By Bob Katzen

A bill before the Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee would ban the purchase and/or consumption by all Massachusetts consumers and entities of any product made in Russia.

The bill’s co-sponsors, Reps. Patrick Kearney (D-Scituate) and Michelle DuBois (D-Brockton) did not respond to repeated requests by Beacon Hill Roll Call asking why they filed the bill and why it would be good for the Bay State.

Mark Marget from Needham Massachusetts, a student who attends Bentley College, was the only person who has testified on the measure. He told the committee there are many moral, ethical, strategic, practical and safety reasons to pass an imports ban. “Russian products simply are not safe because of the current regime,” said Marget who describes himself as a “well-informed historian and geopolitician who has conducted academic research on the war in Ukraine.”

“Authoritarian dictatorships fundamentally have no legal accountability to their own citizens and as such a regime like Putin’s would have no reason to make his people accountable towards international laws,” continued Marget. “And unlike China, Russia is not swayed by economic consequences for political gain. In fact, part of Putin’s own regime security policy involves depoliticizing the masses through cheap and easy access to alcohol. Therefore, there is nothing deterring the Russian State from striking our own citizens with harmful consumer goods and as such, an imports ban needs to be considered for the safety of the commonwealth.”