BROCKTON - Jean Augustin, 22, of Brockton, thinks using marijuana is OK, "as long as people don't get too messed up or get into a car when under the influence of it."

Dom Scolaro, 49, of Easton, used marijuana to ease the nausea from his cancer chemotherapy treatments. He says the Class D substance should be available to everyone, not just those who are sick.

"It's the only thing that worked for me," Scolaro said, "and I think it's a crime that it isn't legal."

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NAHANT - Drug test results on all eight active duty firefighters came back negative, according to Town Administrator Mark Cullinan.

The members of the department were voluntarily tested following allegations of drug use in the department by embattled Firefighter Kevin Howard, who is currently out on paid sick leave.

Howard, who served as acting chief briefly earlier this year, has been on paid sick leave since April, when embezzlement allegations against him surfaced. Last week, Howard said he has used cocaine and purchased it from a fellow firefighter at the station.

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Suit Challenges State Finding That Cocaine Was Factor

Alfonso Santana spent the last moments of his life face down on a sidewalk in Lawrence in 2005.

Now, a jury is set to decide whether Santana's death, at age 39, was caused by cocaine intoxication, by police who restrained him in a choke hold, or by some other factor.

Santana's family has brought a wrongful death lawsuit against two State Police troopers and a Lawrence police officer that is scheduled to go to trial Monday in US District Court in Boston. At the center of the case is a specimen of blood the state medical examiner says was taken from Santana during an autopsy.

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Re: "Follow VA lead on medical marijuana," Aug. 1:

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' long overdue acknowledgement of marijuana's medical efficacy has important implications for troops returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. In response to findings that soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are successfully self-medicating with marijuana, Israel is conducting clinical trials on the use of marijuana derivatives to treat PTSD.

A groundbreaking study of 4,117 patients conducted by California physician Thomas O'Connell found that marijuana is widely used as an anti-anxiety/antidepressant agent, performing as well or better than many currently available prescription drugs prescribed for the same symptoms.

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Made Of Plant Synthetic Matter

A drug-laced herbal concoction sold as incense that reportedly mimics the highs induced by marijuana has become popular among narcotics users in some regions of the country and is making serious inroads in Massachusetts.

"This looks like it's going to be the latest designer drug," said Dr. Christopher D. Rosenbaum, who specializes in emergency medicine and toxicology at the University Campus of UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester. "What's disturbing is that it's a mixture of plant and synthetic materials and people who use it don't know exactly what they're smoking."

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Re: "Follow VA lead on medical marijuana" (Aug. 1):

Left out from your editorial is that Gov. Weld signed into law a medical marijuana law 20 years ago. The 1990 law, Mass. Gen. Law. c. 94D, is considered a cruel joke because it requires a federally approved source of cannabis to be distributed by the state to patients.

This Nov. 2, voters in nine house districts, including the Second and Fourteenth Bristol and Ninth Norfolk, will have the opportunity to instruct the House candidates to vote in favor of legislation that would allow patients with their doctor's written recommendation, to possess, grow, and purchase marijuana for medical use.

Steven Epstein, Georgetown

THE WRITER is a founder and officer of the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition.

[end]

The just-announced decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs to permit patients treated at its medical facilities to use medical marijuana will surely raise hopes of Massachusetts advocates for a shift in state policy.

The VA approval will be inapplicable in any state where medical marijuana use is not yet legal. Fourteen states are covered. Massachusetts has decriminalized possession of one ounce or less of pot, but medical use of the substance remains illegal.

House bill 2160 begs for action. It would make a narrow exception to state law to allow seriously ill patients to use medical marijuana with their doctors' OK. The public health department would issue special ID cards; a patient or caregiver with an ID card and no more than 4 ounces and 12 plants would not be subject to arrest, as long as he or she is in compliance with the law. The ID cards could be revoked for any violation. There's room for compromise on the amounts allowed, but compassion for people whose symptoms could be alleviated by marijuana dictates that the bill be passed in form.

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The hard-luck city of Oakland, Calif., an aging port, rail and factory town, has decided to reinvent itself as an agricultural center in hopes of better times.

The City Council voted 5-2 this week to license four large facilities where marijuana could be grown and processed. The hope is that the grass factories will create hundreds of jobs, pay millions of dollars in taxes and give Oakland a jump-start on rival cities if Californians vote this fall to legalize recreational marijuana.

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Americans hate taxes. It's not a right or left issue. It's not a Democratic or Republican issue. It's not an old or young issue. It's strangely not even a rich or poor issue. It's an American issue. It's our biggest peeve. We all agree on some level: Our country is great, but we feel very cranky about forking over our money to the government.

This is an odd character trait in Americans. For example, we happily pay for cable even though television is free - we clearly have no problem signing up for more bills.

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ASHBURNHAM -- A combined drug investigation by local and state police with help from the Massachusetts National Guard found and destroyed more than $30,000 worth of marijuana plants this past week, authorities said.

A Guard helicopter flying low over wooded areas of Ashburnham and surrounding towns on Wednesday discovered several small crops of marijuana growing among the natural vegetation, said Ashburnham Police Detective Robert Siano, a member of the North Worcester Country Drug Task Force.

The Massachusetts State Police React Task Force also was involved in the operation. The helicopter pilot radioed the coordinates of the drug crops to ground crews, who destroyed the plants, Detective Siano said.

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Any day now, Massachusetts officially will welcome casinos.

Within months, bulldozers will clear open space for private parking lots, buildings, highways and infrastructure. The commonwealth will take its place among states balancing their budgets with licensing fees and taxes from gaming.

The legislative logic and addiction to revenue that drives the gaming proposal is equally applicable to other "vices." So why is the legislature not proposing regulating prostitution and the production and commerce in the most popular substance current law prohibits: marijuana?

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Legalize them. Regulate them. Tax them.

Those steps are what I refer to as the "Tripod of Victory in the War on Drugs."

It is time for both the U.S. government and the American people to admit our so called "War on Drugs" is an abject failure.

It is time for the U.S. government and the American people to admit it is both the demand for drugs in the United States, coupled with our lax gun laws and easy access to military style weaponry, that is then shipped south of the border by U.S. arms traffickers in pursuit of big profits fueling the bloodshed in Mexico and in other countries further south in Central America, including Costa Rica.

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In November 2010, California voters will consider a ballot initiative that would legalize marijuana in the state.

The proposed law includes restrictions on sale and use, such as a minimum purchase age of 21, but the bill gives marijuana roughly the same legal status as alcohol.

Early polls suggest the measure will pass, although full-scale debate has not yet occurred.

Marijuana legalization is a far bigger step than decriminalization or medicalization, which have already occurred in California and other states. Decriminalization legalizes possession of small amounts of marijuana, but it does not eliminate the underground market or permit easy taxation. Medicalization is closer to legalization, but it still leaves producers and consumers in a legal gray area and collects less revenue than legalization. Should California, or the country, legalize marijuana?

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To the editor:

Perhaps it is time for New Hampshire and/or Massachusetts to seriously consider legalizing marijuana and hashish for adult consumption. Doing so could have a more positive than negative impact and less harmful social and individual ramifications than currently legal vices like alcohol, cigarettes and gambling.

Legalizing these two by-products of the hemp plant would require courage on the part of legislators willing to bring it up in the certainty of moral outrage by some, as well as debate and testimony by experts, etc. And I am sure they would never be approved without some regulation for safety, purity, etc. But if legalized, they could provide a lucrative economic opportunity for entrepreneurs to "open shop" and sell imported or domestic varieties, increase state revenue, free law enforcement to focus on more serious crimes, and reduce our prison population (the highest per capita in the world). Alcohol is by far more dangerous, and people can and will continue to become addicted to anything palliative, unfortunately. However, for most individuals it is all about choice, and for the state it should be about pragmatism.

Personally, I don't need any more vices than I've had.

Eleanor White

Derry, N.H.

[end]

In "Gone to Pot" (April 20, "g"), Alex Beam takes a light-hearted approach to examining the current state of marijuana reform in the region.

He jokes about "weed people," and even makes a sarcastic comment about the medical marijuana program in California. Readers should be aware that for patients with terminal illnesses like cancer or Lou Gehrig's Disease, or serious conditions such as chronic pain or HIV, there is nothing funny about marijuana policy reform.

Many writers find it difficult to report on marijuana issues without resorting to sensationalizing "stoner culture," but unfortunately such articles rarely acknowledge the seriousness of medical marijuana reform.

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I UNDERSTAND the often flippant remarks about the legalization of marijuana, but here in Texas it's a very serious matter concerning the blood of innocent victims. Mexican government estimates are that 61 percent of murderous cartel revenue comes from marijuana.

The National Academy of Sciences' 1982 report pointed out that if some states could voluntarily control their own policy, without federal interference, any who chose legalization would provide invaluable information to all states. That US tradition is what states should be instructing federal legislators to allow, which Representative Barney Frank is working toward.

Jerry Epstein

Houston

The writer is president of the Drug Policy Forum of Texas.

[end]

ALEX BEAM'S "Gone to pot" (April 20, "g") begins with a flippant headline, followed by misdating the anniversary of the siege of Boston to 1776. The siege began late on April 19, 1775 and ended on Evacuation Day, the Suffolk County holiday that celebrates the British leaving on March 17, 1776.

As for substance, the debate over the continued prohibition of marijuana is whether we should repeal prohibition or perpetuate it.

By labeling those of us who seek repeal as "stoners," Mr. Beam reveals his affection for the latter. That is his right, but missing from his column is disclosure of how many more people must to be arrested, prosecuted, and punished before marijuana will go away, how much that will cost and where the money will come from.

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I've been in Washington, D.C. this semester and I could probably give some insight and perspective into what's going on down here. But really, I am so ridiculously tired of talking about Washington politics. So, I'm going to write about the legalization of weed. Where to begin? Oh man, I feel like so much is going on in the world of cannabis legalization that it's hard to catch you up. Rather, I would like to stress to you my confidence in a prediction that I made in the beginning of this school year. I had said that I thought cannabis will be legalized before 2010 is over. It seems clearer now than it ever did. Still skeptical? Well, read on.

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Amherst Common once again played host to the annual cannabis celebration known as Extravaganja on Saturday. For the 19th consecutive year, the common was flooded with people, unwashed masses milling, moving and dancing under a thick haze of marijuana smoke.

The weather for this year's Extravaganja was less than optimal; dark clouds and light drizzles dominated the skies for most of the day. That did not deter the crowd, however, as marijuana enthusiasts from the Pioneer Valley and beyond were in full force. Sleeper tents of all sizes peppered the common to provide festival-goers with temporary relief, as well as to shelter the hard-core who camped out for the event.

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A Historic Day Has Been Taken Over by Stoners and Others in the Pro-Hemp Camp

Ah yes: This Day in History.

April 20 is notoriously Adolf Hitler's birthday, the anniversary of the 1776 siege of Boston, of successful pasteurization in 1864, and of the horrible massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado. It is also America's fastest-growing holiday, known as 4/20. Call it National Stoners' Day.

It started, of course, in California, almost four decades ago, when a group of teenagers at San Rafael High School supposedly congregated at 4:20 p.m. every day to smoke weed next to a statue of Louis Pasteur. (In my line of work, we call this a story too good to check.) 4/20 observances gradually spread to college campuses and have even been coopted by Hollywood. Two years ago, the memorably awful movie "Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay" opened on 4/20.

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