The Massachusetts heroin epidemic is unlike any other in the United States. The overdose rate in the state is more than twice the national average. And deaths from prescription opioids like OxyContin are only slightly less harrowing. Unusual, too, is the degree to which these two scourges are feeding off each other. A substantial and spiking number of overdoses in Massachusetts involves both heroin and prescription drugs, something you rarely find elsewhere in the United States. Until now, it's been hard to see how, exactly, heroin and prescription opioids were interacting, since almost all available data lump them together under the heading of "opioids." But a Globe examination of the information in death certificates from 1999 to 2014 reveals the increasingly toxic interplay between the drugs, both at the state level and in individual counties. [continues 1030 words]
WASHINGTON - The battle over legalizing recreational marijuana in Massachusetts will land before the state's highest court in June - when opponents will argue that the petition to put it on the ballot was misleading. Challengers to the proposed November state ballot question will ask the justices of the Supreme Judicial Court to throw out the more than 100,000 signatures collected to certify the ballot measure. "The voters who signed the petition to put the measure on the ballot weren't told what the legislation would do," said John Scheft, an attorney representing a group of registered voters who filed a complaint last week challenging the measure. [continues 339 words]
The Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, saying it is worried legalizing marijuana for adults will make it easier for kids to gain access to the drug, came out Wednesday against a likely ballot question to make marijuana legal for recreational use. "As superintendents, our primary focus is on helping each and every student reach their full potential, and we believe the commercial legalization of marijuana runs directly counter to that goal," the executive director of the association, Tom Scott, said in a statement. "Where marijuana is legal, we see increased use and abuse by young people." [continues 339 words]
It has become a grim workplace routine: the "code blue" crackling over the loudspeaker. The all-hands-on-deck emergency response. Then, in more than half the calls, the discovery of a nonresponsive person - - blue lips, shallow breathing, and constricted pupils, all telltale signs of a drug overdose. "It's happening everywhere," said Dr. Jessie Gaeta, chief medical officer at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, headquartered in the South End neighborhood infamously nicknamed Methadone Mile. "People literally slump over in the waiting room. . . . At the pharmacy window, in the lobby, in the dental clinic, in the respite clinic," she said. "Everywhere." [continues 1171 words]
When I think about the prospect of legalizing marijuana in Massachusetts, I surprise myself by sounding like my father. Cannabis tourism? THC-infused lip balm? "Budz and sudz" crawls? What is the world coming to? The combination of vice and capitalism is a powerful one, so it might be expected that entrepreneurs are rushing to market these artisanal highs. In Colorado, one of the first states to legalize recreational marijuana, cannabis concierge services are thriving, from ganja yoga retreats to weed weddings. Sales nearly hit $1 billion last year, with the state raking in tax and licensing fees of $135 million. [continues 554 words]
Norwood Police Chief William G. Brooks III says he thinks welcoming a medical marijuana dispensary to his town is a mistake, and if Norwood's selectmen choose to do it, he does not want any revenue from the operation to go to his department. "If the town does sign a host agreement and receive revenue from the marijuana industry, I respectfully request that the Norwood Police Department not receive a share. I could not in good conscience accept it," Brooks wrote to the Board of Selectmen recently. [continues 454 words]
I have worked for more than 40 years as a psychotherapist with several thousand teens and adults confronting a variety of personal, marital, and family challenges. I find the argument raised by those who oppose legalizing marijuana for adults - that it would "put our children at risk" - to be confusing and shortsighted ("Key players join forces against marijuana," Metro, April 14). When kids want alcohol, they usually find some willing adult to buy it for them from a local liquor store. If teens want to use marijuana, on the other hand, that moves them toward somebody who has access to a wider range of more dangerous drugs. If it were legalized, I assume most kids would obtain it as they now get alcohol, and their contact with more dangerous drugs would be potentially limited. [continues 136 words]
Governor Charlie Baker, Mayor Martin Walsh, and House Speaker Robert DeLeo aligning against the ballot initiative to legalize marijuana ("KEY players join forces against marijuana") is another instance of politicians refusing, to the bitter end, to acknowledge the utter failure of criminal regulation. Their arguments are absurd and hypocritical. Legalization will not increase teens' access to marijuana, since right now any child can readily obtain the product on the illegal market - a market regulated by gangsters. Marijuana has nothing to do with the opioid epidemic. [continues 106 words]
Dr. Kevin P. Hill's April 15 opinion piece, "Getting marijuana policy right," stated that, in his opinion, "no one with any ties to pro-or antimarijuana groups should serve on the Cannabis Control Commission." In reality, such commissions are usually filled either with retired politicians or with people with business connections to the industry being regulated. Almost every politician since the 1930s, at least in the two main parties, has been OK with marijuana prohibition. Many were fanatically anti-marijuana, and the others were at least content with acquiescing to the status quo. [continues 66 words]
I'm not sure where all the hand-wringing is coming from regarding the proposed ballot question to legalize recreational use of marijuana. If the question does pass, I expect a similar reaction in the Legislature to that of November 1998. Remember Question 2? The Clean Elections Law was ignored by the Legislature because lawmakers didn't like it, and was quietly killed just a few years later. I expect the same with the marijuana question. Brian Mehigan Stow [end]
In response to the article "Treasurer looks for limits on legal marijuana" (Page A1, April 21), I'd like to say that I am not opposed to legalizing marijuana per se. I did vote for legalizing medical marijuana. However, I have a right to breathe clean air while on the street. Today I object to having to breathe cigarette smoke from others. If a measure to legalize marijuana should pass, I will have to also breathe marijuana smoke. I hope my right to breathe fresh air in public places is protected and enforced. James Newman Boston [end]
APRIL 23, 2016 GOVERNOR CHARLIE Baker, Mayor Martin Walsh, and House Speaker Robert DeLeo aligning against the ballot initiative to legalize marijuana ("Key players join forces against marijuana" ) is another instance of politicians refusing, to the bitter end, to acknowledge the utter failure of criminal regulation. Their arguments are absurd and hypocritical. Legalization will not increase teens "access to marijuana, since right now any child can readily obtain the product on the illegal market" a market regulated by gangsters. Marijuana has nothing to do with the opioid epidemic. [continues 106 words]
Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg, who would oversee regulation of the state's recreational marijuana industry if voters approve a ballot measure this fall, said Wednesday the Legislature should ban home cultivation and delay retail sales of the drug if the proposal passes. She also wants state lawmakers to restrict marijuana edibles such as candy that can be attractive to children and to give her office money to regulate the new industry in the early going. And though she opposes the ballot effort like many other top state politicians, Goldberg said in an interview that she believes her office needs to be prepared for it. [continues 877 words]
So far, just one major statewide business group, the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, has decided to oppose the measure. Jon Hurst isn't afraid to take a stand. As president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, it's his job to fight for the interests of the 4,000 businesses he represents. But when it comes to legalizing marijuana, he's torn - as are many leaders of Boston-area business groups. "How can you separate your own personal feelings and experiences from the economic and political concerns?" Hurst said, acknowledging that he indulged a few times as a college student in the 1970s. "It's unlike anything I've dealt with in 25 years in this business." [continues 1112 words]
BOSTON (AP) - A group supporting legalized use of recreational marijuana in Massachusetts said Friday that Gov. Charlie Baker and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh are being hypocritical by supporting more liquor licenses while opposing the pot initiative. The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol leveled the charge one day after Baker, Walsh and other top officials announced formation of a committee to fight a likely November ballot question that would allow Massachusetts residents 21 and older to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana. [continues 253 words]
NEW YORK - Howard Marks, an Oxford-educated drug trafficker who at his peak in the 1970s controlled a substantial fraction of the world's hashish and marijuana trade, and who became a best-selling author after his release from a US prison, died Sunday. He was 70. His death, from colorectal cancer, which he disclosed last year, was confirmed by Robin Harvie, publisher for nonfiction at Pan Macmillan, which released Mr. Marks's final book, "Mr. Smiley: My Last Pill and Testament," in September. No other details were provided. [continues 719 words]
Mayor: Pro-Marijuana People Must Explain Its Importance Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh responded to criticism from a pro-marijuana legalization group that called him a "hypocrite" for opposing pot legalization while supporting measures they say promote easier access to alcohol - such as keeping bars open later and granting more liquor licenses - by challenging the group to make its case for legalization. "I am not going to get into name calling, they can call me whatever they want," Walsh said. "What I would like to ask them to do ... is to explain to the people of Massachusetts why it's important to legalize marijuana. I think that would be a good start for the campaign." [continues 240 words]
Pot advocates have apparently decided that they can insult their way to victory in November. And so they choose One Boston Day - a day aimed at encouraging random acts of kindness, a day when Gov. Charlie Baker and Mayor Marty Walsh would be laying wreaths in memory of the Boston Marathon bombing victims - to insult and disparage both men. Leaders of the marijuana campaign gathered in front of the State House with a poster of Walsh and Baker and a cartoon bubble saying, "Our health policy: Drink more alcohol!" [continues 108 words]
Regarding your editorial, "Bringing textiles, old and new, to Massachusetts" (April 5), I write to point out, legislatures and bureaucrats may define hemp as cannabis having only trace amounts of THC, but nature does not. A plant that produces trace amounts of THC crossed with a plant that produces enough THC to be entheogenic produces viable offspring, because they are the same species, cannabis. In his book, Home Grown: Marijuana and the Origins of Mexico's War on Drugs, Isaac Campos notes that sixteenth and seventeenth century cannabis brought to the new world by the Spanish "found its way into local medical-religious practice." Its genetics must have been programmed to produce enough THC to be entheogenic. Due to reefer madness plant scientists are unable to grow test plots to determine if cannabis programmed to produce more than trace amounts produce more or better fiber, hurd and seed. Georgetown, Mass. [end]
Advocates for legalizing pot invoked "Reefer Madness" to mock opposition by top elected leaders - prompting Mayor Martin J. Walsh to fire back there is nothing funny about a detox ward. Walsh, Gov. Charlie Baker and House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo joined forces yesterday in a public appeal yesterday against legalizing marijuana, warning, "We've learned from the recent experience of other states - legal marijuana leads to higher rates of addiction, lower academic success, and significant health consequences for our kids." Bill Downing of Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition countered, "Unfortunately, our governor and the mayor of Boston suffer from a mental disorder, it's called 'Reefer Madness.' " He was referring to the much-lampooned 1930s film that depicts dire consequences for marijuana use. [continues 311 words]
Advocates of marijuana legalization are accusing Governor Charlie Baker and Mayor Martin J. Walsh of hypocrisy for supporting the expansion of alcohol sales while backing an effort to stop the legalization of marijuana. A day after the two announced they are launching a political effort to kill a likely legalization ballot question, the campaign backing the pro-cannabis referendum will hold a Friday news conference. There, the group will assert it's contradictory to support the expansion of one and not the other - because, it argues, alcohol is far more dangerous than marijuana. [continues 389 words]
The recent problems with opioid addiction represent a critical medical treatment system in crisis. This "system" consists of the relatively unregulated process by which those with substance use issues access recovery treatment services, with its many loopholes and routine denials of medical insurance coverage. The Massachusetts bill enacted recently (H4056), is a laudable effort, but does not address the core issues. Without question the current addiction epidemic was created by our current medical system, to a large extent intentionally and with foreknowledge of the risks. Further legislative initiatives must be pursued in the absence of any fundamental changes by the regulatory agencies responsible for overseeing our currently inadequate collection of independent profit-driven recovery treatment facilities. These facilities act as "knowledge and expertise silos" which are loosely interconnected into a "system" on a voluntary basis by the treating facilities, with the patients left to fend for themselves. [continues 117 words]
An Associated Industries of Massachusetts spokesman says, "Employers have worked pretty hard over the past several decades to create safe workplaces, and that includes creating drug-free workplaces," ("Biz not buzzed over legal pot," March 29). In fact, however, too many employers have worked hard to discriminate against citizens who choose to use the extremely popular - and God-given - plant cannabis, or pot. If employees may use alcohol after work, there is no reason to prohibit cannabis. That pot is safer than alcohol is one reason Colorado voters ended cannabis prohibition, and one of many reasons why Massachusetts voters will likely legalize the plant. - - Stan White, Dillon, Colo. [end]
Along with most Massachusetts businesses, I too am against the legalization of marijuana in Massachusetts ("Biz not buzzed over legal pot," March 29). While legalization would lead to growth for certain businesses and in the state's overall wealth, it would have a poor effect on people's lives and the state overall. Marijuana legalization would lead to negative effects to the people who sell it, buy it and use it as well. Backers of legalization say pot should be regulated like alcohol. However, there are already severe impacts on health due to alcohol, including the societal cost of addiction. This state should be about more than money and business. We should be about protecting people's health as well. - - Haddeel Albaiz, Cambridge [end]
Poll: 62 Percent of Mass. Firms Oppose Ballot Measure Employers are sounding the alarm about a proposed November state ballot question that calls for legalization and regulation of recreational marijuana in Massachusetts, coming out heavily against it in a newly released survey. Of 180 Bay State employers who responded to the survey question posed by Associated Industries of Massachusetts - the state's largest employer group - 62 percent opposed the ballot measure. Thirty-eight percent said they're in favor. The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol's referendum will be on the Nov. 1 statewide ballot and is widely expected to pass - prompting the state Senate to prepare to draft regulations in advance. The measure would legalize marijuana for adults 21 years and older, and license, regulate and tax its production and distribution in a manner similar to alcohol. [continues 179 words]
A Report Says the State May Become a "Canna-Tourism" Hub. If Massachusetts voters approve an expected ballot measure this fall legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, the state could become home to a $1.1 billion cannabis industry by 2020, according to a report. The research, released last week by the marijuana data and investment firms ArcView Market Research and New Frontier , predicts the advent of legal marijuana would make Massachusetts a thriving hub of "canna-tourism" in the Northeast, depending on whether neighboring states also legalize marijuana. [continues 681 words]
As a law requiring Massachusetts schools to conduct drug screenings becomes a reality, several of the 10 districts that already perform the assessments say the evaluations have proven to be a key tool in the early detection of a range of potential substance abuse problems among students. Wilmington Superintendent Mary DeLai, whose district began assessing 10th-graders three years ago on its own, began screening seventh-graders this year for substance abuse signs. She said the tests were another way for students to discuss their feelings with an adult who will listen. [continues 724 words]
State Senator Jason M. Lewis doesn't want to legalize the recreational use of marijuana right now because he thinks "a commercial, profit-driven market is the wrong approach to take" ("Key senator says no to legal marijuana," Page A1, March 21). I wonder how he would characterize the present market for marijuana in Massachusetts. Or does he assume there isn't one because he hasn't approved? Jim Mesthene Waltham [end]
My heart goes out to people in chronic pain who desperately need relief, but who don't want to end up in an even worse dilemma - addicted to the opioids that are dispensed far too frequently, and that lead far too often to damaged lives or even death ("Weighing risk of opioid addiction, many decide to live with the pain," Thomas Farragher, Metro, March 12). I want to thank Senator Elizabeth Warren for asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to examine the role that marijuana can play in cutting addiction to opioids for those in pain. [continues 158 words]
For a year, state Senator Jason M. Lewis maintained strict neutrality as he studied marijuana legalization - interviewing 50-plus experts, scouring the research, and observing firsthand a state where it is legal. But now he is speaking out against the expected November referendum in Massachusetts. His position carries special weight. Lewis chairs the special legislative committee on marijuana. His concerns, voiced just after his committee submitted its report on the topic, arise from his role as both a father and a public official, he said. [continues 1157 words]
The fight against drug addiction took a new direction this week when Massachusetts Environmental Police and New Bedford police boarded fishing vessels in New Bedford Harbor, searching for fishermen carrying illegal drugs for personal use. "Commercial fishing is a dangerous enough job as it is," said Environmental Police Major Patrick J. Moran. "Using drugs makes it even more dangerous. Our intention was to stop the drugs from getting out to sea aboard the fishing vessels." Over two days, four law enforcement vessels stopped 11 fishing boats heading out of the harbor, leading to arrests of at least six people on drug possession charges and of two people on outstanding warrants, officials said. [continues 355 words]
The state Legislature is set to repeal a 27-year-old law requiring a driver's license suspension for those convicted of drug crimes, such as possession, that have nothing to do with driving. The final vote could come as soon as next week, and Governor Charlie Baker has signaled he will sign the measure. Advocates say the suspensions have been a major impediment for former offenders trying to rebuild their lives. Without a license, it can be difficult to find work, take children to day care, and get to drug-treatment programs. [continues 466 words]
BACK IN 1966, concerned that so many young people were harming themselves through the use of marijuana, I began to review the medical and scientific literature to help clarify the nature of this harmfulness. Much to my surprise, I discovered that it was a substance remarkably free of toxicity. In fact, it is far safer than any pharmaceutical or recreational drug. There is no record of a single overdose death around the world from its recreational or medicinal use. Compare that to aspirin, which is responsible for more than 1,000 deaths per year in this country alone. [continues 193 words]
The Massachusetts Hospital Association has joined a growing roster of opponents to a proposed ballot measure that would legalize marijuana in Massachusetts. The group's board of trustees voted unanimously last week to oppose the measure, citing public health and safety concerns, including greater youth access to the drug. "Clinicians and health care leaders from around the state have a clear message - this ballot measure is the wrong prescription for Massachusetts," said Lynn Nicholas, chief executive of the hospital association, in a written statement. [continues 269 words]
FOR MANY years, I felt the sale and use of marijuana should be fully legalized, largely to deprive criminal gangs of a lucrative source of income and recruiting in our failed War on Drugs. But when I see the Colorado model, where companies create and market enticing marijuana-based products that are likely to appeal to children, and I read the compelling public health case made by Governor Baker, Attorney General Healey, and Mayor Walsh, I've reversed my position. Don Carlson Boston [end]
Some parents and educators are cautiously backing a requirement that students be screened at schools for signs of substance abuse, but expressed concerns about confidentiality and how the state would implement the program. The proposed drug screening is part of an opioid bill passed Thursday by the Senate and expected to be signed into law by Governor Charlie Baker. The screening would be verbal. It would not include drug testing and would happen at two grade levels in public schools. Parents or legal guardians would have the option to exempt their children from screening. [continues 817 words]
The Massachusetts House of Representatives unanimously approved legislation Wednesday that would require schools to screen students for drug abuse and work to curb opioid use by limiting doctors' initial prescriptions to seven days. The Senate is expected to approve the bill Thursday, and Governor Charlie Baker is expected to sign it. The measure is the Legislature's latest response to an opioid crisis that claims about 100 Massachusetts lives per month. It is not as far-reaching as a proposal Baker made last fall, which called for a three-day limit on initial opioid prescriptions. But the governor has praised the bill nonetheless. [continues 65 words]
The state senators who traveled to Colorado on a marijuana field trip were the butt of some jokes (including in this space). But the special Senate committee has produced some helpful research. Normalizing the cultivation, sale and use of marijuana in Massachusetts would, of course, still be in conflict with federal law. That's the first knock against the campaign to get a legalization question on the November ballot, but it's certainly not the last. As the senators discovered, a mile-high stack of legal complications would proceed from a vote in favor of legalization. [continues 282 words]
Governor Charlie Baker sought much tougher legislation to deal with the opioid addiction crisis, but his spokesman said Tuesday that the current bill is "a strong step in the right direction. The Legislature is poised to approve a bill this week that would require schools to conduct screenings of students for drug abuse and work to curb opioid use by limiting doctors' initial prescriptions to seven days. Parents and students would have the ability to opt out of the screen, which would come in the form of a confidential interview with children at two still-to-be-determined grade levels. [continues 663 words]
BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts may not be prepared for public health and safety issues associated with the potential legalization of recreational marijuana, a special state Senate committee that recently visited Colorado warned Tuesday. In a 118-page report, the panel recommended steps that could be taken should voters approve a likely November ballot question that would allow the recreational use and possession of up to an ounce of marijuana for those 21 and older. The report suggested that taxes proposed in the ballot initiative would not cover the cost of implementing a recreational marijuana law and warned that a black market for pot would persist in the state even if the drug was sold legally at retail outlets. [continues 448 words]
A scathing Senate report to be released Tuesday says that if residents legalize recreational marijuana in Massachusetts this fall, the state should promptly temper their vote by outlawing home cultivation, imposing a significant tax on the drug, and prohibiting some marijuana-infused edible products. The report by a special Senate committee does not take an official stance on the proposed ballot question but warns of legalization's dangers. The authors note that it could make it easier for children to access the drug and create difficulties for law enforcement officers in determining and proving someone is too high to drive. [continues 1010 words]
This November, voters in Massachusetts will be asked whether to legalize marijuana. Our state has already decriminalized the drug for personal use, and we've made it legally available for medical use. The question before us now is whether marijuana should be fully legal and widely available for commercial sale. We think the answer is "no." Where marijuana is legal, young people are more likely to use it, according to a January report from the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. The report found that while use among minors has declined nationwide in recent years, states like Colorado have seen an increase. [continues 700 words]
Massachusetts could soon join the ranks of states that have eliminated laws requiring automatic suspension of driver's licenses for individuals convicted of drug crimes, provided the crime is unrelated to driving. But there is a kink in the works, one that has even the chief justice of the state's highest court concerned. Of course no one wants to go easy on criminals involved in the drug trade. But getting to work, to school, dropping the kid off at day care or getting to the probation office - all activities required of a person actually trying to stay on the straight and narrow - become more difficult when an individual isn't permitted to drive. [continues 199 words]
Marijuana dispensaries in Boston would have to sit at least half-a-mile apart under rules approved Wednesday by the Boston City Council. The measure is intended to protect neighborhoods from being overrun with pot shops, in the event voters approve a likely November ballot initiative that would legalize recreational use of marijuana, said Councilor-at-large, Michael Flaherty, who sponsored the rule. "I don't want to have another Combat Zone. I don't want to have a pot zone, a marijuana zone," Flaherty said. "I don't think one neighborhood should bear the burden of all of that." [continues 564 words]
WASHINGTON - The Senate voted Monday to move toward final confirmation of a new Food and Drug Administration commissioner, brushing aside objections from Democrat Edward Markey of Massachusetts who opposed the appointment over FDA approvals of prescription opioids. The motion easily cleared the required 60-vote threshold, passing 80-to-6. The bipartisan support set up a vote Tuesday to confirm for Dr. Robert Califf, a former Duke University researcher selected by President Obama to lead the agency. Markey had placed a procedural "hold" last month on Califf in a bid to force the FDA to get tougher on addictive painkillers. [continues 718 words]
A court clerk magistrate agreed Wednesday to file criminal charges against one of the state's leading proponents for the legalization of marijuana, for selling a cannabis-based oil product he says was used for medicinal purposes. The decision could test the legality of selling cannabis-based hemp products in a state that has approved the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, and where voters could decide in the fall on whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use. A lawyer for marijuana advocate Bill Downing said Wednesday that his client has been targeted for his vocal support of legalizing marijuana. [continues 561 words]
Patients voiced hope and frustration as the state's sixth medical marijuana dispensary formally opened Tuesday - more than three years after voters approved such use, a decision that had been expected to usher in dozens of dispensaries by now. Executives of Patriot Care, operator of the new dispensary, which opened in Lowell, described the licensing process as a positive but long road and said that they opted for a cautious launch, offering just four strains of marijuana in the beginning but no other products, such as edibles, tinctures, or oils. And they said they want to make sure they have ample supplies. The first dispensaries that opened last year quickly ran into supply problems. [continues 741 words]
I am a Franklin resident responding to the recent article about Franklin' S.A.F.E. coalition's plans to hold monthly treatment events. These events will provide immediate access to service providers for those suffering from addiction (and family members). They will also help seekers navigate the system and provide a pathway to long-term recovery. I commend the committee for taking steps to treat the opioid crisis for what it is, a crisis of mental health and not criminality. [continues 239 words]
QUINCY -- Attorney General Maura Healey says she is "strongly opposed" to a marijuana legalization measure headed for the ballot this fall and fears that it could put the state's young people at risk. Speaking with The Patriot Ledger's editorial board Tuesday, Healey said she worries that voters who are "rightly concerned" about prisons crammed with non-violent drug users have gone too far by embracing the legalization of marijuana, which has been legal for medical use in Massachusetts since 2013. She pointed to reports of emergency room visits and fatalities from drugged-driving crashes in Colorado, the first state to legalize the drug for recreational use as well. [continues 275 words]
It's a message as old as the War on Drugs: If there's anything you need to know about marijuana, just ask a cop. For some members of the Massachusetts state legislature, faced with the possibility that voters will legalize marijuana in November's election, the old playbook is the only one they have. So they invited some police in to explain drugs to them. The results were as predictable as a middle school D.A.R.E. assembly. The cops, including an officer from Colorado traveling the country warning about the danger of legalizing recreational marijuana use, advised Massachusetts to "Just Say No." [continues 754 words]
Inside Massachusetts
