Pubdate: Sat, 03 Nov 2012
Source: Patriot Ledger, The  (Quincy, MA)
Copyright: 2012 GateHouse Media, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.patriotledger.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1619
Author: Justin Matheus

THWART FEDS, LEGALIZE MEDICAL MARIJUANA

The legalization of medical cannabis symbolizes more than just a 
large group of people  several thousand in the Commonwealth  gaining 
access to the only drug that adequately treats their illness without 
the fear of prosecution looming over their shoulders.

The passage of ballot question 3, Massachusetts becoming the 18th 
state to legalize medical cannabis would represent yet another notch 
in the exposure of cannabis' Schedule 1 classification by the federal 
government as empirically illegitimate.

That said, this week's release of the FBI's Uniform Crime Report 
comes at an opportune time to support the case for medical cannabis. 
In a climate of over 750,000 arrests being made yearly in this nation 
in the past decade, roughly 40 percent of which being issued for mere 
possession, as said report reflects, the notion of legally allowing 
possession for medical purposes is hardly radical, and refreshingly 
compassionate. To all those who favor truth over fear, progress over 
regression, compassion over condemnation, I urge you to vote yes on 
ballot question 3 this Tuesday.

JUSTIN MATHEUS

Randolph
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