update to the state emergency shelter system, data privacy and more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Moving on Friends, Bradley j for Dan one more night,
call in, use him, use him to lose him. If
you want to talk to me, call tonight, coush. You
can talk to Dan tomorrow night too. We have Angelie
Hutten with us, a Boston Globe reporter joining us to
talk about to discuss the new laws in Massachusetts going
(00:29):
into effect this year. And I could list them, but
we'll take it one at a time. So thanks for
being with us, Angelie.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Thanks for having me Bradley, of course.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Okay, joke, Yeah, So how many laws are there? How
many new laws this year?
Speaker 3 (00:47):
So there's seven that we covered that will be going
into effects at different points this year, all right.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
And I suppose we should just get going and go
through them. And you can give me any details on
these laws that you have, and we can ask folks
how they feel about them if they have any questions.
Six one, seven, two, five, four, ten thirty. Well, let's
start with the cannabis cafe social consumption rule. Tell us
(01:15):
about that.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Yep. So Massachusetts Cannabis Commission last months voted to create
new social consumption licenses, and that means that entrepreneurs will
be able to create cannabis cafes and host wed infused
events like yoga classes or other things. Massachusetts is going
to be the first state in New England to allow
these businesses. However, they may not go into effect right away.
(01:38):
The Commission said it could take anywhere from a year
to eighteen months for these businesses to open in Massachusetts
as the agency creates the new licenses and works with
local governments to determine where and how they can be issued.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Interesting, so it's not just cannabis cafes, it's it's it's
yoga classes. We'd infused events. That's a very open kind
of thing. We'd infused events like a yoga classes. Is
that really an event? It's interesting? You really, now, can
I we'd infused everything?
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Can you?
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Can you have restaurants that are cannabis friendly restaurants?
Speaker 3 (02:21):
I think it's still working out. You know exactly what
types of businesses and events or such would qualify under
these licenses. But you know, that's why they're taking some
time to develop those consumption on premises.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Like I've certainly been to the Amsterdam cafes and it's a,
it's a cool vibe. Do you have any idea of
how they envision these? Are they the chill kind of
European cafes or is it going to be more raucous
rock and roll event? And well, does each each operation,
(02:54):
each bar or whatever it need to apply for license
separate license to do this?
Speaker 3 (03:01):
So towns and cities will have to pass their own
petitions and ordinances if they want to allow social consumption, uh,
you know, in businesses in those communities. So it's going
to be on a local government by local government basis,
and then from there, you know, businesses can opt in
and apply for licenses. Is the process that's expected to
take place.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Interesting regulations approved by Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission now allow
for the on site consumption for cannabis licensed dispensary. So
this is another thing. The dispensary I go to, you know,
it's it's obviously smells very heavily of cannabis in there.
But you're telling me now that some dispensaries will also
(03:40):
be able to you'll be able to consume it right there,
like they'll have a smoking room in the back or something.
How is that going to work?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
So we'll have to wait and see again, there's about
a year to eighteen month timeline for you know, establishing
the process for these licenses and how they're how exactly
are going to work?
Speaker 2 (03:58):
All right, well, I'll I'll adjust that later. Are you
do you plan on going and checking these out?
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Had no comment there.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Voter safety certificates. Tell us about that.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
Yep, so last year about a year or so. Now
the messages Legislature and govern here you pass a lot
that will require voters born after January first, nineteen eighty
nine to complete a voter safety education course online, in person,
or through local organizations, and they're going to have to
do so by April first. Anyone born before nineteen eighty
(04:36):
nine will have until twenty twenty eight to meet those
same requirements. But voters without a certificate are going to
face penalties after September first, so they'll need to keep
those certificates that they get with them at all times
while operate in the vote. This won't apply to certain operators, however,
such as merchant mariners or members of the US military
who are qualified to operate motor votes.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Interesting, as I understand that the key divisions include mandatory education,
like you mentioned motor safety certificate. After passing a course
and an exam, you'll receive a certificate which must be
carried while operating on a vessel. I'm sort of surprised
this took this long time for that to pass. That
seems pretty reasonable and the face didn't deadline. If you're
born after January one, nineteen eighty nine, you must be
(05:18):
certified by April one, twenty twenty six. Born on or
before jan one, nineteen eighty nine must be certified by
April one. Ages twelve through fifteen can operate motor boats
unsupervised only if they have the certificate. Under twelve cannot
operate motor boats unsupervised. Motor boat Ages sixteen to seventeen
(05:39):
must have a certificate to operate a PwC. I don't
know what that is powered watercraft. I bet that's powered watercraft.
Exemptions include merchant mariners, qualified military personnel, and those with
existing equivalent certifications. You might wonder about reciprocity certificates from
(06:02):
other states recognized by the NA the National Association of
State Boating Law Administrators are accepted, sort of like reciprocal
fishing licenses, And what's the reason for this? What's the purpose.
The Act, named for victims of boating accidents, brings Massachusetts
in line with other with federal standards. I guess we
(06:23):
are sort of behind the eight ball on that. Ensuring
operators have the knowledge to keep themselves and others safe
on the water. And enforcement. You may wonder about enforcement
after the deadlines, operators found without a certificate risk fines,
though enforcement grace periods are in place. Interesting, all right, now,
(06:44):
what's next?
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Well, another one of the laws that went in to
affect this year is called the Shield Act. So it's
a new data privacy law and Massachusetts attempt to protect
abortion rights and abortion providers here as Republicans have targeted
the procedure in other states. So this was passed last summer.
It went into effect on January first, and it mandates
that Massachusetts hospitals provide emergency abortions is medically necessary, and
(07:10):
also requires that insurance companies limit access to patients electronic
electronics easy medical records and.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Yeah, you go ahead, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
It also, you know, is looking to protect the identities
and personal information of those who seek or administer abortion
and gender affirming care in Massachusetts. So meant to be
something of a response to some of what the Trump
administration and other Republican led states have been doing.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
And what about increased paid family and medical leave as
another one.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I'm not quite sure about that particular law. That's not
one that we specifically covered, but you know, it's not
covered in the data Privacy lost specifically either.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
See I have your increased paid family medical leave and benefits.
The maximum weekly benefit for the states for that program
is increasing. And assault protection from for for transit workers.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yep, So Massachusetts added transportation workers to the group of
state employees who have specific additional protections against assault and battery.
And this is coming as you know, unions and such
have said that transportation workers have faced additional threats, you know,
from folks as they've been doing their jobs. So this
new law means that those who commit offenses against them
will face heightened penalties beginning on March third, and that
(08:29):
can include any assaults, including with any bodily substance. Folks
who commit these offenses could face a sentence from ninety
days to two and a half years and a fine
from five hundred dollars to five thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
All right, and what am I missing there a couple more.
Oh yes, salary transparency. This is something that we can
talk about later too. Tell me about that one. That law.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
This is another one we didn't specifically cover in our
report that happened. Here about it from you if you've
got any details there.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
How about the Down syndrome insurance coverage? Yep.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
So in twenty twenty four, Massachusetts lawmakers passed a bill
that would require Massachusetts space health insurers to provide coverage
for Down syndrome treatment. So this includes things like speech therapy,
occupational therapy, physical therapy, and applied behavior atalysis services. This
is these are services that insurers could previously deny. And
this one was a little personal to the state legislature
(09:31):
when they passed it, you know, a center President Karence,
because younger sister whom Stick took care of, was born
with Down syndrome. So this was seen as a win
for you know, the Senate and for those legislature in
large at the time.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
All right, well, thank you very very much for taking
time out of your evening here in the middle of
the week on a Wednesday and running those bias and
giving us some the rundown on some of the new
laws coming into affecting this year twenty twenty six. So
thank you very much, very very much, Angelie, thank you
for having me. Absolutely take care. WBZ News Radio ten thirty.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
You're on night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's
news Radio.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Good to be with you, badly Jay and for Dan
one more night. Let me break down a little more slowly,
in a little more detail, a couple of the laws
that have come into that are new this year. The
cannabis law. It's pretty interesting. It's interesting, first of all
to see the change and how people view cannabis. How
(10:36):
about you six one, seven, two, five, four, ten thirty
is do you feel different about it than you used to?
Even if you're you know, older. It was always it
was always what was it? Reefer madness? You know some
of you watch the movie called Reefer Madness where they
said that cannabis would make you crazy and that was illegal.
(10:58):
People went to jail. It was taboo, and now it's
heavily marketed. I went to a dispensary in my neighborhood
and it's so normalized that they even have like a
special display for the game for the Big Game Day,
(11:19):
special case with special promotion. I don't know if it's promotions,
but they have promotional materials in the case, and it's
a promotion around sports and game day. Instead of drinking
the beer and eating the chips, it's consuming the cannabis
and eating eating even more chips. I guess Massachusetts will
(11:42):
allow cannabis cafes to open in the state. How things
have changed. State agency overseeing cannabis regulation opened the door
to marijuana loungers in Massachusetts wanting to establish new consumption
licenses that will allow entrepreneurs to create cannabis cafes. I
(12:04):
wonder how you how you define entrepreneur. That's probably could
be tricky. Is an establishment that has multiple multiple sites,
an entrepreneur who waits draw the line? Who's not an entrepreneur.
The regulations took effect. I guess they were supposed to
(12:26):
take effect on January two. I imagine they did. We'll
make the Massachusetts the first state in New England to
allow these enterprises. Now, the folks in favor of it
say it's a way to further normalize cannabis consumption and
bolster the state's tourism and hospitality industries. That's interesting. A
(12:50):
way to boost tourism. I guess maybe. Yeah, I guess
that would work for now until other states do the
same and other countries do the same. I hadn't considered
the tourism aspect and the hospitality industries. Critics worry the
new business could increase impaired driving and risk workers health. Yes,
(13:19):
it could increase impaired driving, I guess, but you know,
a lot of times if you're consuming cannabis, you're not drinking,
And a lot of times when you're consuming cannabis, you
don't have a false sense of skill. Drunk drivers just
a lot of drunk drivers think they just are the
(13:40):
best drivers ever. Oh no, I got this, I can
handle it. Give me the keys. It's not so much
the case with cannabis. So any people you can bring
away from alcohol for that reason might be a beneficial thing.
But there's this It could risk workers' health, and yes
(14:01):
it could. It certainly could. We worried about secondhand smoke
from cigarettes, which was a real thing, especially if you
were working in a smoky bar for eight hours and
eight hour shift. Yeah, of course it was a thing,
and I don't see why that's not the case here.
(14:21):
So that is an issue. We'll see. I'm surprised. That's
I'm surprised. That's that's interesting. I wonder if they'll have
to have ultra high capacity ventilation. Cannabis Control Commission said
it might take eighteen months to get this underway in Massachusetts.
(14:46):
They have to create the new license types and work
with local governments to determine how and where they can
be issued. What a thing? What a business? Towns and
cities will have to pass around petitions and ordinances if
they want to allow consumption, but now they can. How
about your town? Would you like to see it in
your town or you want things to stay the way
(15:07):
they are. It's funny. I'm kind of mixed on it.
I like the idea of going to one of these places,
but I'll be honest with you, I'm not a huge
fan of cannabis, and I don't really like the way
it feels. There are some people that relaxes well. I
wish I were one of those people. It does not
(15:28):
relax me. And it's you know, I like drinking a beer,
even a fake beer. I've been drinking a lot of
non alcoholic beer lately, but there's something about the routine
of the drinking of the beer, the ritual of the
drinking of the beer that's not there with cannabis for me,
(15:48):
and so the combination of the fact that it doesn't
make me feel good and there's no I haven't established
a ritual for it, and I missed my beer drinking ritual.
I'm not a big fan, but I would like to
experience the cafe. It's kind of interesting. The one in Amsterdam, well,
(16:11):
the few that I went to in Amsterdam. I went
to the Bulldog, which is a touristy one, and it
was kind of interesting. You go down these little steps
at the Bulldog. Many of you have been there in
some square in Amsterdam, and there are a little drawers,
a little wooden drawers right at the entrance. You go
down and you tell the the person operating the wooden
(16:34):
drawers what you would like, and they give it to
you and you buy it. And it was That was
a loud kind of rock and roll place. But there
are others with chill euro kind of music and a
chill vibe and they'll have they had, you know how
they have menus at say Chinese restaurants or all kinds
of restaurants, But I particularly associate them with Asian restaurants,
(16:58):
Chinese restaurant where they have a picture of food. Of course,
it's not just Asian restaurants. Indian restaurants too. They have
pictures of food. Well, they have pictures of the things
you can buy there, like pre rolls, so different kinds
of pre rolls, and this and that, and edibles and
cookies and stuff. They have pictures. That's pretty interesting, and
(17:22):
it's particularly interesting. It's so different if you have had
drilled into you for your whole life that cannabis will
make you crazy and you'll go to jail, which was
half of that was true. A lot of people did
a lot of time for what is now a big
money maker. So there's that. And transportation new rule, new rule,
(17:50):
I sound like Bill maher new rule. Transportation workers are
getting some extra protection from assaults. Hooray for this. We
don't know what these transportation workers go through. Even I
as much as I admire and empathize with them and
(18:10):
I am thankful for their service, it is a hell
job and they don't need people spitting on them. Imagine
being a bus driver. You have to first and foremost
operate the bus in a safe manner. You have to
watch out for bicycles again, bicycles, scooters, pedestrians, and you
(18:31):
have bus lanes that become regular lanes and regular lanes
to become bus lanes and bike lanes, and it's got
to be frustrating and stressful. Then you kind of have
to make sure that people It would be great if
you could make sure that people pay their fare, that
would be ideal, and to expect them to police that
(18:53):
while they're driving safely, that's got to be stressful. But
then when you get some late night some like something
I see you know from time to time on the
MBTA buses. Chance it happens because the public's on there.
You get some drunk public on there and everyone, and
once in a while you'll get a situation where a
(19:17):
rider is abusive to the tea operator and there's no
way they should be subject to that, and there should
be serious penalties for that. So here's here's the new rule.
The new deal. Massachusetts added transportation workers to the group
of state employees who have specific additional protections against assault
(19:38):
and battery, meaning those commit offenses against them will face
heightened penalties. Good and this goes into effect March three.
It comes as assaults on public transportation operators have increased
significantly over the last decade. How many do you think
(19:58):
there were last year assaults on public transportation workers. One
local transit workers' union said there were six hundred and
fifty four assaults on transit workers last year. It's a
hard job. You don't need that. It's a thankless job.
You don't need to be spit on those who assault
(20:23):
transit workers, including by using any bodily substance such as saliva.
And I say this in the most just legalistic term here,
such as saliva or urine. Can you believe that could
face a sentence from ninety days to two and a
half years and a fine from five hundred to five
(20:45):
thousand dollars? Good? They need to make everybody know that.
I hope that they make they put that information on
every bus and MBTA car say look, potential assaulter, this
is what could happen to you. And that's enough of
(21:11):
that fun now, because it's time to do a break.
After this break, kind of open lines until the top
of the hour. Then we're gonna be joined by Kevin Brassler.
He's a favorite. He's a fair and favorite. He works
with Checkbook dot org. Checkbook dot org is an operation
that is the service equivalent to Consumer Reports. Consumer reports
(21:33):
helps you decide what stuff to buy. Checkbook dot org
helps you decide on which service to use and which
provider of that service to use. And we're gonna talk.
We're gonna dig into sixty tips for getting the best
deals in travel and avoiding real problems with travel. And
(21:53):
he's gonna be in studio, which is cool too, and
I thank him. He flew all the way from Washington,
d C. To do the show. So let's have a
round of a plus for Kevin Bressler. That's gonna be fun.
He's on a lot. You may remember him. He's always good.
He's always good, and he's he's funny and friendly, easygoing.
So that's coming up, And for the next half hour,
(22:16):
you can talk to me about anything you want. In
the meantime, I'm gonna relate a couple of stories to you.
One about these are stories that I've won't been wanting
to share with you for a while now, but it's
been so busy I haven't had a chance. One about
an interaction on that I had with two missionaries from
(22:36):
the Church of Latter Day Saints. They came to me
and asked me if I wanted to go to church.
I said no and dismissed them. But then I said,
wait a minute, what am I doing. I'm a talk
show host. This is this is good stuff. I'm going
to find out all about them, and I did, and
(22:57):
I'll share it. And also I never did share my
why my wild ride share ride. It was different than
any I'd ever had, And I'm curious to know if
you've had any similar types of experiences with ride share.
And that's all coming up on WBZ.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on wb Z,
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Jay Dan one more night, Let's go to gym and
fall River on WBZ. It's a real pleasure to have
you on board. Jim, Thanks, Hi, How you doing fantastic?
Speaker 4 (23:33):
Yes, you were talking about cannabis cafes. Yes, And I
wonder if when they do they approve this and get
their regulations, will they require people to have some sort
of ride home if they're not walking. I wish I
could see that your problem getting in your car being sooned?
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Yeah, well do they require that for alcohol?
Speaker 4 (24:01):
Well, they don't. You're supposed to take crystal responsibility and
not drink. But we all know that people do kill people?
Speaker 2 (24:11):
So what was it again? Can you repeat what you're
suggesting so I can get a.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
Clear Well, just what I was saying is is developing
the regulation style according to the reporter you had on?
And are they going to conclude that in you know,
say the licensing requirements or whatever like that, You at
(24:37):
least ask your patron do you have a right home?
You know you're not going to be driving stone et
cetera like that. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
You would like to have a provision where the server
or the door person. Yeah, ask you to prove that
you have a ride home?
Speaker 4 (24:56):
Yeah, well, ask at least, I mean, you know, or
maybe sign a waiver something who knows? Because remember that
you know if you're a bye you can get sued
if you serve overserve somebody and right kind of even
hotter with you know, with people being stoned. Yeah, to
determine whether you're capable.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Which do you feel would pose a greater risk to
highway safety drunk driving or stoned driving?
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Drunk driving? Yes, but stone driving is you tend to
be more careful and go slower. I don't do it anymore.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
I think it's a dead galway if you're driving twenty
miles an hour and a fifty Yeah, that's a pretty
strong indication that you're not quite quite right.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
That's very interesting and the whole idea of you know,
they tell you not to drink and drive, yet there
are parking lots at bars. So unless unless there's a
donated driver with every group, unlet's you drag a designated
driver along, you know they're going to drink and drive,
and then it's a pretty fuzzy deal on.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
Yeah, my brother a real experience where I lived in
the town and it was just cop who definitely he
took second shifts. So what he could do is he
would sit in his cruiser with a computer and run
all the plates in the pocketing a lot of a bar,
and then when they left, he would pounce on them
(26:32):
if they were drunk, of course, but it pounce.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
So yeah, that's that's very interesting the point. I'm interested
to see how it works out. Yeah, I h they
haven't worked out all the rules rules yet and how
they're going to give out the licenses yet, but it's
it's a curious thing. I also wonder if there will
be establishments that have both alcohol and cannabis or and well,
(27:01):
the thing that really was strange to me, it's events
cannabis infused events. What does that mean? Does that mean
that well, rat like rallies, outdoor rallies will we'll be
cannabis infused events where everyone's smoking a joint or like
(27:24):
they used to be. The actually the Freedom Rally on
the on the.
Speaker 4 (27:29):
Yeah, I went to a couple of times before they
passed the law.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Yeah, just for the record, my band played that event
three times.
Speaker 4 (27:38):
I didn't hear them, but either way it was you know,
I didn't get my QoS and I went and that
was part of you know, that was part of that
whole effort that eventually got the referendu passed and they
had to do it again because the lawmakers kind of
sad on it, and then they sat on it again
and delayed the implunation. But I think that they did
come up with the Cannabis Commission. They they didn't do
(28:01):
a good job in the end, really. But the guy,
I can't remember the name of the guy that was
ahead of it, but you've had him one they've had
been on the radio. But yeah, and uh, you know
they worked at Okay, that delay was alike. But I
mean it's the whole thing too about legislators don't listening
to the people too. They think they know better.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
What's the yoga the cannabis infused the yoga of it?
Speaker 4 (28:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Really, it's interesting to me what I can't think right now,
other things like that that might be cannabis infused, But
cannabis infused yoga really is there? You really? Should there
really be cannabis? No, of course they can't be. But
would you want to go to that? Is my I
(28:46):
guess shouldn't you have at least at some point in
the day, some time when you're not exposed to smoke.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
But that's like work. I mean gradially, if you stoned
and then the instructors saying do this, you know, you
probably forget what you what they said two seconds ago,
maybe you know, defending a stone.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Honestly, there are some people, and I'm not kidding, this
is true. It's not just that they think that this
is the case. They function at a higher rate, higher
level when they are stoned. That's a thing I have.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
Yeah, I know, I have a physician. Friends they get
you know, they light up beforehand, and they played very well.
So just as they've commonized themselves to it, I guess
so what.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
I don't want to be totally but ridiculous in my
what's next? But you know what's next? Cannabis like doctor's offices,
where you're it's okay to smoke because it relaxes you.
Speaker 4 (29:48):
You're waiting for the appointment that you made an hour
ago to be seeing an hour ago.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Yeah. Maybe, yeah, maybe certain grocery store chains will become
cannabis friendly grocery stores.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Who knows?
Speaker 2 (30:00):
And why not?
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Boy did increase their sales? Would they?
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Oh, that's right, that's you're so right. They should give it.
They could give give away free cannabis at the door
to increase to increase the sales of chips and soda.
That's a good one, Jim, Thank.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
You very much. Fun let's hear you're on the radio.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Yeah, I hadn't thought of that. If you can have
cannabis infuse yoga, why not have free joints at the
door of the the marketplace to induce people to buy
more chunk food and for that matter, same deal at
at a restaurant. Here, here's a free joint for your appetisers.
(30:47):
Go with your appetizer, say you order three times as
much on the menu. Let's take a break. I'm promised
to get to my stories about the weird ride share
ride and the interesting chat on the public transportation with
the Church of Latter day Saints missionaries coming up on
w b.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
Z Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
All righty, I'm going to now share with you rideshare
ride I had the other day. See if you hadn't
have had anything like that. Have you had a strange
ride share ride? Here we go. First of all, I
could have taken the tea. I should have. I prefer
it because actually the roads are so bumpy in Boston.
I hate riding in cars around the roads of Boston.
(31:35):
It's like bang bang wham wham, especially on Huntington AF
It's brutal, Boylston Street brutal. But this time I thought
I would take a ride share. I did right. Share
showed up. You know, you always hope it's a nice car.
No it wasn't, and it was too expensive for me
(31:58):
to take an over black. I took a regular Comfort
That's a level I took. And the when I got
in it smelled like kind of spoiled milk, which is
a bummer. And then I noticed that the driver was
(32:20):
watching TV on his phone on a little rack there
right where they usually put phones. But there was some
sort of sitcom going on, and the driver was watching
the sitcom and driving, you know, looking up, looking down.
(32:42):
I thought, that's not great. That's not great at all.
So then it was a little upset by his distracted,
distracted driving, and I thought, and this is not important.
And then the language that it was doesn't matter. And
I'm perfectly fine with foreign languages. I love hanging around
(33:03):
with people from other places speaking foreign languages. But I
couldn't even enjoy the sitcom because I didn't understand the language.
It was kind of exclusive. I kind of felt like
we you know, when people are having a conversation in
some language in front of you, like to of your friends.
They happen to know another language, they start speaking it,
and you don't get what they're saying. I felt kind
(33:24):
of excluded like that, you know, it wasn't really it
wasn't a fun feeling. But then coming office store or
drive on to head into you can choose either the
Ken Moore Square exit the lower one, or go up
and go around down buist and chose the one to
(33:45):
go through Ken Moore and then take that. You have
to take a rite on too, maybe a speaking and
went up on the curb just boom, boom boom and
shook his head. Oh he shook his head, and I thought,
good grief, this is a I wonder if the ride
share company is aware that these kinds of things go on.
(34:09):
And here's the thing. After all this, I question you,
what would you give the person as a rating? And
this is taking the following things into consideration. Are they
going to see what you rate them and then rate
you low so that it hurts your rating so believe it?
(34:30):
Or I gave the guy a five star rating, which
was selfish of me, I guess, because it's more likely
that some somebody down the line is going to get
into a stinky, rotten, milk sweating car. But I didn't
want to get a low rating. And also on that subject,
another angle on that subject is do they see the
(34:55):
tip you give them before they rate you? If you
give a ride share driver a bad tip or no
tip because they don't deserve it, like in this case,
did they see that and rate you slowly. I've tried
to research that. I get mixed, mixed reviews, mixed answers,
(35:16):
and I just don't know. So you know, I just
gave the guy. I copped out and gave the guy
a five star rating. Why not? I wonder if that's
the case with everybody they're afraid to give low ratings.
Are you afraid to give a low rating that you
might get a low rating in return? And this here's
another the other interesting conveyance. I was on trip on
(35:41):
the MBTA. I got on and some over near Longwood
and a woman came up as attractive young woman came
up and and why does this matter? Why is the
attractive art matter? It does, as you'll see, said, do
you want to go to church on Sunday? Or do
(36:02):
you want to go to church? I said no. Then
I thought, wait a minute, what's going on here? I
want to find out about these people because there were
two of them on the train. So I said, excuse me,
you miss what religion? She said Christian? And I said, well,
can you be more specific? She said Church of Latter
day Saints And I said, oh, tell me about that?
(36:23):
Is that the religion of John Smith? And she said, no,
Joseph Smith. And I'm just going to share with you
what I learned about this. You may or may not
know this stuff. Many of you will know much more
than this, But what I saw was the Church of
Latter day Saints missionary thing in action. So I asked
about Joseph Smith and why, you know, why she believed
(36:48):
in him. She said that God decided that he should
be the new prophet, basically is what I understood. And
I'm just curious about why him and why after all
this time, she didn't really have an answer for that.
But then I was curious about where she was from,
like did she she from around here and went for
(37:10):
training in Utah at the headquarters. She said, no, I'm
from Utah. I'm from there. And she said that her
parents were in the church too, her mother was a missionary,
and that she kind of drifted away from a little
in college but felt bad. She didn't feel good, she
(37:34):
didn't feel right, and so she went back and she
decided to become a missionary too. And I guess the
job is as a missionary to go and get people
to go to church. There are a number of them around,
as you may know, and I was also curious about
if she had to have a job and do this.
She said, no, we have to save up. We have
(37:57):
to save our money and spend it to do this.
And I researched it a little bit, and I don't
know if it's always this way, but they contribute to
a fund and then that fund pays for them to go.
I said, how do you know where to go? The Uh?
She said, the boss in Utah praise and and and
(38:20):
waits for an answer and a vision to decide where
to send them. And it's possible that the church kicks
in a little bit too. And I just and then
the other one came over Andy. I asked him, what
do you say to people who say you're a cult?
And they have an answer for everything, just like just
like flat earth people do, so you can't really argue,
(38:41):
But it was it was interesting to see, Wow, this
is a lifestyle. This is a lifestyle of quite a
few people to go out and be missionaries for the church.
I almost want to like go to the go to
the headquarters and go to church there and see what
it's like. Coming up on WZ, We're gonna give you
some finite actionable information to save you travel money and
(39:04):
travel hassle, and travel despair and travel tears. We've gotta
make sure that you don't make some mistakes that well
I've certainly made. We have Kevin Bresna from checkbook dot org,
as I mentioned earlier, and we'll again spell out what
that is. After this, we get rolling with Kevin on
WBZ
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Moving on Friends, Bradley j for Dan one more night,
call in, use him, use him to lose him. If
you want to talk to me, call tonight, coush. You
can talk to Dan tomorrow night too. We have Angelie
Hutten with us, a Boston Globe reporter joining us to
talk about to discuss the new laws in Massachusetts going
(00:29):
into effect this year. And I could list them, but
we'll take it one at a time. So thanks for
being with us, Angelie.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Thanks for having me Bradley, of course.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Okay, joke, Yeah, So how many laws are there? How
many new laws this year?
Speaker 3 (00:47):
So there's seven that we covered that will be going
into effects at different points this year, all right.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
And I suppose we should just get going and go
through them. And you can give me any details on
these laws that you have, and we can ask folks
how they feel about them if they have any questions.
Six one, seven, two, five, four, ten thirty. Well, let's
start with the cannabis cafe social consumption rule. Tell us
(01:15):
about that.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Yep. So Massachusetts Cannabis Commission last months voted to create
new social consumption licenses, and that means that entrepreneurs will
be able to create cannabis cafes and host wed infused
events like yoga classes or other things. Massachusetts is going
to be the first state in New England to allow
these businesses. However, they may not go into effect right away.
(01:38):
The Commission said it could take anywhere from a year
to eighteen months for these businesses to open in Massachusetts
as the agency creates the new licenses and works with
local governments to determine where and how they can be issued.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Interesting, so it's not just cannabis cafes, it's it's it's
yoga classes. We'd infused events. That's a very open kind
of thing. We'd infused events like a yoga classes. Is
that really an event? It's interesting? You really, now, can
I we'd infused everything?
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Can you?
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Can you have restaurants that are cannabis friendly restaurants?
Speaker 3 (02:21):
I think it's still working out. You know exactly what
types of businesses and events or such would qualify under
these licenses. But you know, that's why they're taking some
time to develop those consumption on premises.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Like I've certainly been to the Amsterdam cafes and it's a,
it's a cool vibe. Do you have any idea of
how they envision these? Are they the chill kind of
European cafes or is it going to be more raucous
rock and roll event? And well, does each each operation,
(02:54):
each bar or whatever it need to apply for license
separate license to do this?
Speaker 3 (03:01):
So towns and cities will have to pass their own
petitions and ordinances if they want to allow social consumption, uh,
you know, in businesses in those communities. So it's going
to be on a local government by local government basis,
and then from there, you know, businesses can opt in
and apply for licenses. Is the process that's expected to
take place.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Interesting regulations approved by Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission now allow
for the on site consumption for cannabis licensed dispensary. So
this is another thing. The dispensary I go to, you know,
it's it's obviously smells very heavily of cannabis in there.
But you're telling me now that some dispensaries will also
(03:40):
be able to you'll be able to consume it right there,
like they'll have a smoking room in the back or something.
How is that going to work?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
So we'll have to wait and see again, there's about
a year to eighteen month timeline for you know, establishing
the process for these licenses and how they're how exactly
are going to work?
Speaker 2 (03:58):
All right, well, I'll I'll adjust that later. Are you
do you plan on going and checking these out?
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Had no comment there.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Voter safety certificates. Tell us about that.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
Yep, so last year about a year or so. Now
the messages Legislature and govern here you pass a lot
that will require voters born after January first, nineteen eighty
nine to complete a voter safety education course online, in person,
or through local organizations, and they're going to have to
do so by April first. Anyone born before nineteen eighty
(04:36):
nine will have until twenty twenty eight to meet those
same requirements. But voters without a certificate are going to
face penalties after September first, so they'll need to keep
those certificates that they get with them at all times
while operate in the vote. This won't apply to certain operators, however,
such as merchant mariners or members of the US military
who are qualified to operate motor votes.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Interesting, as I understand that the key divisions include mandatory education,
like you mentioned motor safety certificate. After passing a course
and an exam, you'll receive a certificate which must be
carried while operating on a vessel. I'm sort of surprised
this took this long time for that to pass. That
seems pretty reasonable and the face didn't deadline. If you're
born after January one, nineteen eighty nine, you must be
(05:18):
certified by April one, twenty twenty six. Born on or
before jan one, nineteen eighty nine must be certified by
April one. Ages twelve through fifteen can operate motor boats
unsupervised only if they have the certificate. Under twelve cannot
operate motor boats unsupervised. Motor boat Ages sixteen to seventeen
(05:39):
must have a certificate to operate a PwC. I don't
know what that is powered watercraft. I bet that's powered watercraft.
Exemptions include merchant mariners, qualified military personnel, and those with
existing equivalent certifications. You might wonder about reciprocity certificates from
(06:02):
other states recognized by the NA the National Association of
State Boating Law Administrators are accepted, sort of like reciprocal
fishing licenses, And what's the reason for this? What's the purpose.
The Act, named for victims of boating accidents, brings Massachusetts
in line with other with federal standards. I guess we
(06:23):
are sort of behind the eight ball on that. Ensuring
operators have the knowledge to keep themselves and others safe
on the water. And enforcement. You may wonder about enforcement
after the deadlines, operators found without a certificate risk fines,
though enforcement grace periods are in place. Interesting, all right, now,
(06:44):
what's next?
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Well, another one of the laws that went in to
affect this year is called the Shield Act. So it's
a new data privacy law and Massachusetts attempt to protect
abortion rights and abortion providers here as Republicans have targeted
the procedure in other states. So this was passed last summer.
It went into effect on January first, and it mandates
that Massachusetts hospitals provide emergency abortions is medically necessary, and
(07:10):
also requires that insurance companies limit access to patients electronic
electronics easy medical records and.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Yeah, you go ahead, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
It also, you know, is looking to protect the identities
and personal information of those who seek or administer abortion
and gender affirming care in Massachusetts. So meant to be
something of a response to some of what the Trump
administration and other Republican led states have been doing.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
And what about increased paid family and medical leave as
another one.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I'm not quite sure about that particular law. That's not
one that we specifically covered, but you know, it's not
covered in the data Privacy lost specifically either.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
See I have your increased paid family medical leave and benefits.
The maximum weekly benefit for the states for that program
is increasing. And assault protection from for for transit workers.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yep, So Massachusetts added transportation workers to the group of
state employees who have specific additional protections against assault and battery.
And this is coming as you know, unions and such
have said that transportation workers have faced additional threats, you know,
from folks as they've been doing their jobs. So this
new law means that those who commit offenses against them
will face heightened penalties beginning on March third, and that
(08:29):
can include any assaults, including with any bodily substance. Folks
who commit these offenses could face a sentence from ninety
days to two and a half years and a fine
from five hundred dollars to five thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
All right, and what am I missing there a couple more.
Oh yes, salary transparency. This is something that we can
talk about later too. Tell me about that one. That law.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
This is another one we didn't specifically cover in our
report that happened. Here about it from you if you've
got any details there.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
How about the Down syndrome insurance coverage? Yep.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
So in twenty twenty four, Massachusetts lawmakers passed a bill
that would require Massachusetts space health insurers to provide coverage
for Down syndrome treatment. So this includes things like speech therapy,
occupational therapy, physical therapy, and applied behavior atalysis services. This
is these are services that insurers could previously deny. And
this one was a little personal to the state legislature
(09:31):
when they passed it, you know, a center President Karence,
because younger sister whom Stick took care of, was born
with Down syndrome. So this was seen as a win
for you know, the Senate and for those legislature in
large at the time.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
All right, well, thank you very very much for taking
time out of your evening here in the middle of
the week on a Wednesday and running those bias and
giving us some the rundown on some of the new
laws coming into affecting this year twenty twenty six. So
thank you very much, very very much, Angelie, thank you
for having me. Absolutely take care. WBZ News Radio ten thirty.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
You're on night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's
news Radio.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Good to be with you, badly Jay and for Dan
one more night. Let me break down a little more slowly,
in a little more detail, a couple of the laws
that have come into that are new this year. The
cannabis law. It's pretty interesting. It's interesting, first of all
to see the change and how people view cannabis. How
(10:36):
about you six one, seven, two, five, four, ten thirty
is do you feel different about it than you used to?
Even if you're you know, older. It was always it
was always what was it? Reefer madness? You know some
of you watch the movie called Reefer Madness where they
said that cannabis would make you crazy and that was illegal.
(10:58):
People went to jail. It was taboo, and now it's
heavily marketed. I went to a dispensary in my neighborhood
and it's so normalized that they even have like a
special display for the game for the Big Game Day,
(11:19):
special case with special promotion. I don't know if it's promotions,
but they have promotional materials in the case, and it's
a promotion around sports and game day. Instead of drinking
the beer and eating the chips, it's consuming the cannabis
and eating eating even more chips. I guess Massachusetts will
(11:42):
allow cannabis cafes to open in the state. How things
have changed. State agency overseeing cannabis regulation opened the door
to marijuana loungers in Massachusetts wanting to establish new consumption
licenses that will allow entrepreneurs to create cannabis cafes. I
(12:04):
wonder how you how you define entrepreneur. That's probably could
be tricky. Is an establishment that has multiple multiple sites,
an entrepreneur who waits draw the line? Who's not an entrepreneur.
The regulations took effect. I guess they were supposed to
(12:26):
take effect on January two. I imagine they did. We'll
make the Massachusetts the first state in New England to
allow these enterprises. Now, the folks in favor of it
say it's a way to further normalize cannabis consumption and
bolster the state's tourism and hospitality industries. That's interesting. A
(12:50):
way to boost tourism. I guess maybe. Yeah, I guess
that would work for now until other states do the
same and other countries do the same. I hadn't considered
the tourism aspect and the hospitality industries. Critics worry the
new business could increase impaired driving and risk workers health. Yes,
(13:19):
it could increase impaired driving, I guess, but you know,
a lot of times if you're consuming cannabis, you're not drinking,
And a lot of times when you're consuming cannabis, you
don't have a false sense of skill. Drunk drivers just
a lot of drunk drivers think they just are the
(13:40):
best drivers ever. Oh no, I got this, I can
handle it. Give me the keys. It's not so much
the case with cannabis. So any people you can bring
away from alcohol for that reason might be a beneficial thing.
But there's this It could risk workers' health, and yes
(14:01):
it could. It certainly could. We worried about secondhand smoke
from cigarettes, which was a real thing, especially if you
were working in a smoky bar for eight hours and
eight hour shift. Yeah, of course it was a thing,
and I don't see why that's not the case here.
(14:21):
So that is an issue. We'll see. I'm surprised. That's
I'm surprised. That's that's interesting. I wonder if they'll have
to have ultra high capacity ventilation. Cannabis Control Commission said
it might take eighteen months to get this underway in Massachusetts.
(14:46):
They have to create the new license types and work
with local governments to determine how and where they can
be issued. What a thing? What a business? Towns and
cities will have to pass around petitions and ordinances if
they want to allow consumption, but now they can. How
about your town? Would you like to see it in
your town or you want things to stay the way
(15:07):
they are. It's funny. I'm kind of mixed on it.
I like the idea of going to one of these places,
but I'll be honest with you, I'm not a huge
fan of cannabis, and I don't really like the way
it feels. There are some people that relaxes well. I
wish I were one of those people. It does not
(15:28):
relax me. And it's you know, I like drinking a beer,
even a fake beer. I've been drinking a lot of
non alcoholic beer lately, but there's something about the routine
of the drinking of the beer, the ritual of the
drinking of the beer that's not there with cannabis for me,
(15:48):
and so the combination of the fact that it doesn't
make me feel good and there's no I haven't established
a ritual for it, and I missed my beer drinking ritual.
I'm not a big fan, but I would like to
experience the cafe. It's kind of interesting. The one in Amsterdam, well,
(16:11):
the few that I went to in Amsterdam. I went
to the Bulldog, which is a touristy one, and it
was kind of interesting. You go down these little steps
at the Bulldog. Many of you have been there in
some square in Amsterdam, and there are a little drawers,
a little wooden drawers right at the entrance. You go
down and you tell the the person operating the wooden
(16:34):
drawers what you would like, and they give it to
you and you buy it. And it was That was
a loud kind of rock and roll place. But there
are others with chill euro kind of music and a
chill vibe and they'll have they had, you know how
they have menus at say Chinese restaurants or all kinds
of restaurants, But I particularly associate them with Asian restaurants,
(16:58):
Chinese restaurant where they have a picture of food. Of course,
it's not just Asian restaurants. Indian restaurants too. They have
pictures of food. Well, they have pictures of the things
you can buy there, like pre rolls, so different kinds
of pre rolls, and this and that, and edibles and
cookies and stuff. They have pictures. That's pretty interesting, and
(17:22):
it's particularly interesting. It's so different if you have had
drilled into you for your whole life that cannabis will
make you crazy and you'll go to jail, which was
half of that was true. A lot of people did
a lot of time for what is now a big
money maker. So there's that. And transportation new rule, new rule,
(17:50):
I sound like Bill maher new rule. Transportation workers are
getting some extra protection from assaults. Hooray for this. We
don't know what these transportation workers go through. Even I
as much as I admire and empathize with them and
(18:10):
I am thankful for their service, it is a hell
job and they don't need people spitting on them. Imagine
being a bus driver. You have to first and foremost
operate the bus in a safe manner. You have to
watch out for bicycles again, bicycles, scooters, pedestrians, and you
(18:31):
have bus lanes that become regular lanes and regular lanes
to become bus lanes and bike lanes, and it's got
to be frustrating and stressful. Then you kind of have
to make sure that people It would be great if
you could make sure that people pay their fare, that
would be ideal, and to expect them to police that
(18:53):
while they're driving safely, that's got to be stressful. But
then when you get some late night some like something
I see you know from time to time on the
MBTA buses. Chance it happens because the public's on there.
You get some drunk public on there and everyone, and
once in a while you'll get a situation where a
(19:17):
rider is abusive to the tea operator and there's no
way they should be subject to that, and there should
be serious penalties for that. So here's here's the new rule.
The new deal. Massachusetts added transportation workers to the group
of state employees who have specific additional protections against assault
(19:38):
and battery, meaning those commit offenses against them will face
heightened penalties. Good and this goes into effect March three.
It comes as assaults on public transportation operators have increased
significantly over the last decade. How many do you think
(19:58):
there were last year assaults on public transportation workers. One
local transit workers' union said there were six hundred and
fifty four assaults on transit workers last year. It's a
hard job. You don't need that. It's a thankless job.
You don't need to be spit on those who assault
(20:23):
transit workers, including by using any bodily substance such as saliva.
And I say this in the most just legalistic term here,
such as saliva or urine. Can you believe that could
face a sentence from ninety days to two and a
half years and a fine from five hundred to five
(20:45):
thousand dollars? Good? They need to make everybody know that.
I hope that they make they put that information on
every bus and MBTA car say look, potential assaulter, this
is what could happen to you. And that's enough of
(21:11):
that fun now, because it's time to do a break.
After this break, kind of open lines until the top
of the hour. Then we're gonna be joined by Kevin Brassler.
He's a favorite. He's a fair and favorite. He works
with Checkbook dot org. Checkbook dot org is an operation
that is the service equivalent to Consumer Reports. Consumer reports
(21:33):
helps you decide what stuff to buy. Checkbook dot org
helps you decide on which service to use and which
provider of that service to use. And we're gonna talk.
We're gonna dig into sixty tips for getting the best
deals in travel and avoiding real problems with travel. And
(21:53):
he's gonna be in studio, which is cool too, and
I thank him. He flew all the way from Washington,
d C. To do the show. So let's have a
round of a plus for Kevin Bressler. That's gonna be fun.
He's on a lot. You may remember him. He's always good.
He's always good, and he's he's funny and friendly, easygoing.
So that's coming up, And for the next half hour,
(22:16):
you can talk to me about anything you want. In
the meantime, I'm gonna relate a couple of stories to you.
One about these are stories that I've won't been wanting
to share with you for a while now, but it's
been so busy I haven't had a chance. One about
an interaction on that I had with two missionaries from
(22:36):
the Church of Latter Day Saints. They came to me
and asked me if I wanted to go to church.
I said no and dismissed them. But then I said,
wait a minute, what am I doing. I'm a talk
show host. This is this is good stuff. I'm going
to find out all about them, and I did, and
(22:57):
I'll share it. And also I never did share my
why my wild ride share ride. It was different than
any I'd ever had, And I'm curious to know if
you've had any similar types of experiences with ride share.
And that's all coming up on WBZ.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on wb Z,
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Jay Dan one more night, Let's go to gym and
fall River on WBZ. It's a real pleasure to have
you on board. Jim, Thanks, Hi, How you doing fantastic?
Speaker 4 (23:33):
Yes, you were talking about cannabis cafes. Yes, And I
wonder if when they do they approve this and get
their regulations, will they require people to have some sort
of ride home if they're not walking. I wish I
could see that your problem getting in your car being sooned?
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Yeah, well do they require that for alcohol?
Speaker 4 (24:01):
Well, they don't. You're supposed to take crystal responsibility and
not drink. But we all know that people do kill people?
Speaker 2 (24:11):
So what was it again? Can you repeat what you're
suggesting so I can get a.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
Clear Well, just what I was saying is is developing
the regulation style according to the reporter you had on?
And are they going to conclude that in you know,
say the licensing requirements or whatever like that, You at
(24:37):
least ask your patron do you have a right home?
You know you're not going to be driving stone et
cetera like that. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
You would like to have a provision where the server
or the door person. Yeah, ask you to prove that
you have a ride home?
Speaker 4 (24:56):
Yeah, well, ask at least, I mean, you know, or
maybe sign a waiver something who knows? Because remember that
you know if you're a bye you can get sued
if you serve overserve somebody and right kind of even
hotter with you know, with people being stoned. Yeah, to
determine whether you're capable.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Which do you feel would pose a greater risk to
highway safety drunk driving or stoned driving?
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Drunk driving? Yes, but stone driving is you tend to
be more careful and go slower. I don't do it anymore.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
I think it's a dead galway if you're driving twenty
miles an hour and a fifty Yeah, that's a pretty
strong indication that you're not quite quite right.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
That's very interesting and the whole idea of you know,
they tell you not to drink and drive, yet there
are parking lots at bars. So unless unless there's a
donated driver with every group, unlet's you drag a designated
driver along, you know they're going to drink and drive,
and then it's a pretty fuzzy deal on.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
Yeah, my brother a real experience where I lived in
the town and it was just cop who definitely he
took second shifts. So what he could do is he
would sit in his cruiser with a computer and run
all the plates in the pocketing a lot of a bar,
and then when they left, he would pounce on them
(26:32):
if they were drunk, of course, but it pounce.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
So yeah, that's that's very interesting the point. I'm interested
to see how it works out. Yeah, I h they
haven't worked out all the rules rules yet and how
they're going to give out the licenses yet, but it's
it's a curious thing. I also wonder if there will
be establishments that have both alcohol and cannabis or and well,
(27:01):
the thing that really was strange to me, it's events
cannabis infused events. What does that mean? Does that mean
that well, rat like rallies, outdoor rallies will we'll be
cannabis infused events where everyone's smoking a joint or like
(27:24):
they used to be. The actually the Freedom Rally on
the on the.
Speaker 4 (27:29):
Yeah, I went to a couple of times before they
passed the law.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Yeah, just for the record, my band played that event
three times.
Speaker 4 (27:38):
I didn't hear them, but either way it was you know,
I didn't get my QoS and I went and that
was part of you know, that was part of that
whole effort that eventually got the referendu passed and they
had to do it again because the lawmakers kind of
sad on it, and then they sat on it again
and delayed the implunation. But I think that they did
come up with the Cannabis Commission. They they didn't do
(28:01):
a good job in the end, really. But the guy,
I can't remember the name of the guy that was
ahead of it, but you've had him one they've had
been on the radio. But yeah, and uh, you know
they worked at Okay, that delay was alike. But I
mean it's the whole thing too about legislators don't listening
to the people too. They think they know better.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
What's the yoga the cannabis infused the yoga of it?
Speaker 4 (28:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Really, it's interesting to me what I can't think right now,
other things like that that might be cannabis infused, But
cannabis infused yoga really is there? You really? Should there
really be cannabis? No, of course they can't be. But
would you want to go to that? Is my I
(28:46):
guess shouldn't you have at least at some point in
the day, some time when you're not exposed to smoke.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
But that's like work. I mean gradially, if you stoned
and then the instructors saying do this, you know, you
probably forget what you what they said two seconds ago,
maybe you know, defending a stone.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Honestly, there are some people, and I'm not kidding, this
is true. It's not just that they think that this
is the case. They function at a higher rate, higher
level when they are stoned. That's a thing I have.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
Yeah, I know, I have a physician. Friends they get
you know, they light up beforehand, and they played very well.
So just as they've commonized themselves to it, I guess
so what.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
I don't want to be totally but ridiculous in my
what's next? But you know what's next? Cannabis like doctor's offices,
where you're it's okay to smoke because it relaxes you.
Speaker 4 (29:48):
You're waiting for the appointment that you made an hour
ago to be seeing an hour ago.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Yeah. Maybe, yeah, maybe certain grocery store chains will become
cannabis friendly grocery stores.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Who knows?
Speaker 2 (30:00):
And why not?
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Boy did increase their sales? Would they?
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Oh, that's right, that's you're so right. They should give it.
They could give give away free cannabis at the door
to increase to increase the sales of chips and soda.
That's a good one, Jim, Thank.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
You very much. Fun let's hear you're on the radio.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Yeah, I hadn't thought of that. If you can have
cannabis infuse yoga, why not have free joints at the
door of the the marketplace to induce people to buy
more chunk food and for that matter, same deal at
at a restaurant. Here, here's a free joint for your appetisers.
(30:47):
Go with your appetizer, say you order three times as
much on the menu. Let's take a break. I'm promised
to get to my stories about the weird ride share
ride and the interesting chat on the public transportation with
the Church of Latter day Saints missionaries coming up on
w b.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
Z Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
All righty, I'm going to now share with you rideshare
ride I had the other day. See if you hadn't
have had anything like that. Have you had a strange
ride share ride? Here we go. First of all, I
could have taken the tea. I should have. I prefer
it because actually the roads are so bumpy in Boston.
I hate riding in cars around the roads of Boston.
(31:35):
It's like bang bang wham wham, especially on Huntington AF
It's brutal, Boylston Street brutal. But this time I thought
I would take a ride share. I did right. Share
showed up. You know, you always hope it's a nice car.
No it wasn't, and it was too expensive for me
(31:58):
to take an over black. I took a regular Comfort
That's a level I took. And the when I got
in it smelled like kind of spoiled milk, which is
a bummer. And then I noticed that the driver was
(32:20):
watching TV on his phone on a little rack there
right where they usually put phones. But there was some
sort of sitcom going on, and the driver was watching
the sitcom and driving, you know, looking up, looking down.
(32:42):
I thought, that's not great. That's not great at all.
So then it was a little upset by his distracted,
distracted driving, and I thought, and this is not important.
And then the language that it was doesn't matter. And
I'm perfectly fine with foreign languages. I love hanging around
(33:03):
with people from other places speaking foreign languages. But I
couldn't even enjoy the sitcom because I didn't understand the language.
It was kind of exclusive. I kind of felt like
we you know, when people are having a conversation in
some language in front of you, like to of your friends.
They happen to know another language, they start speaking it,
and you don't get what they're saying. I felt kind
(33:24):
of excluded like that, you know, it wasn't really it
wasn't a fun feeling. But then coming office store or
drive on to head into you can choose either the
Ken Moore Square exit the lower one, or go up
and go around down buist and chose the one to
(33:45):
go through Ken Moore and then take that. You have
to take a rite on too, maybe a speaking and
went up on the curb just boom, boom boom and
shook his head. Oh he shook his head, and I thought,
good grief, this is a I wonder if the ride
share company is aware that these kinds of things go on.
(34:09):
And here's the thing. After all this, I question you,
what would you give the person as a rating? And
this is taking the following things into consideration. Are they
going to see what you rate them and then rate
you low so that it hurts your rating so believe it?
(34:30):
Or I gave the guy a five star rating, which
was selfish of me, I guess, because it's more likely
that some somebody down the line is going to get
into a stinky, rotten, milk sweating car. But I didn't
want to get a low rating. And also on that subject,
another angle on that subject is do they see the
(34:55):
tip you give them before they rate you? If you
give a ride share driver a bad tip or no
tip because they don't deserve it, like in this case,
did they see that and rate you slowly. I've tried
to research that. I get mixed, mixed reviews, mixed answers,
(35:16):
and I just don't know. So you know, I just
gave the guy. I copped out and gave the guy
a five star rating. Why not? I wonder if that's
the case with everybody they're afraid to give low ratings.
Are you afraid to give a low rating that you
might get a low rating in return? And this here's
another the other interesting conveyance. I was on trip on
(35:41):
the MBTA. I got on and some over near Longwood
and a woman came up as attractive young woman came
up and and why does this matter? Why is the
attractive art matter? It does, as you'll see, said, do
you want to go to church on Sunday? Or do
(36:02):
you want to go to church? I said no. Then
I thought, wait a minute, what's going on here? I
want to find out about these people because there were
two of them on the train. So I said, excuse me,
you miss what religion? She said Christian? And I said, well,
can you be more specific? She said Church of Latter
day Saints And I said, oh, tell me about that?
(36:23):
Is that the religion of John Smith? And she said, no,
Joseph Smith. And I'm just going to share with you
what I learned about this. You may or may not
know this stuff. Many of you will know much more
than this, But what I saw was the Church of
Latter day Saints missionary thing in action. So I asked
about Joseph Smith and why, you know, why she believed
(36:48):
in him. She said that God decided that he should
be the new prophet, basically is what I understood. And
I'm just curious about why him and why after all
this time, she didn't really have an answer for that.
But then I was curious about where she was from,
like did she she from around here and went for
(37:10):
training in Utah at the headquarters. She said, no, I'm
from Utah. I'm from there. And she said that her
parents were in the church too, her mother was a missionary,
and that she kind of drifted away from a little
in college but felt bad. She didn't feel good, she
(37:34):
didn't feel right, and so she went back and she
decided to become a missionary too. And I guess the
job is as a missionary to go and get people
to go to church. There are a number of them around,
as you may know, and I was also curious about
if she had to have a job and do this.
She said, no, we have to save up. We have
(37:57):
to save our money and spend it to do this.
And I researched it a little bit, and I don't
know if it's always this way, but they contribute to
a fund and then that fund pays for them to go.
I said, how do you know where to go? The Uh?
She said, the boss in Utah praise and and and
(38:20):
waits for an answer and a vision to decide where
to send them. And it's possible that the church kicks
in a little bit too. And I just and then
the other one came over Andy. I asked him, what
do you say to people who say you're a cult?
And they have an answer for everything, just like just
like flat earth people do, so you can't really argue,
(38:41):
But it was it was interesting to see, Wow, this
is a lifestyle. This is a lifestyle of quite a
few people to go out and be missionaries for the church.
I almost want to like go to the go to
the headquarters and go to church there and see what
it's like. Coming up on WZ, We're gonna give you
some finite actionable information to save you travel money and
(39:04):
travel hassle, and travel despair and travel tears. We've gotta
make sure that you don't make some mistakes that well
I've certainly made. We have Kevin Bresna from checkbook dot org,
as I mentioned earlier, and we'll again spell out what
that is. After this, we get rolling with Kevin on
WBZ
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