cannabisnews.com: Boston Goes To Pot










  Boston Goes To Pot

Posted by CN Staff on January 04, 2009 at 06:29:59 PT
By Jessica Fargen and Dave Wedge  
Source: Boston Herald  

Massachusetts -- Relieved weed smokers brazenly lit up on Hub streets without fear of arrest for the first time as cops statewide sought to sort out how to handle Massachusetts’ weakened pot laws.“It’s super-relaxing,” said one 31-year-old professional as he fired up a joint in an East Boston park yesterday. “It’s just a lot more easy. I’m super happy this happened. It’s kind of like, ‘What’s the big deal?’ ”
Under the new state law that went into effect Thursday, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana became a civil infraction, rather than a criminal offense, punishable only by a $100 fine rather than arrest.“This is just a common sense adjustment to the law,” said Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project. “It’s not a day for parades. It’s a small step toward sanity.”Police across the state, meanwhile, scrambled to figure out how to enforce the new rules.In Boston, police brass sent out a training memo telling officers to use existing ticket books and give $100 citations to pot smokers by checking off “other” under the list of violations. Eventually, new ticket books will be printed that will include “marijuana possession” under the list of infractions, Boston police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said.Cambridge police public information officer Frank Pasquarello said the department is still working on how to issue the new fines.“We’re addressing it. We’ve always had discretion when someone has a small amount,” Pasquarello said. “It’s not like we grab everyone off the street smoking a joint anyway.”Raynham police Chief Lou Pacheco agreed, but said his officers will continue to arrest dealers who have less than an ounce if it’s packaged for distribution.“If they’ve got 20 or 30 joints, we’re going to charge them with possession with intent, even if it’s less than an ounce,” Pacheco said. “If it’s simple possession, we’ll just write them up.”Some cities and towns - at the urging of the state - are eyeing laws banning pot smoking in public.“(The weakened law is) sending the wrong message to a lot of kids,” said Lorrie Bruno, president of the Everett Common Council. “Marijuna is just a stepping stone to bigger and more expensive drugs.”Newshawk: Sam Adams Source: Boston Herald (MA)Author:    Jessica Fargen and Dave Wedge Published: Saturday, January 3, 2009Copyright: 2009 The Boston Herald, Inc.Website: http://www.bostonherald.com/Contact: letterstoeditor bostonherald.comURL: http://drugsense.org/url/mpOdB1QyRelated Articles:MJ Decriminalization Thrills Some, Worries Othershttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24401.shtmlNew Marijuana Law Shouldn't Pose Problemshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24394.shtml 

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Comment #22 posted by Hope on January 11, 2009 at 14:15:04 PT
Overcoming and overcoming some more...
They other day, I heard my soon to be eighty year old mother say... "I'm going to get my life back on track!" That made me smile.So, Greenfox, don't by any means get to thinking it's all over for you at thirty. It's probably not. So all we can really do is ... get after it.If you can breathe and you aren't doubled over in pain... now, you've got a head start over some in getting back "on track" and you also know about getting around that heroin "pit" in the road.
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Comment #21 posted by FoM on January 11, 2009 at 14:13:22 PT
Just My Thoughts
I am very cautious when I talk about drug addiction. I've been on both sides so I understand. This song speaks to me. I remember feeling like this song before. I hope people start to understand better.Neil Young: Music Arcadehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld4rcV-8XNI
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Comment #20 posted by Hope on January 11, 2009 at 13:54:25 PT
Afterburner
I think you're right.
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Comment #19 posted by afterburner on January 11, 2009 at 13:47:45 PT
Hope #18
I saw a cartoon years ago: a seeker goes to the wise man of the mountain and asks, "What is the purpose of life?" In response, the wise man shrivels up. I thought that that was a pessimistic view of life. Years later, I had a revelation that the true purpose of life is to overcome!Choose life, even though it inhabits these earth suits only for a brief time.
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Comment #18 posted by Hope on January 11, 2009 at 11:54:12 PT
I guess I will register over there
at YouTube, sooner or later. I feel like I should see the video, since you made it, Greenfox... but I'm scared of it as if it was a dose of heroin itself. I know it's going to be bad. I'll gird myself up for it. Just not quite yet.I'm sorry you had to suffer so, but I'm so glad you survived it.That's pretty much what we do with life... survive and overcome and rise above, move, or go around the obstacles that we find in our life's path.
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Comment #17 posted by Hope on January 11, 2009 at 11:48:29 PT
That addict
that was so sick those thirty so years ago is alive and well today and heroin free and has been all these years.We had tried to get her into a heroin rehab program. It was very difficult and ultimately, I'm glad we didn't. They might have killed her.
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Comment #16 posted by Hope on January 11, 2009 at 11:43:41 PT
Greenfox, Comment 10
That Cymbalta story is very disturbing. Brain shocks! Good grief.It's sickening that you've been added to the long list of those busted by the government for growing plants.I hope your roommate survived his overdose.Drug tests and the unforeseen result that the tests themselves incline people to use the more destructive drugs because they won't show on the tests as easily as the safer intoxicant, cannabis, have been among the worst of the unforeseen consequences and collateral damage of the drug test "tool" of the anti-drug warriors .Moping is dangerous. Don't mope too long. You're way too young to give up on making your way. Being back at your parents home is a "safety net" that you are privileged to have. You won't stay in the "safety net"... it caught you and kept you from hitting the total bottom and being homeless. You'll get on your feet and be able to help your parents out someday for being there for you during your hard times.Obviously, you've been trying to get an education as a base for your future work... but now that growing offense is on your record. Aaargh. Keep going, and maybe... hopefully, someday, we'll be able to see that all cannabis offenses are retroactively removed from everyone's government records. I can't watch the video at youtube without signing up. But I've seen the heroin struggle and I saw the heroin addict beat the heroin. She did use cannabis to help her get through it, and thankfully, wasn't tested to see what was in her blood or fluids that could incriminate her for something. Back then, more than thirty years ago, we didn't know it was actually quite good medicine for the cause of enduring the withdrawal from heroin... we just knew it comforted her and made it a considerable bit less hellish. We didn't know it really was medicine for the nausea... we just knew it helped. It did, remarkably so.Arrogant, busybody, know nothings would have killed that woman... I thank God that she managed to get away from the heroin without being abused to death or prison by the busy body know nothings that are so powerful in government and business today.
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on January 10, 2009 at 19:52:06 PT

greenfox
Thank you for sharing the video. I lost a brother in law to a heroin overdose. He lost his girfriend to a heroin overdose. 
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Comment #14 posted by greenfox on January 10, 2009 at 19:36:04 PT:

A video to explain
This link is a VERY PERSONAL VIDEO that I made.... it explains the battles I, and others, have had with hard drugs.(WARNING!!! NOT FOR MINORS!!!!)If you have the stomach to see my trials, please watch.Otherwise, disregard.
Heroin- the TRUE reality!!!! (18+ ONLY please!!!!)
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on January 10, 2009 at 17:17:26 PT

greenfox
I am much older then you so using the term a shame is about all the energy I can muster up. I'm just kidding but I'm not really. Getting fired up was for years ago. Just getting by is my goal these days. One day at a time while our countries economy falls apart. Trucking in steel has stopped almost totally. We can get by for a few more months. It will have to break loose or drivers with big payments on their rigs will continue to lose them. We have friends in their mid forties and I think they thought we were a little too worried about the economy but now they see it is for real.
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Comment #12 posted by greenfox on January 10, 2009 at 17:01:10 PT:

A shame??!?!
THAT, madame, is the UNDERSTATEMENT of the century. I don't know if you remember my old posts, but, a steady dead-head here, I have BEEN to Amsterdam 10+ times (probably ten, maybe 11 times,) and I have SEEN the other side of the looking glass.Nowadays, I spend most of my time moping, unemployed, 30 years old and living with my parents. THAT is the shame. If not for our wonderful and colorful "laws" against a plant, I would be long gone from this terrorist (against its own) police state and, at very least moved to Canada, and and best, moved to the Netherlands (*Holland*), or Switzerland; WHICH, in my HUMBLE opinion (i've been there too!) is the most beautiful place on Earth.Peace and take care of yourself.PS- I understand opioids better than probably ANY poster on this site; they are a miracle and a curse. As my FAVORITE author Dale Pendell put it, "Morpheus is the GOD OF DREAMS; approach him *with swords drawn!*"(Pharmako/Poeia, by Dale Pendell; Chapter: Euphorica)
((aka on the NATURE of addiction))a classic book. I suggest it to ALL interested in ACTUAL FACTUAL learning. Link posted:
Pharmako/Poeia: Plant Powers, Poisons, and Herbcraft
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on January 10, 2009 at 16:06:03 PT

greenfox 
It's really nice to see you. I was addicted to legal pain pills years ago. I never had pain like I did back then when going thru withdrawal. I had seizures too they said but I don't barely remember. I believe we have many people addicted to narcotics etc. in our state. If a person goes to a pain clinic they test them for marijuana so they give it up. The one substance that will help them and they can't have it. It's a shame beyond measure to me.
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Comment #10 posted by greenfox on January 10, 2009 at 15:35:33 PT:

Dear Hope:
I am an English Major and have a minor in Writing. I have Seen and (unfortunately) EXPERIENCED, first hand the slow hand of doom (death) that comes in myriad form over our colleges, our towns, our very community. People don't like to speak of it; it remains a shadow word; but diacytyl-morphine, more commonly known as HEROIN, is making a come back- and it's HUGE! Because of the prohibition on marijuana, (*trust me* I know this FIRST HAND being on SUBOXONE for more than TWO YEARS!!!!) people are turning to EASIER to reach substances. Did I say EASIER?!? I meant it. If not HEROIN, then Oxycontin or its derivatives. Pills, powders, and death in a spoon or death in a pin- it's all the same. MEANWHILE people are receiving higher and higher penalties for simple possession and here's the REALLY sad part: Bea cause marijuana is so BENIGN it stays lodged in the fat cells. Save for benzodiazapams, (valium, xanax, etc,) there is no alkaloid like marijuana that stays in the system so long. The result?!? Simple "smokers" looking for psychological, physiological, or PHYSICAL relief are being turned to the probation money making machine. I have stood in line with MANY others, waiting to give URINE SAMPLES to my lab to justify my existence to my probation officer, and I've heard the following conversation MANY, MANY, *MANY* times, (and it BREAKS MY HEART!): "Well, I can't smoke weed cuz' it stays in the system TOO LONG, so instead I just snort a little COCAINE; after all, COCAINE stays in the body LESS THAN THREE DAYS (all true,);"or;"Well, I can't sleep at night; so I take a shot of HEROIN; after all, my drug tests are once a month or once every three to four weeks and HEROIN leaves the body in about 3 - 5 days (also true!)It BREAKS MY HEART- but I've heard it more times than you can count. I've been caught; I don't mind speaking of it because it's over and done with and double jeopardy applies- that is, they can't "get me" for a crime I've "paid" for- but I was LUCKY enough to have a good lawyer. My room mate overdosed on HEROIN, IV. DESPITE the fact he was DRAGGED outside my home and DESPITE the fact that the officers KNEW what he was on, (the "friend" of my friend told the ER when they showed up,) they still used the ol' "exigent circumstances" to BREAK INTO my home and find my garden of 198 plants. If I had TWO MORE PLANTS I wouldn't be typing this now; I'd be doing a MANDATORY MINIMUM sentence of 10 years; no PAROLE until 8 and a 1/2 in this fine state. Unbelievable! The point to this plethora of plausible babble?!? MARIJUANA is the "enemy of the state" - the powders and (*most*) pills leave the system quickly enough so that the powers that be can be cheated. Like I said, save for PCP, Benzos, and MARIJUANA (oh, that DREADED, NON-lethal plant!), there ARE NO CHEMICALS that stay in the body more than 7 days after a single use. And it's sad. The more deadly the drug? The quicker it leaves the body.  Here's a run down, using CONSERVATIVE estimates (and I know my stuff, I was ALMOST a pharmacology major!!) so I can attest to these stats- they, of course, vary person to person, but I digress....HEROIN: 3 to 5 DAYS
COCAINE: 1 to 4 DAYS
CRACK Cocaine: 1 to 3 DAYS
AMPHETAMINES: 1 to 2 and a half days
METHAMPHETAMINE: 1 DAY!!!Valium: 2-6 WEEKS (depending on usage)
Marijuana: 1 week to 2 MONTHS *depending on usage* So folks, you tell me... someone gets "busted" and can't smoke anymore (unless they invest in expensive and usually non-working drug-cleansing products which the average "user" cannot afford anyway,) they turn to the "powders and the pills".As far as public safety goes; is THIS not the TRUE crime? The GOVERNMENT will GLADLY offer ADDERALL to children for ADHD (speed for kids?!?) and ANTIDEPRESSANTS that have been KNOWN to show SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, not to mention the withdraw they face coming off them, (people refer to BRAIN SHOCK??! SEE LINK!!!) Yet, smoking a plant that has NO known side effects that are lasting, and for that matter, more and more scientific research shows that it can CURE lung cancer- and that's if you smoke tobacco WITH weed! Just... if you want it all summed up....read the link I've posted- the most COMMON PRESCRIBED DRUG is anti-depressants. WELL, you want "off" the government's LEGAL smack?!? Here's the consequences:(peace all, and thanks for listening- it's been a LONG TIME since I've posted here, but I felt COMPELLED!) And FoM, if you are STILL around, I love you. Same to you, KAPTIMNEMO and OBSERVER!!! I hope you are out there and STILL SAFE!!!! (see my link!) **PLEASE!!**peace
sig,fik,
-=gf
Withdraw Hell- Cymbalta (a COMMON anti-depressant)
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Comment #9 posted by Hope on January 10, 2009 at 10:31:19 PT

True and well said, Museman.
"Our government has always been about the privileged, and elite, not about the people. The constitution is always waved about as a 'document of the people' but it as riddled with special interest as any contemporary legislative amendments to 'bail out' the rich. It is, comparatively a grand attempt at establishing peoples rights, and thanks to a handful of conscionable men, like Jefferson and Adams, some provision was made for our rights and liberties."
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Comment #8 posted by museman on January 10, 2009 at 09:34:59 PT

heretic
Excellent article!I feel I must elaborate on this question, though it may be intended as rhetorical;"The Constitution, as amended, does not enumerate any power to impede outside-the-box thinking or arbitrate states of consciousness. How and when did government acquire this power?"The short and simple answer is; We gave it to them. The not so short and simple is the myriads of conditions and regulations we have blindly accepted as being legitimate controls on our freedom. We (in a general, unconscious collective) have delegated our human authority as sovereign individuals, soley responsible for our actions and intent, to shallow, hollywood created imagery of what has become the standard of acceptability of a 'perfect physical specimen.' We have given our birthright of power to the power of mammon, to money, and those who have enough of it to play with. We have opted to satisfy the illusions of materialistic consumerism, rather than the health, balance, and providence of creation. We have almost completely displaced our power of faith and belief in the wondrous, magical, and miraculous, with the mundane stasis field of the status quo, and the fundamental force of that dominion; FEAR.Fear of not having, fear of social stigma, fear of the many armies of thugs (legal and not) roaming the streets. Fear of imprisonment, and institutionalized misery. But the most damaging fear of all is the fear of hellfire and/or oblivion that the ruling factions have used quite effectively for thousands of years in their religious doctrines of servitude and obedience to authorities called 'divine' but in reality just as down and dirty as any humanity that claims the authority of God. The perpetuation of ignorance is present in every intstitution and 'professional' club. Creating seperatist social and economic cliques -divide and conquer- that believe in their own superiority, that is then used as a justifier for all manner of crimes against humanity and the earth.Inside everyone is a door. That door opens on all the positive potential we could ever imagine our reality to be. To open that door requires a modicum of faith above and beyond the false values and standards of the status quo. When we justify and excuse our continuing participation in error, for whatever reason, we have denied the very power of faith and belief that we need to break free from this ancient cycle of falseness. The existence of the collective unconscious denial of truth, is a great and monstrous impediment to our collective growth, it empowers human monsters, but not human goodness. It is a great obstacle to be overcome, but as long as intelligent, thinking people continue to back the play of the conquerors through their daily actions and servitude -willing and accepting- the perpetuity of Rulers will come to an end only through global apocalypse. Our time to make the choices ourselves is narrowing at a fast pace.Our government has always been about the priviledged, and elite, not about the people. The constitution is always waved about as a 'document of the people' but it as riddled with special interest as any contemporary legislative ammendments to 'bail out' the rich. It is, comparatively a grand attempt at establishing peoples rights, and thanks to a handful of conscionable men, like Jefferson and Adams, some provision was made for our rights and liberties. However, we have let our participation lapse into this token aspect of 'voting', but not actually voting on anything other than the pick of the elite, without our concerns really coming into the mix, except as word-play to razzle-dazzle the masses. Recently, owing much to the revolution that actually did occur in consciousness in the last half of the 20th century, some initiatives of the people have been forthcoming...WE COULD HAVE BEEN DOING THIS HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO, but were too collectively duped into capitulating with the status quo.FREE KANEH BOSM FOR EVERYONE
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Comment #7 posted by Hope on January 10, 2009 at 07:54:32 PT

Please, Greenfox...
and it's good to hear from you, but please .... part of that is a short perfect letter to the editor that I think would be printed.I played editor with it a bit. But it's perfect and it says what we all have been wanting to say for a long time, but just didn't have the right words. You got the right words!This part is what I'd like you to send to the Editors at the Boston Herald:"Goes to pot..." "Up in smoke..."The joke isn't funny anymore. People's LIVES ARE BEING RUINED!The MEDIA making LIGHT on a subject that deserves the public's FULL ATTENTION is not only insulting; it objectifies and OBFUSCATES the people's response to this "war on drugs", nearly FOUR decades old.
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Comment #6 posted by greenfox on January 10, 2009 at 07:05:30 PT:

More reefer madness!
It's been a LONG while since I've posted but I am F****** tired of these STUPID tag-lines..."goes to pot..."
"up in smoke..."The joke isn't funny anymore. People's LIVES ARE BEING RUINED!Let's hope and PRAY TO GOD that Barack has enough sense to end this madness; he's already stated that he supports the state's rights to choose. That's a healthy start. Let's see where things go from here...but the MEDIA making LIGHT on a subject that deserves the public's FULL ATTENTION is not only insulting; it objectifies and OBFUSCATES the people's response to this "war on drugs", nearly FOUR decades old.If Jerry were alive today, he's be rolling in his grave... and, for that matter, if MEDICAL MARIJUANA was made available to ALL that suffer- INCLUDING hard drug addicts, JERRY GARCIA *MIGHT* even be ALIVE today! Instead, he took the death drug "methadone" to "kick the habit" - we have lost some of the greatest creative minds to this "war" on drugs....which, as everyone here already knows, is really a "war on people"... there's no such thing as a war on a plant. PEOPLE are affected, not inanimate objects.Peace.sig,fik,
(sly in GREEN, foxy in KIND,)
-=GF (greenfox)
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Comment #5 posted by Hope on January 06, 2009 at 22:36:02 PT

Good Op-Ed, Heretic. Very good.
Congratulations.I especially liked "The War on Drugs attempts (to) coerce conformity on a double-digit-demographic of nonconformists."I think there was a typo there... I added the (to) in parentheses.
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on January 06, 2009 at 15:43:19 PT

heretic 
Thank you for writing. I can't write accept a few sentences and then I'm done. I appreciate people who have writing talent. Keep up the good work. The link was too long you posted in the link url so it went to the web site's front page so here is the link.http://www.opednews.com/articles/How-to-Stop-the-War-on-Dru-by-Bill-Harris-090105-39.html
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Comment #3 posted by heretic on January 06, 2009 at 15:25:49 PT:

How to Stop the War on Drugs
I published an article.
How to Stop the War on Drugs
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Comment #2 posted by NikoKun on January 04, 2009 at 20:31:31 PT

Common police talking point:
I've heard a few different policemen spout off this one a few times lately, regarding Question 2...
"Under this new law, a traffic violation fine is higher, than the fine for having weed."My only response to that was... No shit, Having weed really shouldn't be as bad as a traffic violation!!! With a traffic violation, you could very well end up killing someone with your car... But good luck accidentally killing anyone by having some weed in your pocket. =PThere is nothing inherently dangerous about having weed, and the act of simply having it, really puts no one else at risk at all. Nor does using it, if you obey the rest of the behavioral/safety laws out there, and act responsibly.So possession of cannabis really IS no where near as bad as any traffic violation, where the fine is more than $100.They really hate to see us winning this with logic, don't they...
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Comment #1 posted by OverwhelmSam on January 04, 2009 at 06:41:27 PT

Daily Break - Spilt Wine Out
Sit back, flare a bowl and watch this amazing competition:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_jzFHj0MhA
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