Filed under: Hemp&Law, hemp in general | Tags: Boston, cannabis, drug, ganja, hashish, hemp, marijuana, Massachusetts, Middlesex, pot, skunk, weed
Boston, MA — For the first time in years there is good news on drugs: Marijuana use among Massachusetts teens has declined significantly since 2001.
It’s good news because kids who smoke marijuana are more likely to do poorly in school and engage in violence. It’s good news because drivers who’ve smoked pot are 10 times more likely to be injured, or to injure others, in car crashes. It’s good news because marijuana is more carcinogenic than tobacco, and young people who smoke pot are more likely to use other illegal drugs.
Unfortunately, there is a radical effort underway to undo this progress. Question 2 on November’s ballot will decriminalize marijuana use and turn possession of an ounce or less of marijuana into a fine similar to a traffic violation. For kids under 21, the penalties will be reduced well below penalties for alcohol possession.
A vote for Question 2 will begin a slippery slope resulting in several negative consequences. It will increase addiction to marijuana and other drugs, as we know that pot is a powerful gateway drug. It will result in increased related crimes, and additional taxpayer costs to combat them, as we know that drugs are the root of much of the violence that erodes communities. And it will result in increased instances of impaired driving.
This measure also will result in other unaddressed problems. For instance, there are no regulatory reviews in place to assure that these newly decriminalized drugs are safe, and we know that marijuana is now exponentially more potent than a decade ago. More disturbingly, the measure does not address the fact that if young people want to buy pot, they will still need to buy it from illegal drug dealers. We can not think of many more dangerous, combustible situations than that.
Proponents of Question 2 have two central arguments. First, that existing laws unfairly punish those caught with an ounce or less of marijuana. That is simply untrue. Current law mandates that first-time marijuana offenders receive no more than probation and have their record wiped clean if there are no further violations. In Suffolk and Middlesex counties last year, no defendants were sentenced to jail for a first-time marijuana offense alone.
Their second claim is that enforcement of marijuana laws leads to expansive police costs. That is also false. A survey of our busiest courts revealed that marijuana prosecutions account for only a tiny fraction of cases, and many of those also involved other violent crimes that so frequently accompany drug abuse. To claim that officers are out trolling the streets for marijuana users, at great cost to taxpayers, is not reality.
And despite their best efforts to paint an ounce of marijuana as innocuous, the fact is that one ounce of marijuana is worth about $600 and represents about 60 individual sales.
In communities throughout the state, law enforcement and neighborhood and faith-based organizations work together to improve public safety. Question 2 is a misguided approach that threatens to derail much of that important work.
We cannot afford to take a step back in our efforts to combat drug addiction and reduce violence in our communities. And we absolutely can not afford to send mixed messages to our kids about the seriousness and dangers of drug abuse.
Gerry Leone is the Middlesex district attorney. The Rev. Jeffrey Brown is co-founder of Boston Ten Point Coalition.
Source: Boston Globe
Filed under: Hemp&Law, hemp in general | Tags: Boston, cannabis, ganja, hashish, hemp, marijuana, Massachusetts, medical cannabis, medical marijuana, pot, skunk, weed
Boston, MA — Activists who want joints sold over the counter like cigarettes are bankrolling a Bay State pot referendum backers claim will simply clear the air of piddling marijuana cases choking the court system.
The Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy, which placed Question 2 on the November ballot, collected from the Marijuana Policy Project $200,000, about 30 percent of its total. Indeed, about 90 percent of the $635,000 the committee has raised comes from people who live out of state.
On its Web site, the marijuana project’s mission statement states clearly: “Adults who use marijuana should be able to obtain it from legally regulated establishments and not from illegal drug dealers.”
Woody Kaplan, a Hub real estate developer and self-styled “provocateur” who donated $10,000 to the state ballot initiative, also backs the call for legal pot sales.
“I believe taxing and regulating is a much better way than what the ballot question proposes,” said Kaplan, who held a $250-a-head fundraiser for the Marijuana Policy Prject earlier this month.
“This is government making a choice that something that is clearly destructive – alcohol – is OK, but somebody smoking marijuana isn’t,” Kaplan told the Herald.
Daniel R. Lewis, 62, of Coral Gables, Fla. – the scion of the Progressive Insurance fortune and a self-confessed former toker – also would like to see grass legalized and regulated.
“I think it’s a relatively harmless drug, as compared to alcohol,” said Lewis, who gave $5,000 to the pot project.
The group also counts among its backers actor Jack Black, talk show host Bill Maher and former wrestler and Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, and uses Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion for its lavish fund-raisers.
If passed, the ballot initiative would make having an ounce or less of marijuana a civil offense punishable by a $100 fine. Minors’ parents would be notified, and the kids would have to complete a drug awareness program.
Middlesex County District Attorney Gerard Leone slammed the pot activists as out of touch and predicted the measure would be a gateway to weaker drug laws.
“Question 2 will allow a foot in the door to people with a misguided, radical agenda,” Leone said.
Whitney Taylor, campaign manager, pointed to a Suffolk University poll that showed 72 percent of voters support the ballot question.
“They are not out of the mainstream,” Taylor said. “They are the mainstream.”
Kaplan, a 66-year-old board member of the Godless America PAC, which “mobilizes nonbelievers for political activism,” said he’s heard it all before.
“Same-sex opponents said if you allow same-sex marriage, people would marry dogs,” Kaplan said. “Yeh, right. It’s just fear tactics, and it’s absurd.”
Filed under: Hemp&Law, HempTherapy, hemp in general | Tags: Boston, cannabis, ganja, Georgetown, hashish, marijuana, Massachusetts, medical cannabis, medical marijuana, pot, skunk, weed
Boston, MA — Georgetown lawyer Steven Epstein supports the November state ballot question on decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, seeing use of the drug as a matter of personal liberty.
“We formed the government to protect the individual in the exercise of their rights, amongst which is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” Epstein said, adding that people should be free to exercise those rights as long as they do not harm others.
But Chelsea Police Chief Brian Kyes strongly opposes the ballot proposal, viewing it as a step backward in the fight against drug abuse.
“It definitely sends the wrong message to kids,” he said.
“By decriminalizing this offense right now and making it basically the equivalent of a traffic violation, you are sending the message that it’s OK, that it’s not so bad.”
As the decriminalization measure, Ballot Question 2, begins to stir debate around the state, voices on both sides are being sounded in this region.
The measure would replace the state’s criminal penalties for possession of an ounce or less of marijuana with civil penalties enforced through citations.
Offenders would be subject to forfeiture of the drug and a $100 fine – for those under 18, the $100 fine would be contingent on their completing within a year a drug awareness program with a community service component. Otherwise, the fine could increase to as high as $1,000.
The offense would not be listed on the individual’s Criminal Record Information System (CORI) record.
“People should vote yes on Question Two because it’s a simple, commonplace reform based on successful laws from 11 other states,” said Whitney A. Taylor, campaign manager for the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy, the ballot group advocating a “yes” vote.
“We waste $30 million a year in police resources enforcing the current marijuana possession laws.”
Taylor said her committee neither promotes nor condones marijuana use. Endorsers of the question range from the American Civil Liberties Union to lawyers, professors, police officers, and marijuana legal reform groups.
“Marijuana remains illegal under Question 2,” she said, arguing that the measure actually provides for more certain consequences for offenders under age 18.
While first-time offenders are rarely sentenced to jail, Taylor said inclusion of their arrest on their CORI report can “create huge barriers to getting a job, finding housing, and getting school loans.”
Epstein, who as a lawyer has represented many clients charged with marijuana possession, said offenders are “labeled criminals for doing something that over half of us have done at least once in our lifetimes,” a label that “follows you around” because of the CORI listing. He also said that enforcement of the existing law is arbitrary.
A founder and spokesman for Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition, Epstein noted that advisory questions calling for decriminalizing marijuana have passed in all 31 legislative districts where they have been on the ballot.
But Middlesex District Attorney Gerard Leone said the ballot measure “derails all the good and hard work we’ve done on behalf of kids and communities. . . . All the question does is provide another mind-altering substance on the menu of options for our kids to use. . . . It’s a virtual certainty that if Question 2 passes, there will be an increase in marijuana use and it will happen amongst our kids.”
Leone and his fellow district attorneys are members of the Coalition for Safe Streets, a group opposing the question that also includes police chiefs, local officials, and clergy members.
“We know it’s a gateway drug, and we know kids who use marijuana use it in combination with alcohol or other drugs, and step up to other, more potent drugs,” Leone said.
“We also know the strain of marijuana on the streets is now nine or 10 times more potent than it was a decade ago.”
Essex lawyer Jonathan W. Blodgett agreed that Question 2 “absolutely sends the wrong message, particularly to young people.”
“The question people have to ask is, who benefits from decriminalization. Do we really want kids smoking marijuana? . . . We are all promoting healthy choices in our lives today. This is just a major step back,” said Blodgett.
“If this passes, we will see more car accidents and more industrial accidents because people will have absolutely no incentive not to smoke marijuana.”
Blodgett also said the measure will not reduce police and court costs, noting that in most cases, marijuana possession charges are brought together with more serious offenses.
Also opposed to the ballot question is Amy Harris, clinical director of Chelsea ASAP, an outpatient substance abuse clinic in Chelsea, and coordinator of the Chelsea Mobilization for Change, a coalition that works on substance abuse prevention.
Harris said decriminalization would lead to greater availability of marijuana in the form of “blunts, the cigar-sized marijuana cigarettes now prevalent among young people.
She said such heavy consumption of the drug puts youth at risk for cancer and psychological damage. Decriminalization would also have the effect of “sanctioning the drug so youths can emulate what the adults are doing,” she said.
But Ann Allen, a medical technician from Salem, supports Question 2, calling the proposal “long overdue.”
“It’s just very logical,” she said, noting that it would eliminate the CORI records that now burden offenders, and save money for taxpayers.
Allen said she was introduced to the cause of easing marijuana laws when a friend with cancer – who has since died – had to risk legal sanctions to obtain marijuana to relieve chemotherapy symptoms.
“She felt uncomfortable doing it illegally, like every other person I know that has smoked marijuana as a responsible adult,” she said.
Source: http://www.boston.com/globe/
Filed under: Hemp&Law, hemp in general | Tags: Boston, cannabis, ganja, hashish, hemp, marijuana, Massachusetts, pot, skunk, weed
Massachusetts — This weekend, thousands of demonstrators from Boston and beyond converged at Boston Common to show their support for “Question 2,” a proposition on the Nov. 4 ballot that would effectively decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana in Massachusetts.
Decriminalization of marijuana would certainly free up millions of dollars for a needy law enforcement system. But decriminalization means more to the commonwealth than just freed-up funds and relaxed laws regulating the drug; it means preventing thousands of talented citizens from being from losing career opportunities because of frivolous criminal records.
For nearly a century, the federal government has vilified and outlawed marijuana, and only recently has the practice of anti-marijuana propaganda and prohibition come under individual state scrutiny.
Recreational use of marijuana was brought to the United States by Mexican immigrants in the early 1910s. Then, much like today, Mexican immigration faced prejudice. Marijuana became associated with those who brought it, and politicians acted to stop the encroaching what one PBS documentary called the “marijuana menace.”
Since that time, the drug has faced increasing pressure and political condemnation, and is currently listed as a “Schedule I” – the most severe – substance by federal law, along with such mind-bending substances as LSD and heroin. This headstrong policy history has lead to millions of marijuana-related arrests and billions of tax dollars spent on enforcement.
Currently, a first-time offender of possession of the drug – in any amount – faces up to six months incarceration and/or a $500 fine in Massachusetts. This is more lenient than the federal law, which stipulates up to a year behind bars and a $1000 fine, but laws still provide for imprisonment to those who possess the plant.
Moreover, the commonwealth still has mandatory sentencing laws, all but guaranteeing a trip to jail for otherwise law-abiding, peaceful citizens.
But what may prove most damaging to both the economy and culture of Massachusetts is the long-term effects of the CORI system. The Criminal Offender Record Information system is a streamlined way for potential employers to check the criminal record of any citizen.
Though the system is intended to protect citizens from violent offenders, most companies can access the CORI system for simple background checks through a variety of loopholes and legal methods. Despite growing criticism of the system, companies can — and do — check the record of applicants that were ever convicted of a marijuana offense, no matter the amount of possession.
A simple “background check” may spell disaster for those who have used marijuana. A small-time drug bust decades ago may mean big-time problems for many talented state residents who are looking for honest employment.
With Question 2, Massachusetts aims to become the 13th state to decriminalize marijuana. Decriminalization would reduce the penalty for small amounts of possession to those of minor traffic violations, and would nearly do away with jail time — and costly criminal records — for most users. It’s about time.
Recreational use of marijuana is a victimless crime. Those who choose to get high from the indigenous plant are hurting no one but themselves, if at all. According to the the British House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, marijuana is not only considered safer than the much-abused tobacco in terms of physical harm, but also in terms of physical dependance. Users don’t deflate into a pile on a couch, and their dogs don’t start talking to them, either.
With all the costs facing a continued battle against the drug, decriminalization is a no-brainer for the commonwealth. Freeing up funds for other more pressing law enforcement programs is reason enough. Let’s breathe the economic and cultural benefits of thousands less “criminals” in the commonwealth as a hit of fresh air.
Source: Daily Free Press
Filed under: Hemp&Law, HempTherapy, hemp in general | Tags: Boston, cannabis, ganja, hashish, hemp, marijuana, Massachusetts, pot, skunk, weed
Massachusetts — Thousands of marijuana enthusiasts gathered at Boston Common Saturday afternoon for the 19th annual Freedom Rally to celebrate marijuana and raise awareness about “Question 2″ on the November election ballots.
If passed, “Question 2″ would decriminalize the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana for individuals over 18 years of age, decreasing the maximum fine for possession from $500 to $100 and eliminating jail time altogether. Individuals under the age of 18 must complete a drug awareness program and provide community service along with the fine.
The rally included performances from nearly a dozen musical acts and guest speakers, and was sponsored by the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition and the Massachusetts chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Event organizers expected 30,000 to 40,000 people to support the rally in the Common, NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said.
St. Pierre also said he expected between 50 and 100 individuals to be arrested for marijuana possession and other offenses.
“The Boston police are quite adversarial to this event,” he said.
Boston Police Sgt. William Ridge said a number of people under the age of 18 had been arrested and projected that there would be more.
BPD spokesman Eddy Crispin said two individuals were arrested at the rally and 72 were given a court summons.
NORML founder Keith Stroup said the burgeoning number of marijuana users aged 55 and older will help pass the initiative due to their higher voter turnout rates. In order for the initiative to pass, Question 2 needs to get 51 percent. Stroup said he expected voter turnout to be around 60 percent.
“It’s time for this country to move on from this issue,” Stroup said.
Christine Black, the 17-year-old granddaughter of Grammas for Ganja Executive Director Jeanne “Magic” Ferguson, spoke to the crowd about her support for the decriminalization of marijuana after seeing friends being arrested as juveniles for the non-violent crime of marijuana possession and “throwing their lives away” because of it.
Source: Daily Free Press
Filed under: Hemp&Law, hemp in general | Tags: Boston, cannabis, Dea, drug, ganja, hashish, hemp, marijuana, Massachusetts, pot, skunk, war on drug, weed
Boston, MA — Backers of a pro-marijuana ballot initiative charged yesterday that 11 district attorneys from Massachusetts violated campaign-finance laws and twisted the truth about the question.
Whitney Taylor, of the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy, said the DAs raised and spent money to oppose the question before forming their Coalition to Save Our Streets. Campaign-finance laws require groups to form a committee before raising and spending money.
Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone brushed aside the group’s criticism, calling it a “ploy” to distract attention from critics of the ballot question.
Leone attended a rally on the steps of the State House yesterday with other district attorneys, police, clergy and community organizers to call for the measure’s defeat.
“I’m not sure what the proponents of this question were smoking when they brought this to our state,” said the Rev. Jeffrey Brown. “We don’t need more weed.”
The question would make possession of an ounce or less of marijuana a civil rather than criminal offense, punishable by a $100 fine.
Opponents say such a change in law would essentially normalize the use of marijuana, while supporters say it would reduce a burden on the criminal-justice system by sparing those found with small amounts from facing a criminal record and jail.
Taylor’s group has filed complaints with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance and the attorney general’s office, and against the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association and the public-relations firm hired to handle opposition to the question.
“This was an attempt to keep their organization as covert as they could for as long a possible,” Taylor said. The group also named Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett and Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz individually.
Taylor said state records show the district attorneys began raising money as early as July 18, but didn’t file a statement of organization with the state until Sept. 5.
An official from the Office of Campaign and Political Finance said the Coalition to Save Our Streets was originally formed as a political action committee that the district attorneys used to oppose Question 2. They changed their status to a ballot question committee on Sept. 5, after being informed that they needed to make the switch.
Taylor’s group has raised far greater sums than the district attorneys’ group, according to campaign finance reports.
The district attorneys raised just $27,670, virtually all of it from their own campaign accounts, while Taylor’s group has raised nearly $650,000.
The vast majority of the money raised by Taylor’s group came from outside Massachusetts, including a $400,000 donation from billionaire financier and liberal activist George Soros and $180,000 from the Washington D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project.
Taylor also faulted the district attorneys for using their state Web site to urge voters to oppose the question, and for misrepresenting the initiative.
In a statement on the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association Web site, the district attorneys say if the question is approved “any person may carry and use marijuana at any time.”
Taylor said if the question passed, possession of marijuana would still be illegal and anyone carrying or using marijuana would face a $100 fine.
Leone called Taylor’s accusations “a weak ploy to try to derail the public’s attention” about the negative fallout if the question failed. He said district attorneys are free to use money from their campaign accounts to support or oppose ballot questions.
At the rally, speakers said easing penalties would threaten recent positive trends in marijuana use among teens. They also said there’s a link between marijuana use and crime, car accidents and workplace safety.
“The same people dealing drugs now will be dealing drugs in the future, except they will have fewer obstacles,” said Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley. “Why would we put another monkey on society’s back?”
The district attorneys also said that existing law is fair.
Massachusetts law requires first-time drug offenders be placed on probation and that, at the successful conclusion of probation, “the case shall be dismissed and the record shall be sealed.”
If the question is approved, Massachusetts would become the 13th state to lift or ease criminal penalties on marijuana possession.
Source: Providence Journal
Filed under: HempTherapy, hemp in general | Tags: bacteria, cannabinoid, cannabis, ganja, hashish, hemp, marijuana, Massachusetts, medical cannabis, medical marijuana, pot, research, skunk, weed
Massachusetts — The mounting uses of medicinal marijuana got higher after researchers found compounds in marijuana can combat certain strands of bacteria. Despite these findings, many government organizations still prohibit the use of marijuana in research.
A recent study by Italian and U.K. scientists, which will be published in the Sept. Journal of Natural Products shows that cannabinoids, compounds found in marijuana, could be a potential answer to drug resistant strains of bacteria.
Researchers isolated five cannabinoids and tested them for their effectiveness against the bacteria present in drug resistant staph infections, like methicillin-resistant Staphyloccocus aurera, the bacteria responsible for difficult to treat staph infections. All five cannabinoids and synthetic cannabinoids proved successful against the bacteria, according to the study.
Center for Disease Control spokeswoman Christine Pearson said there are no numbers detailing how many MRSA infections occur in the U.S., but 12 million people visit their doctors for skin infections every year.
“The most recent study said that 85 percent of MRSA outbreaks are at hospitals or other health facilities,” said Pearson.
Pearson said she could not comment on the CDC’s stance on marijuana research or the European study that found cannabinoids to be successful at fighting MRSA.
However, David Rosenbloom, director of Join Together, a Boston University School of Public Health program devoted to “responsible” drug and alcohol policy, said he was not surprised by the effectiveness of cannabinoids on MRSA because a number of beneficial medicines come from plants.
Rosenbloom said the politics of marijuana use are interfering with the growth of substantial research.
“Neither the pro or con forces want reliable resources because they’re both convinced that their side is right,” Rosenbloom said.
Marijuana Policy Project spokesman Bruce Mirken said it is even difficult for researchers to get permission to use marijuana in their research.
“Unfortunately, in the U.S. medicinal marijuana has become a political problem,” Mirken said. “The federal government is deeply invested in demonizing marijuana and seems to be only paying lip service to any scientists that want to do serious research.”
The University of Mississippi is currently the only university in the U.S. allowed to grow marijuana for research. Any scientists who want to do research with marijuana must apply to the DEA for approval, Mirken said.
University of Massachusetts-Amherst researcher and professor Lyle Craker applied to the Drug Enforcement Agency to grow marijuana for medicinal purposes in in 2001 and was denied permission in 2004. Craker said it was difficult to do real research about potential medicinal benefits of marijuana because the government is committed to telling the public that marijuana is bad.
“In my opinion, we need to explore every avenue we have to protect our health and cure illness,” Craker said.
Source: Daily Free Press
Filed under: Hemp&Law, HempTherapy, hemp in general | Tags: cannabis, ganja, hashish, hemp, hemp laws, legalization, marijuana, Massachusetts, pot, weed
Massachusetts — Though it would still be illegal, smoking marijuana in Massachusetts won’t be a crime later this year if voters approve a statewide ballot initiative in November.
The Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy began in the fall of 2007 petitioning the state Legislature to make the punishment for possession of marijuana a civil infraction.
Currently, a person caught with marijuana faces up to six months in jail and up to a $500 fine, regardless of his or her age.
If the initiative passes, offenders 18 or older possessing one ounce or less would forfeit the marijuana and face a civil penalty of $100.
For offenders 18 years and under, parents or legal guardians would be notified. Offenders would also have to complete a program developed by the Department of Youth Services including 10 hours of community service and at least four hours of group discussion about the use and abuse of marijuana. If an offender 18 years and under fails to complete these requirements within a year, the fine increases to $1,000, and the person could be subject to a delinquency hearing.
Whitney Taylor, campaign manager, started the initiative process because it seemed like a good time to move forward.
“In the past there have been 30 non-binding questions and they have passed by an average win of 65 percent,” she said. “So when the public supports it and the Legislature doesn’t, this is the time to move forward.”
The committee needed 11,099 certified and validated signatures of registered voters in Massachusetts to have the question put on the ballot.
MassCann, the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition, the Massachusetts chapter of NORML, the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, supports the initiative.
“MassCann has taken a vote and supports the initiative,” said Bill Downing, president of the Massachusetts chapter. “Decriminalizing is a step toward rational means of regulation of adult use.”
Area legislators have some concerns.
“I’ve had quite a bit of conversation with my colleagues, and I am concerned about marijuana being a gateway drug,” said Rep. Pam Richardson, D-Framingham, who sits on the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Committee. “I’m not 100 percent convinced reducing the penalty for possession of marijuana is a good idea at this time, however, I am keeping my mind open.”
“I haven’t read the question thoroughly,” Sen. Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, said. “Conceptually, I haven’t supported it in the past, and definitely will not be supporting it in the future.”
Though regulating adult use may be gaining traction in the minds of some, Ashland Police Chief Scott Rohmer thinks marijuana usage is intolerable.
“I would oppose (the initiative),” he said. “It’s an illegal substance and that’s how it should stay.”
Rohmer went on to say that Ashland Police see how drugs affect people’s lives and that when dealing with drugs, punishments should be harsh.
However, some residents had a different point of view.
“I think it’s a good idea,” said Sara Hougaboom of Natick. “Not to sound like a hippie, but it’s an herbal thing…and alcohol is just as bad, if not worse.”
“It’s got pros and cons,” said Jerry Gallant, of Framingham, of the decriminalization idea.
While he admitted the drug can have medicinal uses, Gallant believed there needed to be strict controls, like a doctor’s prescription, on how the drug might be used.
“But if it helps people, fine,” he said. “I don’t see anything wrong with it.”
“It shouldn’t be a crime. It doesn’t do anything, and it couldn’t do any worse than alcohol,” said Bernard Ellis, 82, of Ashland.
Anne DiVittorio of Milford said she was against it, citing the gateway drug argument.
“I see too many horror stories with it. For a lot of people, not everybody, it leads to (other problems).”
The 11 Massachusetts district attorneys oppose the initiative as well.
Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone said in a statement, “The issue of decriminalizing marijuana is a slippery slope and sends the wrong message to our children. Today, marijuana is more potent than ever, with nine times the level of (Tetrahydrocannabinol) than levels found in strains of the drug three decades ago.
Compounding this is the fact that users of marijuana are 10 times more likely to be injured, or injure others, in automobile crashes. With young people using and abusing alcohol and other legal drugs at troubling rates, to add another element to this already dangerous equation would be extremely detrimental, irresponsible, and hazardous to our community as a whole.”
Others did not see the issue as so black and white.
“I’m so uncertain. I don’t think it’s necessarily a good thing to provide more ways for people to get in trouble, but I’m undecided,” said Kathy Bogue, 46, of Framingham.
“I’m honestly neither for it nor against it,” said Matt Donovan, 22, of Framingham.
Some organizations, such as Mothers Against Destructive Decisions, have not formed a formal opinion yet, but a spokesman for the Massachusetts chapter, David DeIuliis, said MADD acknowledges driving under the influence of drugs impairs a person’s ability to drive, and that in some cases, drunken driving crashes also involve some level of drug impairment.
If the initiative passes in the November election, the new laws will be in effect on Dec. 4, 2008.
Staff reporter Peter Reuell and correspondent Ashley Studley contributed to this report.
Source: Milford Daily News, The (MA)
Website: http://www.milforddailynews.com
