Pubdate: Wed, 17 Feb 2016 Source: Patriot Ledger, The (Quincy, MA) Copyright: 2016 GateHouse Media, Inc. Contact: http://www.patriotledger.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1619 ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY 'STRONGLY OPPOSED' TO RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA QUINCY -- Attorney General Maura Healey says she is "strongly opposed" to a marijuana legalization measure headed for the ballot this fall and fears that it could put the state's young people at risk. Speaking with The Patriot Ledger's editorial board Tuesday, Healey said she worries that voters who are "rightly concerned" about prisons crammed with non-violent drug users have gone too far by embracing the legalization of marijuana, which has been legal for medical use in Massachusetts since 2013. She pointed to reports of emergency room visits and fatalities from drugged-driving crashes in Colorado, the first state to legalize the drug for recreational use as well. "What's most profound to me is what this means for young people," she said. Healey's comments came about a week after state legislators met with Colorado law enforcement officials who warned of an increase of hospitalizations and fatal crashes tied to legalization in their state. A ballot initiative to legalize the adult use of marijuana and establish a regulatory framework appears poised to go to Massachusetts voters in November, backed by the national Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol. Healey said Tuesday that voters should not confuse the legalization of recreational marijuana use with the decriminalization of the possession of small amounts of marijuana, which was approved by voters in 2000. She said she is particularly concerned about the sale of highly potent marijuana-infused food, known as "edibles," that she fears could get into the hands of children and young people. Healey made the comments as she caps off a year in which she made the state's heroin and opioid epidemic a priority of her office. She said the state has made progress, particularly through the distribution of the overdose-reversing drug known by the brand name Narcan and by criminalizing the trafficking of the additive fentanyl, but added that it continues to suffer from a "pill happy" prescribing culture. She said state leaders have to come to terms with the fact that the wide availability of prescription opioid painkillers is fueling the epidemic of people addicted to the cheaper heroin. "Heroin has been around forever; heroin has been cheap forever, but we've never seen heroin used the way it is used today," she said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom