Pubdate: Tue, 21 Jun 2005
Source: Salem News (MA)
Contact:  http://www.salemnews.com
Address: 32 Dunham Road, Beverly, MA 01915
Fax: (978) 927-4524
Copyright: 2005 Essex County Newspapers
Author: Dean  Burgess
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

HERE'S A CHAMPIONSHIP THE BAY STATE CAN DO WITHOUT

To the Editor:
We're champions again in Massachusetts!

First it was football, then it was baseball and now the people of the 
commonwealth are champions of another sport, if you will. We are No. 1 in 
the  use of marijuana!

Congratulations! We beat every state in the nation! A whopping 12 percent 
of Massachusetts residents have taken part in smoking the funny butts in 
the past  month.

We have put every steroid scandal in sports history to shame. We might as 
well make the pot plant our state plant. We could put it on vanity plates 
on cars. I'm surprised that Twinkies haven't become our official state food 
by now. In all seriousness, I didn't realize that I had a 12 percent chance 
of driving next to an operator of a motor vehicle who was under the 
influence of  the cannabis plant. Then again, that would explain some of 
their driving techniques.

Pretty soon pot smokers are going to outnumber cigarette smokers. I don't 
get it though: Massachusetts residents are hellbent on eliminating 
cigarette smoking  from society, but some wish to legalize the use of dope 
smoking? They want to  pay a cheap monetary fine to illegally use a 
mind-altering substance instead of  being arrested.

Actually, the irony is that while one would probably be arrested for 
smoking indoors, the pot smoker would just have to pay a fine. Why would 
someone want me to publicly accept and deal with their drug addiction? Why 
do marijuana users want a free pass to toke up around me? They  want me to 
tolerate their behavior, but I want to turn the tables on them. I  want 
them to have the strength and courage to live a drug-free life. I want them 
to live a clean and productive life.

I bet that they don't want me to judge them when they are parenting under 
the influence of marijuana. In the end, what has pot smoking done for them 
other than drain their bank accounts and their ambitions as well. Imagine 
if all the money spent on drug use was spent on something worthwhile for a 
change? I just don't want to see Cheech and Chong being spokespeople 
for  the Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce.

Dean Burgess

Manchester-by-the-Sea
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MAP posted-by: Beth