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? - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom