Pubdate: Fri, 01 Jul 2005
Source: Amesbury News (Amesbury, MA)
Copyright: 2005 Community Newspapers Inc
Contact:  http://www2.townonline.com/amesbury/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3717
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

TIME FOR SERIOUS TALK ABOUT POT

A recent report that Boston leads the nation in marijuana use seemed 
to be greeted more with laughter than concern. "Hub goes to pot," the 
Boston Herald's front-page headline screamed, "We are the highest 
city in the U.S!" Other media  outlets reacted with a similar mix of 
bemusement and civic pride at the news  from a federal agency that 12 
percent of Massachusetts adults had smoked  marijuana within the last month.

The reaction is perhaps unsurprising, given the  numbers.

If that many residents are regular users of an illegal drug, it's 
hard to paint it as a serious threat.

The problem  is that the law takes it seriously indeed.

According to the Criminal Justice  Policy Coalition, more than 2,100 
people are arrested each year in Massachusetts  for marijuana 
possession, costing taxpayers some $24 million. The idea that  people 
don't go to jail for marijuana is a myth: Across the country there 
are thousands of people serving time for getting caught doing what 12 
percent of  metro Boston residents did in the last month. As a 
general rule, when a law is that commonly violated, there's a problem 
with the law.  State legislators, typically too afraid of being 
called "soft on drugs" to even  entertain reform of marijuana laws, 
should take a lesson from the rate of  marijuana use and the 
less-than-alarmed response to it. Arresting, trying and  locking up 
people for possession of a drug used safely by millions of people is 
no laughing matter.

There is  serious discussion to be had about the topic treated so 
lightly when the federal  report came out. The debate over medical 
marijuana rages. Emboldened by a recent  Supreme Court ruling, 
federal agents this week raided three California cannabis  clubs that 
for years have been giving seriously ill people the medication they  need.

The abuse of  marijuana by teenagers is also serious business.

There is ample evidence that  pot isn't good for brains that are 
still developing. Local middle- and  high-school students report that 
it's easier for them to get hold of marijuana  than alcohol, which 
should provoke a discussion over which is more effective 
at  protecting children, prohibition or regulation. Marijuana is  no 
joke, and serious leaders shouldn't treat it like one. The 
Legislature's  Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse 
will hold a hearing Monday  on legislation making adult possession of 
marijuana a civil violation instead of  a criminal act. That's a good 
place to start a serious discussion.
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MAP posted-by: Beth