The hysterical tabloids that are Boston’s mainstream media are running rampant with the “news” that Progressive Insurance chairman Peter Lewis, from Ohio, has contributed the majority of funding for an MPP-backed medical marijuana ballot question that is likely to appear on the November ballot, and pass.
The same tabloids, more commonly known as the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald, tend to slant very conservatively in regards to marijuana reform, and ran similar hysterical headlines in 2008, when Massachusetts’ marijuana decriminalization initiative Question 2 was funded primarily by out of state billionaire George Soros. Both newspapers opposed Question 2, unlike their readers, who passed the initiative with a landslide 65% majority.
According to state campaign finance reports, Peter Lewis, chairman of the board of the auto insurer Progressive Corp. contributed $525,000 to the Committee for Compassionate Medicine, which is supporting the question. Lewis, a well-known advocate of marijuana, has backed similar efforts in Ohio and Washington.
So once again, Boston media is asking why out of state funding is financing a marijuana reform ballot question in Massachusetts. Of course, the more obvious question, which no mainstream media has asked to date, is why a ballot question is needed in the first place.
READ MORE: Mass. Hysteria: Boston Media in Frenzy over Out of State Financing for Medical Marijuana Question
The Daily Chronic, Feb 8, 2012