Letter: Public policy question on marijuana a rare opportunity
This fall the voters in the 6th District will have an opportunity rarely afforded to them — a chance to directly inform their representatives of an opinion via a public policy question on the ballot. The question is: “Should the state senator or representative be instructed to vote for a resolution requesting Congress repeal the [...]
Marijuana Tax and Regulate Questions Aim at Massachusetts Ballot
A drive to put non-binding public policy questions on the ballot in select Massachusetts electoral districts this November has cleared its first hurdle. Late last month, the Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts announced that it had handed the requisite signatures to qualify in the 2nd Berkshire State Representative District. Voters there will be asked: “Shall the representative [...]
Letter: Marijuana law contradicts Newburyport vote
To the editor: I was surprised and disappointed to read that, once again, the Newburyport City Council is considering a new, local marijuana law that directly contradicts the 2008 Question 2 decriminalization referendum. Three years ago, Newburyport voters approved Question 2 with a vote of 7,261 to 3,483, or 68 percent to 32 percent — [...]
Marijuana Legalization Fares Well in CO, MA Polls
Two polls released late last week show strong support for marijuana legalization in Colorado and Massachusetts. Both states have already decriminalized the possession of small amounts of pot, and activists in both states are working toward legalization. In Colorado, an effort to put a legalization initiative on the ballot next year is well underway, while [...]
Epstein: Allow states establish laws on marijuana
Mr. Evans’ “In this prohibition saga, Obama plays Herbert Hoover” contains one factual error. The Jones Act became law in 1929 when Coolidge signed it two days before leaving office. It also contains one error of omission, he limits his advocacy to freeing each state “to enact, implement and enforce their own medical marijuana laws.” [...]
Evans: In this prohibition saga, Obama plays Hoover
It was a curious coincidence last month, that as PBS was broadcasting the Ken Burns/Lynn Novick documentary, Prohibition, describing the Hoover Justice Department’s last-gasp crackdown on alcoholic beverages in the late 1920s, prosecutors in the Obama Justice Department were announcing a crackdown on medical marijuana in California, threatening to confiscate the property of people “involved [...]
LTE: Just regulate pot
Thank you for giving voice to the now growing majority of us who support most of what was written by Dr. John Frantz (“Marijuana should be quasi-legal,” Oct. 27). What the good doctor refers to as a “new category,” however, is a category that already exists and it is called “regulation” — a more fitting [...]
Guest Opinion: A regulated marijuana market is better than a black market
Two members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation and four members of the Massachusetts legislature endorse ending marijuana prohibition. The rest of our congressional delegation has yet to catch up with Barney Frank and Michael Capuano, and 196 members of the state legislature have yet to catch up with Ellen Story of Amherst, Ruth Balser of [...]
LETTER: Barney Frank, Ron Paul pot legalization plan would be boon to Mass.
We would like to acknowledge our appreciation to U.S. Rep. Barney Frank for taking the time to visit and talk with a group of concerned citizens at Gallery X in New Bedford on his efforts to legalize marijuana. This proposal, co-sponsored by Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, would federally legalize marijuana (cannabis) and let states make [...]
No Arrests Reported at Boston’s 22nd Annual Freedom Rally
For close to 20 years, the Boston Police Department defended its arresting dozens of peaceful attendees at the Annual Boston Freedom Rally as being done in the name of “public safety.” The 2011 Boston Freedom Rally drew upwards of 50,000 attendees, and marijuana smoking was open, constant, and could be found among all areas of [...]
