Pubdate: Sat, 11 Jan 2014 Source: Sentinel And Enterprise, The (MA) Copyright: 2014 MediaNews Group, Inc. and Mid-States Newspapers, Inc. Contact: http://sentinelandenterprise.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2498 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n030/a01.html Author: Steven S. Epstein LEGALIZE MARIJUANA IN MASS.- - BUT KEEP KIDS FROM IT The concerns for society and the children expressed in "Colorado's new high not for Massachusetts" ignores two indisputable facts: * No matter marijuana's legal status, adults and kids who want it will find a way to get it from those willing to supply it. * According to surveys of Massachusetts High School students, a majority never try it. The first fact implicates the fundamental issue of government: the "consent of the governed." The second, the claim children have a latent desire to use marijuana is a delusion. Yet it is true Massachusetts should not copy Colorado's way of ending a prohibition that never should have been. Instead, the Bay State should allow ADULTS to engage in the cultivation, commerce and consumption of marijuana as they may with any other herb; require adults take steps to prevent access to growing plants and marijuana by children and punish distribution to minors with significant jail time and/or fine. Such a policy would seek our shared goal of suppressing access to marijuana by children in a constitutionally proper and fiscally responsible manner. Steven S. Epstein Georgetown - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom