Pubdate: Mon, 08 Dec 2014
Source: Boston Herald (MA)
Copyright: 2014 The Boston Herald, Inc
Contact:  http://news.bostonherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/53
Note: Prints only very short LTEs.

TIME FOR A POT CAUCUS?

Well, gee, who could have seen this coming?

Some lawmakers on Beacon Hill are now considering a legislative push 
to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, citing steps that have 
already been taken to loosen the state's pot laws.

"It's already been decriminalized and people are already using it," 
Rep. Lori Ehrlich (D-Marblehead) told the Herald recently. "They're 
just keeping an illicit business going."

And down the slippery slope we all slide.

Galvanized by a 2008 voter referendum that decriminalized the 
possession of small amounts of marijuana, the pot lobby sponsored a 
ballot question to legalize the use of marijuana as "medicine" in 2012.

Now the deep-pocketed folks behind a national legalization push are 
preparing another statewide ballot question to legalize recreational 
marijuana use, but it wouldn't go before voters until 2016. So some 
lawmakers figure, why not step in and handle the heavy lifting?

"It's almost certain to be on the ballot in 2016. I think people are 
going to vote for it and I think we have the responsibility to do it 
right," said Sen. William Brownsberger, who chairs the Senate 
Judiciary Committee. Yes, the Judiciary Committee, which has 
oversight of the criminal laws of the commonwealth. Hey, if you can 
get those guys on your side ...

It's one thing if special interests want to raise and spend millions 
in an effort to make pot legal. It's another thing for those who are 
sworn to uphold the laws of this commonwealth and of the United 
States to take steps to undermine federal law, under which pot 
remains illegal. Don't they have a budget problem that needs their attention?
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom