Pubdate: Fri, 17 Feb 2012
Source: Salem News (MA)
Copyright: 2012 Eagle Tribune Publishing Company
Contact: http://www.salemnews.com/contactus/local_story_015132129.html
Website: http://www.salemnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3466
Author: Steven S. Epstein

POT INITIATIVE STOPS SHORT OF OUTRIGHT LEGALIZATION

To the editor: I am disappointed Peter Lewis is spending his money on
legalizing the medicinal use of marijuana in Massachusetts instead of
ending the state's prohibition on adults engaging in the cultivation
and commerce in cannabis, as he is in Washington.

Massachusetts voters are ready, as they were in 1930 when they
repealed the state's "baby" Volstead Act, to repeal the state
prohibition in order to conserve scarce resources, leaving it to the
feds to enforce their prohibition.

As long as the unconstitutional federal prohibition remains in place,
those who cultivate and distribute marijuana in compliance with state
laws, such as that proposed in the Committee for Compassionate
Medicine's initiative, face federal prosecution. That threat is very
real. The Obama administration is expending its scarce resources on
prosecuting dispensaries in states that allow them and threatening
their landlords with forfeiture of their real estate if they do not
evict them.

The Legislature should pass the initiative petition into law by the
first Wednesday of May, obviating the need for it to go on the ballot
in November. If they don't, our elected officials will again be
exposed as out of step with the overwhelming majority of their
constituents. (Editor's note: Ohio billionaire Peter Lewis is a major
contributor to the Committee for Compassionate Medicine, which is
seeking support for a November ballot question authorizing the use of
marijuana for medicinal purposes in Massachusetts.)
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MAP posted-by: Matt