cannabisnews.com: Higher and Higher: Reefer Sanity





Higher and Higher: Reefer Sanity
Posted by CN Staff on August 11, 2004 at 17:55:43 PT
By Krtisten Lombardi
Source: Boston Phoenix 
Here’s a telling piece of drug-law-reform trivia: in every election cycle since 2000, Massachusetts voters have strongly favored ballot questions calling for marijuana decriminalization. To date, residents in 58 cities and towns across the state, including in Boston, have supported — by an average of 61 percent — referendums that instruct legislators to make possession of an ounce of pot a civil violation, as well as to legalize medical-marijuana use for patients with diseases such as cancer.
"We’ve never lost yet," says Jon Holmes, an Allston activist who has worked on these ballot questions with members of the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition (MASS CANN) and the Drug Policy Forum. The state’s voters, he adds, "have decided it’s a bad idea to arrest and prosecute people for pot."The ballot questions are non-binding, which means that state lawmakers can choose to ignore voters’ wishes. And, evidently, they do. In legislative session after legislative session, drug-reform groups have filed bills on Beacon Hill that would decriminalize minor pot offenses and enable sick people to grow small amounts of pot for medicinal purposes. And just as routinely, House and Senate members succeed in stymieing the bills. This year, for example, a measure that would have made possession of an ounce or less of marijuana the equivalent of a civil violation, "like a traffic ticket," has been languishing in the Joint Committee on Criminal Justice because, as Holmes puts it, "no one has the political courage to do anything."So this election year, activists are at it again. They’ve collected signatures from 5500-plus voters throughout the state to put marijuana-regulation referendums on the ballot come November. This time, the questions will appear in the districts of both chairs of the criminal-justice committee — Senator Thomas McGee, a Lynn Democrat; and Representative James Vallee, a Franklin Democrat. In addition, the referendums — which ask voters whether possession of marijuana should be punished as nothing more than "a civil violation," and whether "seriously ill patients, with their doctor’s written prescription" should be able to grow small amounts of pot for medicinal use — will appear in 46 other communities, including Cambridge and Arlington.Activists hope the ballot questions will encourage lawmakers — in particular, McGee and Vallee — in these districts to get behind the pending pot-reform legislation. "We want to deliver the hard evidence to legislators," says Bill Downing, who heads Mass Cann. "We want to put them on notice and say, ‘This issue is not going to go away. Do your job and represent your people.’"Some legislators actually do respond to non-binding voter initiatives. Case in point: Senator Charles Shannon, the main sponsor of the pending decriminalization bill, who used to be a just-say-no-to-drugs politician. In 1991, when activists were pushing a medical-marijuana bill in the legislature, recalls Holmes, "Shannon said, ‘Whoa! Wait a minute. We can’t have this.’" In 2000, activists put a referendum on the ballot in Shannon’s district, which comprises Woburn, Somerville, Medford, and Winchester. As many as 66 percent of his constituents voted in favor of decriminalization. The results caused Shannon, a veteran Lexington police officer, to change his tune. Now, he’s one of the drug reformers’ biggest allies on Beacon Hill.Whether McGee and Vallee will follow Shannon’s lead remains to be seen. But if nothing else, drug reformers will find out just where the voters stand on the issue. Then again, given past results, they’re pretty confident about how things will turn out."A lot of these guys [legislators] don’t think their people support these efforts," says Downing. "But they do, so we’re forcing legislators to listen."Source: Boston Phoenix (MA) Author: Krtisten LombardiPublished: August 13 - 19, 2004 - Issue DateCopyright: 2004 The Phoenix Media Communications GroupContact: letters phx.com Website: http://www.bostonphoenix.com/Related Articles & Web Site:MassCann NORMLhttp://www.masscann.org/Waiting To Inhale http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19303.shtmlLegalizing of Marijuana Use May Head To Ballothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19281.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by The GCW on August 12, 2004 at 04:34:15 PT
Batter up!
Slugger.Batting a thousand.1000Hit those Biblically, historically discredited cannabis prohibition laws, out of the stadium.And may cannabis prohibitionists go to the ball.
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Comment #4 posted by CorvallisEric on August 12, 2004 at 02:06:06 PT
OT election trivia - Alaska 2000 - for geeks only
This little oddity may have escaped attention, but I happen to like staring at lists of numbers, graphs, maps, etc.The 2000 Alaska Hemp Initiative lost by 59.12% to 40.88%. One thing that stood out about this ballot item, compared with other statewide issues and candidates, is that participation came much closer to 100%. In other words, almost everyone who turned in the statewide ballot voted on this. This ballot contained 6 questions, U.S. Congress, and yes/no on judges. Out of 283976 ballots cast, the Hemp Initiative had 279636 total votes, or 1.53% not voting. The next-most popular item (something involving wildlife) had 275805 total votes, or 2.88% not voting. The ever-popular issue of property tax had 3.50% not voting. (Note: can't compare popularity with the Presidency which seems to have been on a different ballot by itself since the ballots-cast number was slightly higher.)http://www.gov.state.ak.us/ltgov/elections/elect00/00genr/data/results.htmOf course, the important question is: What will happen this Nov. 2 with the new, improved initiative.
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Comment #3 posted by siege on August 11, 2004 at 21:52:07 PT
 PRISONS NEEDLESSLY OVERPOPULATED WITH DRUG OFFEND
http://www.mapinc.org/tlcnews/v04/n1118/a03.html?116519
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on August 11, 2004 at 21:47:28 PT
siege
That's great to read! Thank you! Here's Walter Cronkite's latest article. It has widely published. I respect Walter Cronkite.http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread19301.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by siege on August 11, 2004 at 21:26:26 PT
Walter Cronkite Speaks Out on Reform
Walter Cronkite has often been described as "the most trusted man in America."I am delighted to tell you that he has joined the Drug Policy Alliance's new U.S. Honorary Board.
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