Ever feel like you’re one step behind? Massachusetts voted earlier this month to approve the use of so-called “medical marijuana.” Meanwhile, voters in Colorado and Washington state one-upped us, deciding simply to legalize pot altogether. No more games about decriminalization or having to manufacture fake diseases so one could get a fake prescription from a fake doctor. It’s just legal — like beer, wine, or (except in New York City) big sodas.
Coming soon, one suspects, to a future Bay State ballot initiative: full-blown legalization. And in all likelihood, that too will pass. There are, in fact, some risks to pot, especially for kids. So if government officials are truly worried about the consequences of legalization, then the time to start rethinking is now.
Comments
Ballot questions are increasingly determined by the least common denominator and not by thoughtful debate.
" But in truth, we don’t know. As many medical marijuana activists have pointed out, one downside to the national ban on pot is that research into its properties — both pro and con — is largely prohibited." "We don't know...", and this after untold millions of dollars spent in 1000s of research studies. Can you imagine similar research being done on, say, sex? Is sex dangerous? Well, I'm sure researchers will find a lot of ways of asserting that sex is indeed quite dangerous, and a lot of researchers who, after millions of dollars in studying the matter, that it can be quite, well, enjoyable. I still recall back in the 70s very similar claims regarding marijuana, even while millions were being spent in research. So what would it take for us to "know"? Another couple of billion in research? I doubt it, in fact, I'm confident there will be a journalist for the Globe in a couple of decades with an article making the same statement "But in truth, we don't know". The reality is that this recurring claim of "we don't know" hides the fact that the question itself is as silly as spending millions on addressing the question whether sex is dangerous.
Yes, we do know, since research on the topic has been done in Europe. It is simple American hubris that clings to the notion that if the NIH and FDA aren't involved it didn't happen.
Watch the union the business behind getting high. We have succeeded in turning a harmless plant into a billion dollar black market given millions of people criminal records and spent over a trillion (with a T) dollars fighting the war on drugs. Its time for a change. Legalize it, tax it and give me a damn job!
Fyi I graduated high school in 2006, pot was easier to get than alcohol or cigarettes. So if your worried about kids getting the stuff, prohibition is not the answer.just remember drug dealers do not check IDs
Surely the Dutch have plenty of research available for us to regard.
FACT: marijuana has NEVER killed anyone...ever. You cannot say that about cigarettes, alcohol or most prescription drugs. It's use should be legal as well as taxed and regulated. It will add millions (billions?) to our revenue and prevent crime much as ending prohibition did.
The time is NOW.
FACT: marijuana has NEVER killed anyone...ever. You cannot say that about cigarettes, alcohol or most prescription drugs. It's use should be legal as well as taxed and regulated. It will add millions (billions?) to our revenue and prevent crime much as ending prohibition did.
The time is NOW.