LEGALIZATION IS BEST POLICY Rep. Brian Wallace opposes reforming the state's marijuana possession law. He thunders "the use of alcohol and marijuana often leads to the use of more harmful and addictive drugs, and for that reason, believes the penalties should remain tough." It is true that "marijuana use precedes hard drug use" RAND researchers reported in a 2002 article, "Reassessing the Marijuana Gateway Effect." They found this is "simply because opportunities to use marijuana come earlier in life than opportunities to use hard drugs." It is clear that current criminal penalties for possessing marijuana reduce neither supply nor demand. Anyone who wants it can get it. Close to 50 percent of Massachusetts voters over the age of 18 have tried it at least once in their lifetime. Most never tried any other illicit drug, almost all are good people and some are politicians. By substantial margins voters in 3 senate and 23 representative districts supported making marijuana possession a civil violation and not a crime in Massachusetts elections since 2000. The voters recognize the criminal justice system is not the place to express disapproval. They understand that parents are the best anti-drug. Parent-imposed punishments and voluntary counseling are more likely to rehabilitate the child than state-imposed punishments. When they do not, the police or parents of a child below the age of 17 may petition the Juvenile Court that the child is in need of services. The Court can then use the coercive power of the state to help the parents and child. Legalizing, taxing and regulating this agricultural commodity used in the past month by about a tenth of Massachusetts' adult population, while prohibiting it to children as we do tobacco and alcohol, is the best policy consistent with securing the Constitution's promised blessings of liberty. Until the federal prohibition is relaxed, the decriminalization proposed is fiscally responsible, humane and sensible. Steven S. Epstein, Esq.
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