DO YOU REALLY WANT TEENS HAVING EASIER ACCESS TO POT?

On Nov. 4, Massachusetts voters will be asked to choose whether they
want our state, communities and families to be the testing ground for
the most radical marijuana ballot initiative in the country. Voters
will choose between a steadily declining rate of marijuana use among
teenagers and the message that drug use is safe and acceptable.

Passage of Question 2 will decriminalize possession of an ounce or
less of marijuana and replace criminal sanctions with a fine.

For kids under 21, the penalties for marijuana possession will be
reduced well below the penalties for alcohol possession. Drug use and
abuse will increase among children and adults. Our communities and
families - not the well-heeled, out-of-state proponents of Question 2
- - will be left to deal with the consequences.

Kids who smoke marijuana are more likely to do poorly in school, more
likely to require counseling, more likely to engage in violence and
more likely to get behind the wheel of a car while high.

According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 41 percent of teens are
not concerned about driving high on marijuana - a shocking number
considering drivers who have smoked pot are 10 times more likely to be
injured or injure others in automobile crashes.

Question 2 will embolden drug dealers and erase the threat of criminal
prosecution. Despite the efforts to paint an ounce as something too
small to be worth the attention of the police and courts, the fact is
that one ounce of marijuana is worth from $400 to $600 and represents
about 60 individual sales. And where does that ounce come from? It
comes from the pounds of marijuana that traffickers will bring here
and cut up in our neighborhoods once there is no downside to retailing
the drug.

Question 2's supporters argue that existing laws unfairly and harshly
punish people whose only crime was carrying a joint. But it simply
isn't true.

Not one person went to jail last year in Suffolk County for a
first-time marijuana offense alone. In fact, of the marijuana
convictions that did end with a jail sentence, each one was handed
down because the defendant was also carrying a gun, committing a
violent crime or pushing drugs such as heroin and cocaine.

Our current marijuana laws are far from draconian - they're
reasonable, graduated and appropriate. Simple possession is punishable
by six months of probation, with the case dismissed afterwards. A
defendant's criminal record is wiped clean and his or her CORI record
is sealed and inactive.

Perhaps most importantly, the passage of Question 2 would remove the
single largest referrer of drug abusers to treatment programs - the
criminal justice system. That's a massive loss to individuals who
otherwise wouldn't admit the need for help. In place of that
assistance, Massachusetts will end up with increased health costs,
traffic injuries and fatalities, increased law enforcement costs, lost
productivity, lowered workplace safety and the heavy toll of addiction
on communities and families.

I urge you to vote no on Question 2 next week.