This is historic. Barney Frank and I agree on something. Actually, I probably agree with at least 10 percent of what the now-veteran, hard-left Massachusetts congressman says and does. It's just that there are few places where the views of the liberal and the libertarian converge so perfectly. And this place would be the insane, unaffordable War on Drugs - specifically as it pertains to marijuana. Frank said on national television last week that he intends to file a bill to get the feds out of the business of busting pot smokers. No longer would it be a federal crime to possess "small amounts" of the intoxicating weed. He didn't define "small," but I'm willing to bet he means what most people mean - the amount somebody would have for personal use, instead of running a dealership. [continues 724 words]
We need casualty figures in the war on drugs -- The story last week was about a spike in deaths from heroin overdoses in tiny Newton, N.H., population 4,500. Nothing all that unusual. I've been reading stories like that every few months for close to 40 years now. You think heroin is just in the cities? Well, it's in the suburbs too. But, it made me wonder how the war on drugs is going. It is, after all, the really long war. Forget Iraq, Vietnam, World War II or even the amorphous War on Terror. The endless one is the War on Drugs. [continues 730 words]
"It's not that we don't trust our kids." I'm hearing that even more than usual amid the ongoing, high-profile conferences, seminars and speeches around the region devoted to the epidemic abuse of prescription drugs and their illegal partner, heroin - an epidemic that killed more people statewide in 2002 than traffic accidents. The whole concept of trust is loaded, of course. When it comes from the kids themselves, in the form of, "Don't you trust us?" it is loaded with unspoken accusations: You don't want us to grow up. You don't want us to have any fun, to be able to develop our own independence, to make our own decisions. [continues 741 words]
It might be a bit tacky to suggest that Steven Epstein, Esq., of Georgetown, was riding "high" after last Tuesday's vote in more than a dozen area communities in favor of decriminalizing marijuana. Let's just say he was pleased. Very pleased. Not that he, or anybody else, will be allowed to go one toke over, or even under, the line on Main Street after the first of the year. The vote was only advisory. And even if that advice became state law, you still couldn't smoke a joint with the same freedom you can drink a beer. Pot would remain illegal. You just wouldn't get hauled off to jail for using it. [continues 542 words]
If there is to be any seismic shift in the War on Drugs in Massachusetts sometime in the near future, it will probably come directly from voters, rather than their elected or appointed representatives. Question 8, an initiative petition on the November ballot, asks voters to change the current laws on drug-crime fines and forfeitures, first by making it more difficult for authorities to seize property or assets allegedly used in drug crimes, and second, by requiring that assets properly seized be used for drug treatment, rather than more enforcement. [continues 745 words]
It was a day to celebrate at least an intermediate victory in the war on crime in Lawrence. Last July 27, before assembled neighborhood group leaders, city officials and business leaders, Lawrence Mayor Patricia A. Dowling and Police Chief John J. Romero laid out the numbers: Violent crime -- murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault -- had dropped by an average of nearly 50 percent in the past two years. Burglary and larceny were down by similar amounts. The only major category police had failed to dent significantly was auto theft. [continues 3267 words]
A very mellow and nonviolent good afternoon to all of you freedom loving brothers and sisters in the Merrimack Valley from here on the Boston Common. We're behind the big stage at the corner of Beacon and Charles streets with Steven S. Epstein, Esq., of Georgetown, co-founder, treasurer and clerk of the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition and editor of the bimonthly periodical Mass Grass. It's Saturday afternoon on the biggest day of Mr. Epstein's year - the 11th annual Freedom Rally to protest marijuana laws in particular and the war on drugs in general. [continues 576 words]
