Pubdate: Thu, 10 Jan 2008
Source: Berkshire Eagle, The (Pittsfield, MA)
Copyright: 2008 New England Newspapers, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.berkshireeagle.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/897
Cited: Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy 
http://sensiblemarijuanapolicy.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)

POT AND THE BALLOT BOX

The great pot debate, in this case as to whether or not the state's 
penalty for minor pot possession should be reduced from a misdemeanor 
to a civil infraction, is unlikely to be settled at the ballot box 
this November even if the issue makes it there in the form of a 
referendum question. The Legislature has already shown that for good 
(reducing the state income tax) or ill (initiating public funding of 
campaigns), it will ignore referendum questions if it sees fit. If 
change is to come, it will be with the impetus of lawmakers.

The Boston-based Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy wants 
Massachusetts to join the 12 other states that have reduced penalties 
for marijuana. New York is the nearest, and there is no evidence that 
reefer madness has overcome the Empire State. The proposal is not as 
radical as, for example, legalizing marijuana, which no state can do 
anyway because it would violate federal laws regulating the drug.

The argument that marijuana is a gateway drug to cocaine or heroine 
is not backed by incontrovertible evidence. If it were, first 
offenders would not have their cases dismissed with probation, as is 
regularly the case. Berkshire County and Massachusetts law 
enforcement officers have a realistic perspective on marijuana use, 
and a ballot question, a blunt instrument when subtlety is required, 
is not the way to change drug laws.

The state's mandatory sentencing law for drug sales within a school 
zone, the source for the controversial Great Barrington drug arrests 
in 2003, is a bad law, however, because it removes sentencing 
discretion from judges and mandates tough sentences for minor 
offenses. We once again urge the Legislature to repeal it. We also 
urge the Legislature to legalize the use of marijuana for certain 
illnesses, such as cancer and AIDS. These actions would outweigh any 
ballot tampering with drug laws.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake