MEASURE OPENS THE DOOR TO MORE PROBLEMS

FOR THE first time in years there is good news on drugs: Marijuana use
among Massachusetts teens has declined significantly since 2001.

It's good news because kids who smoke marijuana are more likely to do
poorly in school and engage in violence. It's good news because
drivers who've smoked pot are 10 times more likely to be injured, or
to injure others, in car crashes. It's good news because marijuana is
more carcinogenic than tobacco, and young people who smoke pot are
more likely to use other illegal drugs.

Unfortunately, there is a radical effort underway to undo this
progress. Question 2 on November's ballot will decriminalize marijuana
use and turn possession of an ounce or less of marijuana into a fine
similar to a traffic violation. For kids under 21, the penalties will
be reduced well below penalties for alcohol possession.

A vote for Question 2 will begin a slippery slope resulting in several
negative consequences. It will increase addiction to marijuana and
other drugs, as we know that pot is a powerful gateway drug. It will
result in increased related crimes, and additional taxpayer costs to
combat them, as we know that drugs are the root of much of the
violence that erodes communities. And it will result in increased
instances of impaired driving.

This measure also will result in other unaddressed problems. For
instance, there are no regulatory reviews in place to assure that
these newly decriminalized drugs are safe, and we know that marijuana
is now exponentially more potent than a decade ago. More disturbingly,
the measure does not address the fact that if young people want to buy
pot, they will still need to buy it from illegal drug dealers. We can
not think of many more dangerous, combustible situations than that.

Proponents of Question 2 have two central arguments. First, that
existing laws unfairly punish those caught with an ounce or less of
marijuana. That is simply untrue. Current law mandates that first-time
marijuana offenders receive no more than probation and have their
record wiped clean if there are no further violations. In Suffolk and
Middlesex counties last year, no defendants were sentenced to jail for
a first-time marijuana offense alone.

Their second claim is that enforcement of marijuana laws leads to
expansive police costs. That is also false. A survey of our busiest
courts revealed that marijuana prosecutions account for only a tiny
fraction of cases, and many of those also involved other violent
crimes that so frequently accompany drug abuse. To claim that officers
are out trolling the streets for marijuana users, at great cost to
taxpayers, is not reality.

And despite their best efforts to paint an ounce of marijuana as
innocuous, the fact is that one ounce of marijuana is worth about $600
and represents about 60 individual sales.

In communities throughout the state, law enforcement and neighborhood
and faith-based organizations work together to improve public safety.
Question 2 is a misguided approach that threatens to derail much of
that important work.

We cannot afford to take a step back in our efforts to combat drug
addiction and reduce violence in our communities. And we absolutely
can not afford to send mixed messages to our kids about the
seriousness and dangers of drug abuse.