BARNEY FRANK LOOKS TO REMOVE ANOTHER TABOO

Barney Frank did what he does best Monday afternoon: He talked
courageously about an issue that makes most politicians crawl under
the table.

Frank, at a late afternoon talk at Gallery X in downtown New Bedford,
was absent the usual accompaniment of local mayors and legislative
delegation members.

The same folks who fall over each other to piggy-back on Frank's usual
SouthCoast appearances were gone this time. Because Barney Frank was
in New Bedford to talk about the need for the United States of America
to end the hypocrisy of marijuana being illegal.

Frank, along with Republican Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, in June sponsored
federal legislation that would legalize marijuana, allowing each of
the 50 states to develop their own rules for the use of marijuana
within their borders.

Long a champion of civil liberties, Frank asked the crowd of about 60
people which group of people a police officer would be more afraid to
approach without bringing something: a crowd drinking alcohol or a
crowd smoking pot.

The cop probably wouldn't worry about bringing anything to approach
the marijuana smokers, he said. "If he felt he needed to bring
something, it would more likely be a bag of potato chips," he added to
howls of laughter.

Frank described the marijuana-use issue as one of personal freedom,
saying federal prohibitions against behavior should be reserved to
things that cause great harm. "In a free society, most things should
be none of the government's business," he said.

The federal prohibitions against marijuana use, Frank said, were
adopted in the 1930s when marijuana was primarily used by the
counterculture and was far less mainstream than it is now. The
government makes money on taxing the sale of alcohol, he noted, but
loses money policing the enforcement of marijuana laws.

The SouthCoast's congressman for 28 years went on to say he believes
most politicians support marijuana legalization privately but are
reluctant to go public out of political fear. There's "a cultural lag"
with the politicians on the issue, he said.

"In this case, I believe the public is ahead of the politicians," he
said, predicting that pot use will be legalized within five years. The
government, Frank said, will simply not be able to afford to keep
policing it.

Frank, who in a nearly 40-year career as a politician has advocated
for positions as unpopular as legalized prostitution in Boston's
Combat Zone to the right of the Westboro Baptist Church to yell "God
hates fags" at soldier funerals, told the pro-marijuana crowd that if
they want change, the best thing they can do is write, in their own
words, to any elected official who represents them. He gave them the
tea party model, which he said lobbies, writes congressmen and
organizes in primary elections.

The only thing holding back the mainstream politicians, Frank said, is
that they believe supporting marijuana legalization is "not
respectable."

"I want to remove the taboo," he said.

And that's Barney Frank.