cannabisnews.com: Legalize Pot: Who Didn’t See This Coming?





 Legalize Pot: Who Didn’t See This Coming?
Posted by CN Staff on March 24, 2009 at 05:44:51 PT
By Donna O’Neil, GateHouse News Service
Source: Taunton Daily Gazette
MA -- The Massachusetts’ legislators rolled out another interesting proposal last week –legalizing marijuana. And surprise of all surprises, the proposal would set up yet another state agency to regulate the deal. We have only to speak of a few state agencies gone awry to see how that works – Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, MassPort, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner – if you’re unfamiliar, just Google them, there’s plenty there.Since Massachusetts’ voters passed a law to decriminalize marijuana last November, this proposal was only a matter of time. However, no matter which side of the bong you’re sitting on, this presents some interesting options.
From the Yeah-dude perspective: hundreds of people could become gainfully employed in the time span of a single toke, community gardens would cultivate a new crop of gardeners, the state can finally capitalize on one of it’s fastest growing industries, and newspapers and other print media will benefit from pharmaceutical companies major ad campaigns extolling the virtues of Celexa and Xanax as feel-good over the counter options to street pot. The pace of life will become a lot slower and ethics and corruption in the Massachusetts political system will be easier to deal with. From the Not-in-my-backyard point of view: Marijuana-as-a-gateway-drug proponents will have a tougher job trying to convince people of their message, pharmaceutical companies as mentioned above will be waitlisted for bailouts by the federal government because they will be on the verge of bankruptcy, and all those employee manuals that state “We do random drug testing” will have to adopt new policies excluding pot from their list of illicit drugs. Legalizing marijuana will leave taxpayers in a haze when it comes to dealing with Massachusetts’ bureaucracy. Imagine the confusion when folks find out the acronyms have changed:DPH – Department of Public Health becomes Department of Pot HeadsMBTA – Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority becomes Major Big Twinkies AvailableRMV – Registry of Motor Vehicles becomes the Reefer Madness Venders New grassroots efforts will take to the streets including Bring back trans fat and Toke ‘N’ Smoke sections in restaurants will be the fastest growing crazes. At this point, we’re looking for more research on the subject; please pass me a lighter so I can make informed decision. Donna O’Neil is the editor of the Wakefield Observer. Source: Taunton Daily Gazette (MA)Author: Donna O’Neil, GateHouse News ServicePublished: March 24, 2009Copyright: 2009 Taunton Daily GazetteContact: dciliberti tauntongazette.comWebsite: http://www.tauntongazette.comURL: http://drugsense.org/url/oxxpNvlJCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on March 25, 2009 at 11:31:28 PT
Mass. Towns Penalize Public Pot Smoking
March 25, 2009Boston, MA (UPI) -- Massachusetts cities and towns are passing laws to crack down on public use of marijuana in the wake of a state law that decriminalized marijuana use.At least seven municipalities have adopted pot ordinances and more than 20 others could do so in the next few weeks, the Boston Globe reported.Salem's new law sets a $300 fine for using marijuana in public. That comes on top of the $100 penalty set by state law for possession of an ounce or less of the weed."If you're smoking marijuana in front of schoolchildren, to me that's a little bit more serious than smoking a joint by yourself out in the middle of the woods," said Police Captain Brian Gilligan. Supporters of the November referendum say that the new ordinances are not needed since anyone caught with marijuana still faces a fine, giving them an incentive to be discreet. The decriminalization referendum was approved 2-1.Copyright: 2009 United Press International, Inc.http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/03/25/Mass_towns_penalize_public_pot_smoking/UPI-56291238004442/
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Comment #1 posted by Hope on March 24, 2009 at 10:03:29 PT
"Ooops...
There goes another rubber tree plant".Or it's moving anyway.Little ole ants... keep em moving!The sound of sanity slipping back into the life of society. Freedom. Less threats, killings, caging, beatings, fines, testing, and destruction are coming to the fore. Finally.It's a wonderful sound.
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