HIGH TIME TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA?

BROCKTON - Jean Augustin, 22, of Brockton, thinks using marijuana is
OK, "as long as people don't get too messed up or get into a car when
under the influence of it."

Dom Scolaro, 49, of Easton, used marijuana to ease the nausea from
his cancer chemotherapy treatments. He says the Class D substance
should be available to everyone, not just those who are sick.

"It's the only thing that worked for me," Scolaro said, "and I think
it's a crime that it isn't legal."

Forty percent of Americans say they have tried it, 73 percent want it
legalized for medical use, but more than 800,000 people still get
arrested each year for carrying it.

Despite a growing trend toward legalization of marijuana for both
medical and recreational use, people are still arrested for using and
carrying the drug.

Marijuana, also called grass and pot, entered the spotlight after
last week's arrest of Brockton photographer Tommy Colbert, who police
allege tried to retrieve 700 pounds of marijuana from an Abington
shipping facility. The pot was wrapped in Mexican newspapers and was
worth $1 million on the street, police said.

While law enforcement authorities continue busting marijuana dealers,
personal use is becoming more and more acceptable in mainstream culture.

Actress Meryl Streep, for example, is shown dragging on marijuana
joints in the romantic comedy movie "It's Complicated." And before
that film, the suburban housewife played by Mary Louise Parker was
running a local marijuana business in TV's "Weeds" show.

Rhode Island, California and 12 other states, plus Washington, D.C.,
have legalized marijuana for medical use, and a California ballot
measure this year would make it legal for adults 21 and older to grow
small amounts of pot for recreational use.

In 2008, Massachusetts reduced the penalty for possession of less
than an ounce of marijuana to a ticket and a $100 fine. The Bay State
joined 11 other states that already had decriminalization laws on the books.

Law enforcement officials acknowledge the state measure created a
contradictory scenario.

"That (one ounce of) marijuana comes from 700-pound shipments one's
legal and the other's illegal." said Raynham Police Chief Louis
Pacheco. "How does that work? What's the rationalization of that?"

"I think they should either make it legal or not legal," he said.

A majority of voters in every community in The Enterprise coverage
area supported the measure when it went before the voters two years ago.

Last week, according to a poll on The Enterprise website, 69 percent
of those who participated supported having the state legalize
marijuana and tax it as they do alcohol and cigarettes. The other 31
percent of readers oppose legalization, saying marijuana is a gateway drug.

Legalization advocates argue that law enforcement is wasting
resources on a drug that doesn't kill people.

In 2008, 847,863 people nationwide were charged with marijuana
offenses, down slightly from 872,720 arrests in 2007. About 89
percent of the arrests were for possession, not for selling the drug.

"It's a huge mis-allocation of resources," said Mike Meno,
communications director for the Washington, D.C.,-based Marijuana
Policy Project. "Meanwhile, there are murders, and rapes and
burglaries that are going unsolved."

Mexican drug cartels reap about 60 percent of their profits in U.S.
pot sales, taking in $8.6 billion in 2006 alone. As American
pot-smokers fund the cartels, the U.S. government has spent billions
fighting the unsuccessful Mexican drug war.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon said earlier this month that he
would support a debate about legalization of all drugs as a way to
address drug-related violence, which has killed more than 28,000
people since 2006.

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox later blogged his support for
legalization.

"Radical prohibition strategies have never worked, he said.

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MARIJUANA ATTITUDES

A Pew Research Center study found 41 percent of people surveyed
nationally support legalization of pot men, 45 percent vs. women, 38 percent.

By age groups: 18-29, 58 percent support; 30-49, 42 percent; 50-64,
40 percent; 65-plus, 22 percent.

More than half of young people ages 18-29 say they have tried
marijuana, according to research by the Washington, D.C.-based Pew
Research Center.

More than 80 percent of 12th-graders nationwide say the drug is easy
to obtain, according to an annual survey by the University of Michigan.

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ABOUT MARIJUANA

Also called grass, pot and weed, it is the common name for a crude
drug made from the plant Cannabis sativa.

The main mind-altering (psychoactive) ingredient in marijuana is THC
(delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), but more than 400 other chemicals
also are in the plant.

A marijuana "joint" (cigarette) is made from the dried particles of the plant.

The amount of THC in the marijuana determines how strong its effects will be.

The type of plant, the weather, the soil, the time of harvest and
other factors determine the strength of marijuana.

The strength of today's marijuana is as much as 10 times greater than
the marijuana used in the early 1970s.

Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse

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RECENT MARIJUANA BUSTS

At least 11 pot busts have been conducted by local law enforcement
since January 2009, including:

The seizure of more than 500 marijuana plants from a Brockton home in
December 2009.

At least 11 pot busts have been conducted by local law enforcement
since January 2009, including:

The arrest that same month of an East Falmouth man who tried to
retrieve 43 pounds of marijuana in a package addressed to "Pembroke
Little League."

A November 2009 sweep of Bridgewater-Raynham High School that turned
up eight students with marijuana or related paraphernalia.

The May 2009 arrest of a 17-year-old Kingston boy for an alleged
text-message pot deal.

Last week's arrest of a Brockton man who authorities allege was
picking up some 700 pounds of marijuana from an Abington shopping facility.