Maybe it's marijuana's cultural baggage of Deadheads, dreadlocked Rastafarians, and psychedelic paraphernalia that does it, but there's something about cannabis that brings out the school marm in certain segments of the population. It just makes the members of the more conservative contingent feel like their neckties are too tight, like their worldview is still endangered by the cultural descendants of the hippies who hoisted a green, smoke-wreathed flag in the turmoil of the '60s. But that's a cartoonish, puritanical view of a plant that's been around for millennia. Evidence from tombs in Asia reveals cannabis' use as a psychoactive substance at least as far back as 3,000 B.C., and conjecture places its cultivation as far back as 12,000 years. American views were mostly formed in the past century, in the wake of Mexican immigration during the Mexican Revolution. Whether the resulting fear of psychoactive marijuana was about the plant or about the ethnicity of its then-primary smokers is a matter for debate, but regardless, it became illegal in 1937. [continues 746 words]
On Aug. 5, the marijuana legalization group Bay State Repeal filed three versions of a new ballot question with the state Attorney General's office, all of which would allow persons 21 years of age or older to legally grow, acquire, and possess marijuana for personal consumption. The purpose of the initiative is to establish moderate taxes and regulations on marijuana so that, over time, legal sales would drive out illegal sales, said Steven Epstein, the group's press secretary. The proposed legislation, he said, "treats farmers like farmers, treats private producers like processors of food - subject to local and state zoning and health rules - and sets the same rules for dealers that apply to tobacconists." [continues 192 words]
We've heard lots of lip service from Governor Baker about the need to do something about drug addiction. I heard something shocking. There's a peanut factory in Springfield which employs mostly pre-release prison inmates. While this seems like pure altruism on the surface, it looks to me like the same old exploitation routine. Keep our jails full of folks with minor drug offenses, and then use them for cheap labor, displacing regular workers with full pay and benefits. I knew they were using "slave" prison labor down south to keep costs down, but I had no idea Massachusetts got in on the act. [continues 282 words]
The political committee behind Question 3, called the Committee for Compassionate Medicine, is well funded-controversially so. From August of 2011 to Sept. 20, 2012, the committee raised $1,071,502, according to records from the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance. Of that, $1,022,000-95 percent-came from one donor, Peter Lewis of Mayfield Village, Ohio. Lewis' profession is listed on the reports as "retired." But he's best known as the longtime chair of the insurance company Progressive-and, more recently, as the funder behind drug reform campaigns here and in other states, as well as other political causes. Forbes magazine recently reported that Lewis has spent somewhere between $40 million and $60 million on marijuana reform efforts since the 1980s. Other high-profile donations to the Massachusetts campaign include $10,000 from Marcia Carsey, a Hollywood TV producer (The Cosby Show, Roseanne), and $25,000 from Henry van Ameringen, the heir to a fragrance company who also supports mental health and gay rights campaigns. [continues 640 words]
On November 6 the people of Massachusetts will have their say about medical marijuana. Silas "Sy" Bennett was a 28-year-old returning college student studying journalism at Keene State when he was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in the fall of 2007. Initially, Bennett thought the pain he was feeling was caused by a pinched nerve, an injury from a house painting job, said his mother, Lorraine Kerz of Greenfield. Then one day, the pain was so bad that he couldn't get out of bed. Bennett ended up at the emergency room, where an X-ray revealed the cancer, which had by then spread to his bones. Doctors needed to operate on his spine, to make sure his damaged vertebrae didn't collapse and paralyze him, before beginning him on a difficult course of chemotherapy. [continues 3603 words]
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. [continues 1335 words]
Massachusetts voters are likely to find a question about legalizing medical marijuana on their ballots at the November election-and a new poll suggests that supporters of the question have reason to be optimistic. MassCann, the commonwealth's chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, recently released the results of a public opinion poll that asked respondents their thoughts on marijuana policy. The poll didn't ask specifically about medical marijuana, but rather sought opinions about broader legalization efforts, and found a firm majority of respondents in favor of significant reform. [continues 359 words]
Gov. Patrick Proposes Changing a Policy Critics Say Is Unfair and Ineffective. The only thing new about Gov. Deval Patrick's recent proposal to shrink so-called "drug-free" school zones in Massachusetts is his support. For years, advocates of criminal justice reform have been critical of the school zone law, which carries mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes that take place within 1,000 feet of school property. While the law was passed in the name of public safety and the protection of children, critics say it's so broadly drawn that it's ineffective, and that it unfairly penalizes certain defendants on the basis of where they live. [continues 2244 words]
It's commendable that state rep. Ellen Story ("Western Mass. Legislators File Marijuana Reform Bill," Feb. 3, 2011) believes Massachusetts should lead the nation to finally ending reefer madness. It's starting to look like a healthy race between Washington, Colorado, California, Oregon. Massachusetts and others to see which state legalizes the superplant first. Another reason to stop caging, punishing and persecuting responsible adults for using cannabis (marijuana) that doesn't get mentioned is because it is Biblically correct since God, The Ecologician indicates He created all the seed-bearing plants, saying they are all good, on literally the very first page (see Genesis 1:11-12 and 29-30). Stan White Dillon, Colorado [end]
In the November election, voters in a number of Massachusetts districts sent a message that they're ready to see dramatic changes in the commonwealth's marijuana laws. In nine legislative districts around the state (including the 1st Franklin and 3rd Hampshire districts), a majority of voters approved public policy questions calling for marijuana to be taxed and regulated by the government, in the same way alcohol is. In addition, voters in nine districts (including, locally, the 1st Hampden) approved public policy questions calling for medical marijuana to be available to patients on a doctor's recommendation. [continues 358 words]
Voters in a number of Valley communities will have the opportunity to weigh in on some important marijuana-related issues on the Nov. 2 ballot. The state Elections Division has confirmed that four public policy questions supported by the marijuana reform group MassCann will be on the ballot in certain legislative districts, where organizers managed to collect the required number of petition signatures. While public policy questions are non-binding, they can serve as a useful way to gauge public sentiment on an issue, and to make it clear to legislators what issues matter to their constituents. [continues 315 words]
The two big-party candidates for Senate do little to distinguish themselves on drug policy. For Massachusetts voters who are invested in the reform of existing drug policies-and the success of Question 2 on the November 2008 ballot would suggest that's a significant chunk of the electorate-next week's special Senate election presents a quandary. In one corner, representing the Republicans, we have state Sen. Scott Brown, who in 2009 filed a bill that would undercut Question 2, which decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, making it a civil offense punishable by a $100 fine. Within days after that law (which was approved by 65 percent of voters) took effect, Brown introduced his bill, which would increase the fine to $1,000 if the pot was found in a car, and would also result in a 90-day license suspension. [continues 790 words]
A Northampton Lawyer Brings A Bill To Tax And Regulate Pot To The Statehouse. In 1981, Dick Evans, a Northampton attorney and long-time advocate for drug law reform, drafted a marijuana legalization bill "just to see what one would look like," he said. Evans got the bill before the state Legislature via the right to petition, a law that allows citizens to file bills. And because he found a legislator to file the bill on his behalf—improbably enough, it was Andrew Card, who went on to serve as chief of staff to George W. Bush but at the time was a progressive Republican state rep from eastern Mass.—it was guaranteed a committee hearing. [continues 1816 words]
Tom Vannah wrote an excellent analysis regarding the Bay State's new law reducing the penalties for simple possession of marijuana ["The Pot Test," Nov. 13, 2008]. He wondered about why law enforcement and others would spread false information. I suggest he follow the money. My profession, police, knows that without prohibition policies towards some drugs, crime would be cut dramatically, thus reducing the need for detectives and prison guards. Paychecks and overtime are huge incentives for the law enforcement community to resist repealing prohibition laws. Officer Howard J. Wooldridge (retired) Education Specialist, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Washington, D.C. [end]
Since the election, I have seen numerous elderly black men and women reminisce about their days sitting in jail cells in the 1960s, as part of the civil rights movement. That legacy has been fulfilled. Another remnant of that time, however, is the earnest pursuit of the "Drug War" by all levels of government. That evil continues to fill jail cells till this day-also disproportionately with members of minority groups. After the passage of Question Two in Massachusetts, perhaps the next battleground will be the similar measure proposed at the federal level by Congressmen Barney Frank and Ron Paul. I hope everyone will urge John Olver and Richard Neal to sign onto this bill as co-sponsors in the new Congress. Terry Franklin Amherst [end]
After Massachusetts' Leap Forward Voting to Decriminalize Marijuana, Why Take a Step Backward With Salvia Divinorum? My first experience with an hallucinogenic substance was decades before I'd ever heard of salvia divinorum or the recent efforts to criminalize it. Though, at that time, I didn't have the sense or experience to know what I was getting into, I was with people I trusted in a safe, comfortable environment, and I had an immensely pleasurable experience. After the drug had been administered, I remember lying back in the Naugahyde recliner and staring at a poster featuring a collage of 1930s movie stars. Before I could focus on any one image, the previously bland music they were playing became a thumping roar. Clark Gable, Boris Karloff and Judy Garland began to swirl, and even though my eyes were open, I began to see stars. Millions of brilliant points of light shot past me as if I was going into hyperdrive, and then my body began to lift from the chair and elongate. Like a rubber band powering a propeller in a toy airplane, my legs felt as if they were twisting about time after time, wrapping themselves into a coiled rope. [continues 1985 words]
The overwhelming passage of Question 2 is not the end of the story. Like many Americans who supported Barack Obama, I want to believe all of the post-election talk about his landslide victory being a mandate for change, a repudiation of the policies not only of George W. Bush, but of policies going back decades. I want to believe that Obama's electrifying election-night speech was, indeed, the prologue to a new beginning for America. Perhaps most of all, I want to believe that Obama's victory is a victory for intellectual honesty, an unequivocal rejection of longstanding mythology crafted by ideologues--government is a drag on the free market, for example, or marginal modifications to a progressive tax system is Marxist--in favor of political discourse enriched by critical thinking and an openness to nuance. [continues 552 words]
Massachusetts voters can Just Say No to bad drug policy. I call Dick Evans to interview him. But he has his own question-or, more specifically, an assignment-for me: "I challenge you to find anyone who believes adults who choose to use marijuana responsibly deserve to be arrested, prosecuted and locked up." Evans is pretty sure I'll come up empty; he's even willing to bet a lunch on it. A Northampton attorney and former member of the Board of Directors of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, Evans spent decades advocating for the reform of drug laws, and while officially "retired" from the cause, he still tracks it closely. [continues 3737 words]
The Extravaganja festival may survive another year on the Amherst Town Common, but one organizer believes some town bureaucrats are trying a new tactic to derail the event. After last year's Extravaganja festival on the Amherst Town Common, event organizer Terry Franklin stayed up late picking up garbage and assembling the full plastic bags where he could easily pick them up when the dump opened in the morning. When he came back the next morning, though, the dozen or so bags were gone. A few days later, Franklin received a bill from the town for disposing 8,000 pounds of garbage. [continues 1016 words]
A Supreme Court Decision Attacks Inequity In The Drug Sentencing Guidelines. The U.S.'s system of checks and balances is under seige, but it was still lurching along late in December as the Supreme Court disappointed the White House with a ruling in a crack case. In a 7-2 decision, the justices said judges did not have to stick to federal guidelines that prescribe the same sentence for the sale of five grams of crack as for the sale of 500 grams of powdered cocaine. [continues 528 words]
