cannabisnews.com: Massachusetts AG OKs Marijuana Ballot Initiatives

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  Massachusetts AG OKs Marijuana Ballot Initiatives

Posted by CN Staff on September 02, 2015 at 14:46:24 PT
By Jacqueline Tempera  
Source: Reuters 

Boston -- Ballot initiatives from two marijuana advocacy groups were approved by the Massachusetts attorney general on Wednesday, leaving it up to voters to decide whether pot smoking should be legal in the state.The proposals, submitted to State Attorney General Maura Healey by the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol and the Bay State Repeal, argue that legalizing the drug will make it easier to regulate its sale and prevent underage kids from accessing it.
Now, the backers must collect and file signatures from more than 64,000 voters by Dec. 2. The proposal would then be sent to the Legislature in May.If officials do not enact the initiative at that time, then proponents must collect an additional 10,000 signatures by early July to bring it to the ballot box in the November 2016 election. If passed, the proposal would become a state statute.In Massachusetts, 53 percent of voters told a Suffolk University/Boston Herald poll in February that they would favor legalizing marijuana with just 37 percent opposing.Since 2012, similar initiatives have been passed by voters in Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and the District of Columbia.Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, a Democrat, has publicly condemned the use of marijuana, and in August passed an initiative banning the sale of synthetic marijuana products."I've seen too many lives ruined by starting to smoke weed and then, eventually, going to other types of drugs," Walsh, a recovering alcoholic, told the Boston Globe in May.Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, a Republican, has a similar stance, telling media he would oppose any such proposal.The two Massachusetts proponents offer different proposals. The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol proposes a 3.75 percent excise tax, optional local taxes, and the creation of a new state group to regulate the drug.The Bay State Repeal group proposes no additional taxes on the drug and argues it should be treated like other products sold to adults 21 years or older.Pro-marijuana groups are launching similar campaigns in California, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Ohio and Maine in 2016.Source: Reuters (Wire)Author:  Jacqueline Tempera Published: September 2, 2015Copyright: 2015 Thomson ReutersCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml 

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Comment #7 posted by observer on September 03, 2015 at 17:04:10 PT
They Can't Hear Us
Many prohibitionists, especially ones who have been earning their living by using government to jail people using pot as "reason", can't hear us at all. Essentially it happens like this: 
http://images.google.com/search?sout=1&q=I+can%27t+hear+you!+-+fingers+in+ears&tbm=ischProhibitionists may not be able to control themselves when they hear contrary information, here's the long explanation:
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/11009379/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/political-bias-affects-brain-activity-study-finds/So when we say, "But wait: cannabis is safer than alcohol and here are your own studies which prove it every which way you can imagine."Prohibitionists hear something like, "But cannabis is safer wha wha wha, wha wha wha wha-wha." Why?Short answer: the prohibitionist's brain is protecting itself from unwelcome information. Others, without an emotional investment, without a vested interest or stake in continuing arrests of peaceful people for pot, they can hear you. But prohibitionists, as political partisans in general, are resistant to facts, and the Drew Westen research tells us why this is the case. 
http://drugnewsbot.org
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Comment #6 posted by Universer on September 02, 2015 at 19:38:25 PT

OT: CheatSheet: Cannabis Safer, So Stop Asking
Here I give the link to the second of the two-page article, for that page is meatier. (The first page can be summed up as, "So, Chris Christie, huh?")http://www.cheatsheet.com/culture/marijuana-is-much-safer-than-alcohol-and-tobacco-so-stop-asking.html/2
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Comment #2 posted by runruff on September 02, 2015 at 16:35:58 PT

Looks like an ocean of sanity rising?
An ocean of sanity rising up to drown out the islands of ignorance and tyranny.Leonhart, and John Pee Walters et. al. can go suck an egg! We win!To quote the highest paid ex-cop in the country, "marijuana is bad, mmmmkay, marijuana is illegal mmmmkay?"I say, " so you all are history, mmmmkay"?
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Comment #1 posted by The GCW on September 02, 2015 at 16:21:52 PT

Cannabis prohibition ignorance will end.
"Pro-marijuana groups are launching similar campaigns in California, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Ohio and Maine in 2016."Add Florida among others.
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