Newton - Newton voters have a chance to send a message to Senator Creem on where her constituents stand on the question of marijuana legalization. Hopefully, voters will send a resounding message that it is time to sponsor a legalization measure in the state Senate to regulate the taxation, cultivation, and sale of marijuana to adults. More than 40 million Americans either currently smoke marijuana or have smoked it in the past. These smokers have included political leaders such as President Obama, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, George Bush, Dan Quayle, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Newt Gingrich and Michael Bloomberg; prominent business figures such as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Ted Turner and Richard Branson; illustrious people in the arts and entertainment such as Pablo Picasso, Steven King, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson; and world-famous astronomer Carl Sagan. Would society have been better off if these illustrious people had faced criminal penalties? [continues 132 words]
By misrepresenting the initiative, calling people stupid if they've ever used marijuana and minimizing the harmful effects of CORI, Howie Carr himself comes across as the stupid one ("Sensible pot a half-baked policy, dude," July 6). We can continue with the same failed approach to simple marijuana possession - which costs Massachusetts taxpayers $30 million a year and creates 7,500 new CORIs - or we can look for an approach that works. Eleven other states have passed similar laws and they've shown no increase in marijuana use or crimes related to marijuana use. Such an approach works. John M. Madfis, Auburndale [end]
