IT'S TIME TO LEGALIZE POT

Newton - Newton voters have a chance to send a message to Senator
Creem on where her constituents stand on the question of marijuana
legalization. Hopefully, voters will send a resounding message that
it is time to sponsor a legalization measure in the state Senate to
regulate the taxation, cultivation, and sale of marijuana to adults.

More than 40 million Americans either currently smoke marijuana or
have smoked it in the past. These smokers have included political
leaders such as President Obama, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, George Bush,
Dan Quayle, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Newt Gingrich and Michael
Bloomberg; prominent business figures such as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates,
Ted Turner and Richard Branson; illustrious people in the arts and
entertainment such as Pablo Picasso, Steven King, Bob Dylan and
Willie Nelson; and world-famous astronomer Carl Sagan. Would society
have been better off if these illustrious people had faced criminal penalties?

In 1999, the National Academy of Sciences issued a report with these findings:

Is marijuana addictive? "Few marijuana users develop dependence ...
less likely to do so than users of nicotine and alcohol."

Does marijuana lead to harder drugs? "There is no evidence that
marijuana serves as a stepping stone..."

Is marijuana more dangerous than tobacco? "Four times the amount of
tar deposited in the lungs of tobacco smokers..."

Does marijuana cause cancer? "There is no conclusive evidence that
marijuana causes cancer in humans..."

William F. Buckley, noted author and conservative pundit, had this to
say, "Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the
prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far
more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could."

John Madfis

Central Street