cannabisnews.com: Voters Going To Pot Voters Going To Pot Posted by CN Staff on August 27, 2004 at 19:52:13 PT By Max Bowen Source: Abington Mariner Marijuana activists say the people have spoken. But are the politicians listening? The consensus among the members of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws is no, the politicians aren't listening. But that isn't stopping the organization from putting decriminalization and legalization of marijuana for medicinal uses on the election ballot this November. There will be three marijuana-related questions for the voters to consider when they go to the polls in November, which if passed will be voted on by members of the House and Senate. The first question calls for making possession of marijuana a civil violation like a traffic ticket, and requiring the police to hold a person under the age of 18 cited for possession until they are released to a parent or legal guardian or brought before a judge. The second is along the same lines, and asks for the penalty of possessing less than one ounce of marijuana be a civil violation and subject to maximum fine of $100 and not subject to any criminal penalties. The final question asks for seriously ill patients, with their doctor's written recommendation, to possess and grow small amounts of marijuana for their personal medical use. The third question is the only one to be decided by politicians representing Abington. State Rep. Kathleen Teahan, D-Whitman, says that while she is in favor of people with cancer or AIDS being allowed to use marijuana, she isn't in favor of people growing marijuana, and thinks some changes need to be made to the questions in order for them to pass. " 'To be prescribed by a doctor' is what it should say," said Teahan. "Then I'd totally be in favor." While she believes the third question has a chance of passing, she thinks the first and second don't. Teahan said that she has not heard from anyone who says that the penalties need to be relaxed, and doesn't think the penalties should be lessened until cannabis is legalized for medical purposes. Jim Pillsbury, the spokesman for Metrowest NORML, says that while people are outwardly silent about these issues, in the voting booths they want to see them passed. According to Pillsbury, the lessening of penalties has passed by at least 60 percent everywhere the question has been presented, but despite this support, the House and Senate continually ignore these bills when they are presented to them. "The House ignores a lot of things. They ignore the voters, court rulings and they may ignore this," said Pillsbury. "They've ignored it up until this point." Pillsbury says the support for allowing marijuana for medicinal use has also received huge support from the people. The questions being presented are related, he said, since people who use marijuana medically are often arrested, even though the drug can sometimes be their only relief from the disease or from the treatment they have to undergo. The movement has made some progress so far. According to Pillsbury over 52 cities and towns have voted in favor of lessening the penalties, which a lot of people have seen as a way to save money in law enforcement. "The law is wasting its time by trying to lock up pot smokers," said Pillsbury. For the past 12 years the organization has been pushing the medical issue. and for longer than the 30 years the group has been active, people have been working to get the penalties lessened. The group started polling the public four years ago to get a better idea where their supporters were. At this point, Pillsbury says the fate of the questions will depend on who is at the helm of the House and Senate after the election in November. "The winds of change don't change very fast anymore," said Pillsbury, "But that doesn't stop us from doing the best we can to change things." Along with the 7th Plymouth House district, which includes Abington, question three will also go before Worcester and Norfolk Senate, the third Berkshire House and the 24th Middlesex House districts. Source: Abington Mariner (MA)Author: Max BowenPublished: Friday, August 27, 2004Copyright: 2004 Tri-Town TranscriptContact: abington cnc.comWebsite: http://www.townonline.com/abington/Related Articles & Web Sites:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/MassCannhttp://www.masscann.org/Marijuana Questions on Several Local Ballotshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19386.shtmlA Show of Support for Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19383.shtmlHigher and Higher: Reefer Sanityhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19323.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #4 posted by rchandar on August 28, 2004 at 13:53:33 PT: max yeah--gutless bastards, f $k 'em.--rchandar [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Max Flowers on August 28, 2004 at 10:09:50 PT Cowardice CorvallisEric: you have it right, and another word for it is cowardice. It's fear of change, fear that some of her constituents may not approve.Most politicians just sicken me with their waffling, wishy-washy, scaredy-cat, head-in-the-sand syndrome. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by CorvallisEric on August 27, 2004 at 23:44:05 PT Clueless? State Rep. Kathleen Teahan, D-Whitman, says that while she is in favor of people with cancer or AIDS being allowed to use marijuana, she isn't in favor of people growing marijuana ...Ah Yes, once again, manna from heaven. No, it will be supplied by criminals if no one can legally grow it.... and thinks some changes need to be made to the questions in order for them to pass. " 'To be prescribed by a doctor' is what it should say," said Teahan. "Then I'd totally be in favor."To be prescribed by a doctor - then the law won't work, like in Arizona. Prescriptions can only be written for drugs which have Federal approval.I've seen this kind of crap hundreds of times. Still can't tell if it's simple cluelessness or if it's clever and deliberate obstructionism. She seems to be saying that she wants to look sympathetic but doesn't want anything to change. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by siege on August 27, 2004 at 22:54:59 PT MENTAL HEALTH AND WORLD CITIZENSHIP By Dennis L. Cuddy, Ph.D. August 11, 2004 NewsWithViews.comIn a recent article, I related that the Bush administration's Secretary of Education Rod Paige last October 3 declared that the U.S. is pleased to rejoin UNESCO where we could develop common strategies to prepare our children to become "citizens of the world."# Member States - Africa - Arab States - Asia/Pacific - Europe/North America - Latin America/Caribbean # UNESCO Communities # Field NetworkThen on June 21 World Net Daily published "Life With Big Brother: Bush to screen population for mental illness" describing President Bush's "New Freedom Initiative" that would have every citizen receive a mental health screening. What one needs to guard against is the use of mental health to pursue world government. Think tank, standard-setter, catalyst for cooperation As one of UNESCO’s five specialized Sectors, we have the mission of advancing knowledge, standards and intellectual cooperation in order to facilitate social transformations where the values of justice, freedom and human dignity can be fully realized.http://www.newswithviews.com/Cuddy/dennis14.htm http://www.newswithviews.com/Cuddy/dennis15.htm http://www.newswithviews.com/Cuddy/dennis14.htm [ Post Comment ] Post Comment