Scott Gacek’s friends call him the “Weed Master,” a play on “Webmaster,” to highlight his computer skills.
He says he’s the man behind the marijuana spoof site that hijacked the website address listed in the state voters’ guide for the committee opposing Question 3, which would allow doctors to prescribe marijuana.
The committee submitted VoteNoOnQuestion3.org for the voter guide but never registered the URL.
When Gacek, 35, realized the domain was available, he bought it and set up the joke site in less than four hours on Tuesday.
“I did it for fun,” he said. “It was kind of a ‘set it and forget it’ kind of thing.”
The local freelance web designer buys domain names and creates promarijuana websites. He also writes for a pro-
marijuana reform blog.
“I’m a very vocal proponent of medical marijuana,” Gacek said. “I can’t wait for it to pass in November.”
The real vote-no campaign sent out a press release saying that medical marijuana supporters were tampering with the democratic process through “underhanded efforts.” But a campaign spokesman acknowledged that the committee had made a mistake.
The group has now created an official site at MAVoteNoOnQuestion3.com.
When Gacek first went on the hunt for antimarijuana sites, he said his search came up empty.
“I thought, there’s no real opposition, so let’s have some fun with it and make some fake opposition,” he said.
Gacek’s goal was simple: create a satirical Onion-like website to debunk what he considers to be common myths, propaganda, and lies.
“I wanted to poke some fun at some of the reasons why people will say that medical marijuana is bad,” he said.
The post Gacek is most proud of is one about a Massachusetts drug dealers union urging voters to vote against marijuana regulation. “I try to be informative with it at the same time,” he said.
Gacek said that his site is an obvious spoof and that he did not intend to confuse voters or sabotage opponents of the legislation.
He also said he is not part of the Committee for Compassionate Medicine, which supports passage of Question 3.
Gacek called his website “a little twist on reality” and said he might update its content in the future.
“It’s not exactly top priority right now,” Gacek said. “I have a lot of other projects going on.”