New data from SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) and Liberty Mutual Insurance reveal that more young people are combining marijuana and driving, placing themselves - and often their friends - at risk.

Perhaps this shouldn't be a surprise given that the University of Michigan's recent Monitoring the Future study pointed out that marijuana use among eighth- to-12th graders rose in 2011 for the fourth straight year (as compared to substantial declines in the preceding decade) and that daily use of the drug among 12th graders is at a thirty year high.

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Rep Is Co-Sponsor; Scientist Lends Voice

Marblehead =AD If the Massachusetts Legislature ultimately decides not to make the state a nationwide leader in legalizing marijuana, it won't be due to a lack of support from Marblehead.

On March 6, the Cannabis Regulation and Taxation Act, proposed more than a year ago and co-sponsored by state Rep. Lori Ehrlich, D-Marblehead, got a lengthy hearing before the Judiciary Committee, which raged into the evening.

There for all of the testimony and supplying some of his own was another Marblehead resident, Kevin McKernan, an accomplished scientist and founder of Medicinal Genomics, who last summer announced he had sequenced the genome of two strains of cannabis, a first step in perhaps unlocking a wealth of knowledge that may one day improve treatment and perhaps even cure a number of diseases.

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Is Legalization Of Marijuana On The Horizon For Massachusetts?

Earlier this week, Dick Evans headed to the Statehouse for a legislative hearing on a bill he drafted that would legalize marijuana and make it subject to the same kinds of government oversight that are now applied to alcohol.

It was the third time Evans' bill had had its day before state lawmakers. The first was in 1981, and the effort "was hooted out of the Statehouse," Evans, a Northampton attorney and long-time advocate for reforming drug laws, recently recalled. The second was in 2009, and the bill-while not greeted with quite the same level of derision- once again failed to go anywhere.

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DANVERS - The DanversCares prevention coalition has issued a position statement in response to proposed bills that would legalize marijuana or make it available for medical use.

The statement opposes "any policy or initiative that directly or indirectly promotes marijuana use among youths."

DanversCares represents school officials, police, businesspeople and residents who meet monthly and seek to educate the public on ways to cut down on teen drug and alcohol use and other risky behaviors. According to the position statement, the coalition does not have a problem with medical use of marijuana, with a prescription, in patients with life-threatening diseases. But it says marijuana needs to be studied just as any other drug would be, and it should not be up to legislators or voters to decide if a substance should be legalized as a medical drug. Prevention advocates were slow to respond to the 2008 change in the law, which decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, coalition coordinator Peg Sallade said. Now, they want to get information out about the harmful effects of marijuana use.

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Police say the law that decriminalized small amounts of marijuana is toothless and ineffective as a tool for controlling drug use.

A 2008 ballot measure, known as Question 2, made possession of an ounce or less of the drug a civil crime, punished by a $100 fine.

The law does not include a penalty for not paying that fine, nor does it require a person to correctly identify him or herself.

Question 2 as proposed and passed has quite a few flaws in it," said Wayne Sampson, executive director of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, which opposed the ballot measure four years ago.

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BOSTON -- Legalizing marijuana would be good for the state's bottom line and would protect the health of those who use the drug, supporters told the Joint Committee on the Judiciary on Tuesday, even as the bill's sponsor conceded it has almost no chance of becoming law.

"The state needs to make money," testified Rep. Ellen Story, D-Amherst, the sponsor of the bill. "This would allow the state to benefit from marijuana by regulating it."

Story's bill would legalize marijuana and "establish a tax on the cannabis industry." But Story offered no details in her testimony on the tax rate or what revenue such a tax would bring to the state.

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To the editor:

After reading the column from Newburyport's school nurses regarding marijuana, and the story a few weeks back about the Sparhawk School students who visited Granada in Nicaragua, I, as someone who loves Central America, felt compelled to respond.

First, the letter from the nurses.

I not only disagree with their calls for a local ordinance to impose harsher local penalties for the possession of small amounts of marijuana, I would argue it is time to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of all drugs and to even legalize them completely, with the FDA determining their potency, controlling how they are distributed and sold, and taxing the heck out of them.

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To the editor:

I agree with Mr. Cook ("Decriminalizing drugs the only answer, March 6") that it is "time to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of all drugs and to even legalize them completely."

However, the individual states, not the FDA, should determine their potency and control how they are distributed and sold in each state.

As for taxes, as with alcoholic beverages and tobacco, both the state and federal authorities may claim a cut, but the combined cut must be set at a level lower than "taxing the heck out of them" if the evils of the black market are to disappear.

Steven S. Epstein

Georgetown

[end]

COLORADO - It's luciferous to deny sick citizens ("Parents, experts worry about young brains on pot," March 4) access to the relatively safe God-given plant (see the first page of the Bible) cannabis (marijuana). Cannabis prohibitionists spend too much time diverting the topic from responsible sick citizens using cannabis without threat of overzealous government discriminating against them to all sorts of unrelated drug use issues which does nothing to address the actual needs of sick citizens. When cannabis is used medicinally, it usually replaces substances which are far more harmful to both sick citizens and the by general population when they are abused. Cannabis has been documented medicinally for thousands of years and the only reason it is currently unavailable is due to lies, half-truths and propaganda emanating from cannabis prohibitionists. Prohibitionists should not be involved between the doctor and patient relationship.

It's commendable to keep youth from the plant cannabis but caging sick citizens who use it is the wrong way to do it.

Dillon, Colo.

[end]

Newton - State Rep. Ruth Balser, a Newton Democrat, is one of four women legislators co-sponsoring a bill to legalize marijuana in Massachusetts. The bill, The Cannabis Regulation and Taxation Act, was originally proposed more than a year ago and was heard Tuesday before the Judiciary Committee. The act, which Balser said is pending federal legislation, would repeal the ban on selling marijuana and create industry licensing, regulation and taxation standards.

"The point of it would be to regulate the industry similar to what we do with alcohol, but we would be able to tax it," Balser said, adding that the current prohibition on marijuana hasn't been effective.

Balser said officials have estimated that passing the bill would generate an estimated $18.5 million in tax revenue.

The bill maintains current penalties for driving under the influence of marijuana and, like alcohol laws, it would prohibit minors for using it.

[end]

BOSTON - The Cannabis Regulation and Taxation Act, proposed more than a year ago by Reps. Ellen Story (D-Amherst), Ruth Balser (D-Newton), Lori Ehrlich (D-Marblehead), and Ann Gobi (D-Spencer), finally gets a hearing Tuesday afternoon before the Judiciary Committee, which will have just two weeks to make a recommendation on it before the biennial bill-reporting deadline.

The bill (H 1371) creates industry licensing, regulation and taxation standards, and establishes a Cannabis Control Authority comprised of seven members and with an initial appropriation of $2.5 million. It leaves in place penalties for driving under the influence of marijuana.

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School Leaders, Parents Call On Community To Address Problem

NEWBURYPORT -- It's a sobering statistic: Approximately 33 percent of Newburyport High School students admit they smoke marijuana, according to a report to be made public later this month by the Beacon Coalition and Newburyport Youth Services.

But the findings of the anonymous student survey conducted earlier this year may not surprise some parents and school leaders who are grappling with the knowledge that marijuana has become commonplace within the Newburyport school district.

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Regarding James Deblois' Feb. 24 op-ed, if health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be fully legal and there would be no medical marijuana debate.

Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. Marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents.

The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican migration in the early 1900s, despite opposition from the American Medical Association.

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There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting children from drugs. Decriminalization as approved by Massachusetts voters in 2008 acknowledges the social reality of marijuana and frees users from the stigma of life-shattering criminal records. What's really needed is a regulated market with enforceable age controls.

Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical. As long as organized crime controls marijuana distribution, consumers will continue to come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like cocaine and heroin. This "gateway" is a direct result of marijuana prohibition.

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Regarding Chris Hayden's thoughtful Feb. 19 op-ed "A human face on addiction," the drug war is part of the problem. Illegal drug users are reluctant to seek medical attention in the event of an overdose for fear of being charged with a crime.

Attempting to save the life of a friend could result in a murder charge. Overzealous drug war enforcement results in preventable deaths.

Rehabilitation also is confounded. I think it's safe to say that turnout at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings would be rather low if alcoholism were a crime pursued with zero tolerance zeal.

Eliminating the penalties associated with illicit drug use would encourage the type of discussion necessary to facilitate rehabilitation and save lives.

Washington, D.C.

[end]

As a cancer survivor, terminal illness. As a Massachusetts resident and taxpayer, I believe it is long overdue that we pass medical marijuana laws as other states have. Marijuana increases the quality of life for those suffering from chronic and terminal illness and the tax increases will benefit everyone in Massachusetts.

The National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine found that marijuana benefited individuals who suffered from physically devastating medical conditions.

As a result, marijuana laws now make it legal to use the drug to treat the suffering associated with certain illnesses. These laws ensure that patients suffering with medical illness are protected against arrest and prosecution along with their physicians and care givers. What we have now are pharmaceutical companies that pander to agencies that profit by providing over-priced medications that have more side effects than treatment possibilities.

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As a cancer survivor, I have personally witnessed the pain and suffering associated with chronic and terminal illness. As a Massachusetts resident and taxpayer, I believe it is long overdue that we pass medical marijuana laws as other states have. Marijuana increases the quality of life for those suffering from chronic and terminal illness and the tax increases will benefit everyone in Massachusetts.

The National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine found that marijuana benefited individuals who suffered from physically devastating medical conditions.

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The Newburyport public school nurses are asking city councilors to vote in support of the new marijuana ordinance introduced by City Councilor Brian Derrivan. District nurses are concerned about the health and safety of our community residents and especially our youth. The new Massachusetts law decriminalizes possession of small amounts of marijuana, but it is still illegal. Unfortunately, our students have misinterpreted this law and think that marijuana is now legal. Many students also seem to think that using marijuana is "no big deal" and "safe." In truth, there are health and safety risks to using marijuana:

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PITTSFIELD - I don't have an issue with opening an addiction treatment center in Pittsfield. Granted, North Street might not be an ideal location, but it's clear there's a growing problem that needs addressing.

In our state, two people die every day from overdosing on some kind of opioid, according to a recent release from the Massachusetts Department of Health. The same report shows that in 2007, 637 people died in the state from overdosing, and 92 percent of those deaths were unintentional.

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To the editor: I am disappointed Peter Lewis is spending his money on legalizing the medicinal use of marijuana in Massachusetts instead of ending the state's prohibition on adults engaging in the cultivation and commerce in cannabis, as he is in Washington.

Massachusetts voters are ready, as they were in 1930 when they repealed the state's "baby" Volstead Act, to repeal the state prohibition in order to conserve scarce resources, leaving it to the feds to enforce their prohibition.

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