cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Questions on Several Local Ballots










  Marijuana Questions on Several Local Ballots

Posted by CN Staff on August 23, 2004 at 14:00:16 PT
By Emily Shartin, Globe Staff 
Source: Boston Globe  

Drug reform activists, convinced that law enforcement resources would be better spent on other crimes, will ask voters in several area communities this fall to weigh in on reducing penalties for marijuana possession.Proponents of the change have succeeded in getting a series of nonbinding questions -- meant to gauge public opinion -- on ballots this November in communities across Greater Boston.
In Bellingham and Milford, voters will consider the legality of medicinal marijuana -- allowing seriously ill patients to grow the drug for medical use. In Boylston, Northborough, Franklin, and parts of Medway, voters will weigh in on whether the penalty for possession should be reduced from a criminal charge to a civil violation subject to a fine.According to state law, first-time marijuana offenders are typically placed on probation, but the law also allows for imprisonment and fines for possession. Opponents of relaxing the rules say marijuana use is often the first step toward drug addiction and see no point in amending current policies, but supporters of the change say it's a waste of money to prosecute low-level possession offenses.''Let's save our scarce law enforcement dollars for more serious crimes," said Whitney Taylor, executive director of the Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts, an organization that supports the use of marijuana for medical purposes, a treatment that Taylor said helped ease her stepfather's discomfort when he became terminally ill.This year's ballot questions, which are slated to appear in 11 legislative districts and are cosponsored by the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition, follow similar initiatives in 2000 and 2002. Both years, according to the Drug Policy Forum, which has helped push formal legislative efforts to reform laws, the measures passed in every district; in 2000, voters in the 6th Middlesex House district in Framingham supported reducing the penalties for possession.Advocates of the changes say they hope to use voter sentiment this year as part of their effort to persuade legislators to change state law.But despite what seems like growing public support for relaxing marijuana laws, some lawmakers remain unconvinced.State Representative James Vallee, a Franklin Democrat who cochairs the Legislature's Joint Committee on Criminal Justice, said previous legislation to reduce penalties for marijuana possession garnered no support from members of his committee.Vallee said he worries that efforts to decriminalize marijuana could lead to a similar push for other substances. He said drugs are a significant problem that warrants more than penalties akin to a traffic ticket.''No one's given me any reason why we should decriminalize marijuana," Vallee said. ''I just don't see any significant reason why we should."Vallee said he was uncertain whether his stance would change, if voters in his district end up supporting the changes. ''I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," he said.State Representative Harold Naughton, a Clinton Democrat whose district includes Boylston and Northborough, said he was concerned that marijuana is a ''gateway drug" that could lead to more serious drug use. He said, however, that the ballot questions could lead to valuable discussions about incarceration for drug offenses and treatment.But some local legislators have already registered their support of drug policy reform.State senators Cynthia Stone Creem, a Newton Democrat, and Steven Tolman, a Brighton Democrat whose district includes Watertown, supported a bill in the last legislative session penalizing first-time possession of less than an ounce of marijuana with a fine of $100. Creem said money saved on public safety could be used to bolster treatment programs.''We're not looking ahead at how we spend our money," she said.Ten states have legalized the medical use of marijuana, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.But in 2001, the US Supreme Court ruled that people who supply marijuana to patients are not protected from prosecution.US Representative Barney Frank, a Democrat of Newton, has cosponsored legislation that would allow doctors in states that have legalized medicinal marijuana to prescribe the drug and allow those states to designate legal sources of marijuana.As far as the Bush administration is concerned, Scott Burns, deputy director of the White House Drug Policy Office, said marijuana has grown more potent over the past 30 years, and more young people are in treatment for marijuana use than any other drug.He said his office wants children to see drug users face serious consequences.Supporters of drug policy reform say they have to fight perceptions that they are part of the cause for self-serving reasons -- namely that they want to smoke with impunity.Yakov Kronrod, a 23-year-old Worcester resident, said he does not smoke but became involved in the issue after a college friend was caught with marijuana and lost his federal financial aid.Taylor believes the ballot questions will help give a voice to those with similar perspectives.''You can get a true feeling of what voters feel," she said.Note: Nonbinding proposals aim to ease penalties.Source: Boston Globe (MA)Author: Emily Shartin, Globe StaffPublished: August 22, 2004Copyright: 2004 Globe Newspaper CompanyContact: letter globe.comWebsite: http://www.boston.com/globe/Related Articles & Web Sites:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/MassCannhttp://www.masscann.org/A Show of Support for Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19383.shtmlHigher and Higher: Reefer Sanityhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19323.shtmlWaiting To Inhale http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19303.shtmlLegalizing of Marijuana Use May Head To Ballothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19281.shtml 

Home    Comment    Email    Register    Recent Comments    Help





Comment #11 posted by FoM on August 31, 2004 at 21:16:49 PT
siege 
I have been really thinking about joining AARP. Because of them going to bat for medical marijuana I will join. My mother was the President of a big chapter of AARP years ago. I think it was a chapter. I'm sure it wasn't all of AARP. She seemed to enjoy the work.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #10 posted by siege on August 24, 2004 at 09:39:27 PT
             AARP
this time it is going to be the 
AARP. 60's-type outbreak catalyst medicinal marijuana. thees are the 60's people
now 30 million members, is the most powerful special interest group lobbying Congress for medicinal marijuana. Oct. 2004 to wake up voters befor Nov. because we are tired of geting busted.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #9 posted by FoM on August 24, 2004 at 08:47:49 PT
Just a Note
I've been looking for news but I haven't found any worth posted so far. I have a feeling it will be slow because of the RNC coming up. I wasn't worried about problems at the DNC but I am worried about what could happen at the RNC. I'll keep looking for news though!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #8 posted by Sam Adams on August 24, 2004 at 08:19:12 PT
Rebellion
We WOULD be due for another 60's-type outbreak now - unnecessary war halfway around the world, society turning massively conservative. However, the missing ingredient is the draft - it was the big catalyst that got people going in the 60s.Today's kids mostly watch the war on FOX news like some kind of blockbuster movie. They're busy with videogames and TV. Many have been brainwashed into materialistic waifs, slaves to their own credit cards. Of course the adults are just as bad, if not worse. But rebellion usuallly comes from pissed-off youth.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by Hope on August 24, 2004 at 07:38:06 PT
Breeze...
Excellent comment. Excellent!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by BigDawg on August 24, 2004 at 05:24:32 PT
''No one's given me any reason..."
Give a reason why it should be legalized???I'm still waiting for a reason why cannabis is ILLEGAL!We shouldn't be explain why it should be legalized... THEY should be explaining why it is CRIMINALIZED with NO victim.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by breeze on August 24, 2004 at 04:09:58 PT
re-Comment #1
You are correct that the policy makers and enforcers wish for the masses to fear them, they believe that fear leads to submission and control.The one thing that they are over looking, is that FEAR LEADS TO HATRED!!!And what does hatred lead to? An invitation to rebel, on several fronts, against the thing that is hated. I only hope that society would realize how hate and the primal causes of such a thing (fear) create NOTHING that is positive, enlightening, or beneficial- it only destroys respect and discipline.The people who are using law enforcement to keep kids from using marijuana are indeed paving a road to hell with good intentions, because they are denying adults the right to do so as well. I am not a child, and I have reason to fear my government- and I hate many of those who try to tell me how to live my life. I have reason to hate, and I am justified in what I have seen, experienced, and heard about the drug war. Is it positive? No, I could be focusing on other issues that this world needs- but I see this particular issue as the one that defiantly and definitely needs the most attention. There are so many rights and wrongs, it seems so pathetic that people from all walks of life would even consider supporting the issue of prohibition by NOT taking a stand against those who have demonized the activities of a few and interlaced them with the activities of the many. But then, humanity as a whole seems lacking logic in so many areas, too long a list for this post. No wonder GOD wants to destroy the planet and start over.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by b4daylight on August 24, 2004 at 00:09:38 PT
The Truth
They do not want to hear it.
So we fight as expats to get our patriot rights back and Hemp growing in the wild through legal ways and we wait and wait it has been 8 years and we are still dealing with CA. Why will you not honor that states position? I think we need to ask Mr. Bush this question. I am against you and want my country back.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by mayan on August 23, 2004 at 18:22:18 PT
No Reason???
''No one's given me any reason why we should decriminalize marijuana," Vallee said. ''I just don't see any significant reason why we should."Perhaps you could pull your head out of the sand?One reason - "JAIL"The way out is the way in...More Holes in Official Story - The 9/11 Cell Phone Calls:
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO408B.html9/11 Cell Phone Calls From Planes? Not Likely:
http://rense.com/general56/cellpp.htm9/11 MIRACLES AND WONDERS
http://www.nypress.com/17/30/news&columns/AlanCabal.cfm 9/11 Coincidences And Oddities Page:
http://thewebfairy.com/killtown/oddities.html9/11 Truth:
http://www.911truth.org/
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #2 posted by FoM on August 23, 2004 at 15:18:37 PT

News Article from The Atlantic Monthly
I can't figure out when this artiicle was published so I thought I'd post it here. It says 1994 but that doesn't seem right. Here it is.***Reefer Madness By Eric Schlosser Marijuana has not been de facto legalized, and the war on drugs is not just about cocaine and heroin. In fact, today, when we don't have enough jail cells for murderers, rapists, and other violent criminals, there may be more people in federal and state prisons for marijuana offenses than at any other time in U.S. history. In the state of Indiana a person convicted of armed robbery will serve about five years in prison; someone convicted of rape will serve about twelve; and a convicted murderer can expect to spend twenty years behind bars. These figures are actually higher than the figures nationwide: eight years and eight months in prison is the average punishment for an American found guilty of murder. The prison terms given by Indiana judges tend to be long, but with good behavior an inmate will serve no more than half the nominal sentence. Those facts are worth keeping in mind when considering the case of Mark Young. At the age of thirty-eight Young was arrested at his Indianapolis home for brokering the sale of 700 pounds of marijuana grown on a farm in nearby Morgan County. Young was tried and convicted under federal law. He had never before been charged with drug trafficking. He had no history of violent crime. Young's role in the illegal transaction had been that of a middleman—he never distributed the drugs; he simply introduced two people hoping to sell a large amount of marijuana to three people wishing to buy it. The offense occurred a year and a half prior to his arrest. No confiscated marijuana, money, or physical evidence of any kind linked Young to the crime. He was convicted solely on the testimony of co-conspirators who were now cooperating with the government. On February 8, 1992, Mark Young was sentenced by Judge Sarah Evans Barker to life imprisonment without possibility of parole. There was so much talk in the 1970s about the decriminalization of marijuana, and the smoking of marijuana is so casually taken for granted in much of our culture, that many people assume that a marijuana offense these days will rarely lead to a prison term. But in fact there may be more people in prison today for violating marijuana laws than at any other time in the nation's history. Calculations based on data provided by the Bureau of Prisons and the United States Sentencing Commission suggest that one of every six inmates in the federal prison system—roughly 15,000 people—has been incarcerated primarily for a marijuana offense. The number currently being held in state prisons and local jails is more difficult to estimate; a conservative guess would be an additional 20,000 to 30,000. And Mark Young's sentence, though unusual, is by no means unique. A dozen or more marijuana offenders may now be serving life sentences in federal penitentiaries without hope of parole; if one includes middle-aged inmates with sentences of twenty or thirty or forty years, the number condemned to die in prison may reach into the hundreds. Other inmates—no one knows how many—are serving life sentences in state correctional facilities across the country for growing, selling, or even possessing marijuana.http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/199408/schlosser
[ Post Comment ]



 


Comment #1 posted by dongenero on August 23, 2004 at 14:17:30 PT

Bush agenda
As far as the Bush administration is concerned, Scott Burns, deputy director of the White House Drug Policy Office, said marijuana has grown more potent over the past 30 years, and more young people are in treatment for marijuana use than any other drug.He said his office wants children to see drug users face serious consequences.So...they want children to see otherwise law abiding citizens face harsh, inhumane, draconian penalties at the hands of a punitive, incompassionate Government... for a victimless crime. It all makes sense if your goal is for the citizens to have such a fear of their government that they will not risk speaking out against its policies.
[ Post Comment ]






  Post Comment